Tribute to Omar Vega Newsletter three

September 25th, 2008
Newsletter...3rd Issue


Tribute to Omar The "Dancing Bandonian"

New Yorker’s around the world will never forget the man, the talented milonguero Omar Vega.
We dedicate this issue in remembrance of an instructor, performer and dance tango artist who has held New York closest to his heart even more than the city of his birth. He! Omar... took New York City with him wherever he went. We relish the good memories from this great person who has the biggest heart. His honesty, Fantasy, explorative emotions, charisma, and tactics of a mellow-dramatic era representative of his time, the Omar Vega’s time.
The time Omar spent with us here in New York City would never be forgotten.
Never Forget.
Omar wrestled with the best, similar to Reuben, (the oldest NYC Milonguero) yet Rueben has never appeared or entered into the mainstream of the New York City Tango Scene as an instructor, barely as a performer only simply as a milonguero.
...More

High Priced NYC Tango Instructors
How high is too high a price to pay for dance tango lessons in New York City?
Pablo Veron, Paul Pellicoro, Michael Foster, Mariela Franganillo, Shiwa Nor, Carina Moeller and Cecilia Saia are found to be the most expensive in the students choice of New York City dance instructors.
But how high is truly too high should a price be for a private or group dance tango lesson?For up to $500 dollars Pablo has charge for a private lesson, someone got lucky in Chicago the other day and reported paying $350 for one hour private lesson with Pablo. Paul $150. Michael *$750.? Mariella $120 on a good day and up to $250? Shiwa-$150?-per hour? Carina Moeller and Cecilia barely under $200? For one hour private lessons?
...More

The New York Tango Festival
Q&A-
Mariella’s
un-official New York Tango Festival.(Tango and attention goes hand in hand)

Q: Why is there another Tango Festival already taking place in New York?
A: For a number of reasons, starting with the fact that unlike many other states New York City is built on competition. If anyone does something long enough and it appears to be successful almost immediately after this is convincingly so there comes along a rush of similar happenings.
Q: But is not that silly?
More
 

Last weeks lead news: The Cost of The Embrace NYC Top Instructors NYC Top Host NYC Best 10 FOLLOWERS MIchael's Apologies...Again?

The Heat Issue
The Heat Issues

Placement opportunities are available upon the completion of each course. various locations throughout New York City includes: gyms, public schools, university, clinics and hospitals.

The "Dancing Bandonian"(R.I.P. Omar Vega)
Omar, on the other hand (Very Young) and majestic by way of his joyful enthusiasms, was meandered by his own demeanors; his personality was easily characterized by anyone only after a short conversation. Omar performed, the spotlight often followed him, and Omar became the spotlight. There was no dark side to Omar, left or right side he was Omar. Those of us who know this will miss him most. What Omar wanted for himself is what he wanted for each of us. This known fact became too obvious to a few of his closest Argentine Tango friends. it could be the reasons why he is not with us. Things can be different though, today because Omar is not with us except by the multitudes of good thoughts, feelings and the best wishes from those of us who really knew, cherished and loved Omar Vega, the man and his talents. We send these best wishes and sincere condolences to his family, his true and closest friends and every single dance student Omar has ever made contact with. 

Whether Omar was explaining himself in Espanol or English, quickly his interpreter (the person/s listening) would understand sometimes more than what Omar was about to actually share.

Interpretation; sadly became the dilemma and the glory of This Man, This Talent, who we’ve come to know for only a limited part of this short life, through influence now we hope to see him live on by impersonation…Omar Vega? R.I.P.

The Talent…!The Man…the dilemma; Omar was know genius, nor did portray himself to be anyone superior over another in the realm of social tango dancing at the New York City Milongas. He was simply that kind-of-a-guy who loved dancing, this was his bottom line…Dancing. Because of this assumed idiosyncrasy, his friends and especially his Argentine (New Yorker) tango friends often thought Omar would do better-off with their help. R.I.P. to the “Dancing Bandonian” The Man, Omar Vega R.I.P.

Everyone! Had a proposal for Omar Vega, let me re-phrase. Every-one of us had a proposal for Omar Vega – Each producer, existing promoter, and even the mellow-dramatic dance partner (who evidently may have turned out to be his ex-lover) had a preposition to improve the life of the “Dancing Bandonian” Omar Vega. 
The Man..!
The Talent…his glory; Omar was sensuous, alert, an avid listener, not prone to correct or busy to make a correction to someone else’s mistake/s. Omar was a delicate achiever, in other words Omar wanted to enjoy whatever benefit he would gain from a night out at the milongas. Omar wanted to be sure (Always) that the person or dance school promoting his workshops would be pleased with the attendance and was highly concerned of what the student’s reactions would be after they’ve received his lessons.

No! Omar did not second-guest his ability as a good instructor, to Para-phrase his knowledge Omar would spend enough time instructing by way of example.

By Example Was Omar Vega’s Second Language, Not English. 

By all means this made Omar Vega a true and genuine New Yorker. Omar was accepted wherever he made an appearance, not for an eloquent speech or a willingness to become something he obviously was not. (As is common to some Argentine groups) He was Omar Vega, we loved him that way, New York loved him that way…you! You were wrong
(if you are reading this, you know who you are) to have tried to change him. Nothing ever will…and now Omar is no longer with us? Your apologies are loose-lipped; your pretentiousness is only an appeal to yourself which will linger in your thoughts forever.

(Newsletter is sturdy in its beliefs of who is The Man, The Talent Omar Vega.  R.I.P. to the “Dancing Bandonian” may the angels join-in as this dance continues on forever.)
High Priced NYC Tango Instructors
(Newsletter ultimately reserve the right to comment on particularly female dance tango instructors in New York City solely based upon the fact in reason, its our belief that Tango dance instruction given by female instructors seldom hold equally in comparison to the effective results normally generated by students from instructions given by qualified male tango dance instructors).
No offense! But these are facts and no fiction. There are a few qualified female instructors who strive to teach the full tango dance program, these female instructors have diligently acquired or hired the assistance of reasonably good male dance instructors often for the full length of the dance program. There are a few other female dance tango instructors who have found a better approach by teaching a mix of tango and some outside form of exercise in order to populate their calendar of group and private tango lessons. For example: Feldenkrais by Jean Fung , a mix of yoga and other stuff-Shiwa Nor and
Alicia Cruzado’s abdominal techniques can occupy your time and before you know it your 60-minutes private lesson is over. Results are never guarantee, though some instructors make-belief that there is some kind of guarantee, which would depend upon the student’s feeling and appreciation towards one particular instructor.

Pablo Veron – is got to be impossible though it may be legally ok to charge this much for dance lessons, there are some fundamental things one must put into place before charging some exorbitant price to a prospective student because you think they could afford it.
Let’s say miraculously Pablo could give a spit-firing lesson for an entire 60-Minute. All the knots and bolts of a great instructional dance tango production…Then that’s it?  How many of these performance can anyone dance instructor consistently give in a single day?

You guest it…
That was the problem
, now here is the solution: Instructors who are consistently high priced need to make available their priorities which are to be put into place prior to the commencement of their private or group classes. In that Order students will understand that by your third hour of private lessons you are no longer worth that much.
Most professional dance instructors of the tango do not operate from a manual or organize dance program schedule. Some students are concern why does the instructor take more time finding out the techniques the student already know than actually using that time to teach the student something new.
So Pablo you can charge whatever you feel you are worth but it make’s quite a bit of sense to perhaps announce before you charge such an exorbitant price that you normally produce no more than two or three lessons each day excluding weekends.

Mariela is not qualified to instruct a full Argentine Tango leader or followers program unless she is specifically assisted by a fully qualified Male dance Tango instructor.
Some of the students concerns with her dance instructions have recommended that learning from her lessons borders on certain styles, embellishments and techniques having more to do with listening to the music, which becomes useless to the follower because each follower must depend upon how the leader leads and how effective is his listening skills while dancing.

Paul Pellicoro: Highly qualified and by far the best Argentine Tango Dance Instructor in New York, he is worth his charge but un-like Pablo, Paul will never produce a lesson without pre-analyzing a concise method in order to bring about the best results from his students. Take a moment and look at the magnificent choreographies in performance by Ronan Kayat and Cecilia Saia—that’s what you can anticipate from Paul, so he is worth your top dollar, if he is available.

Carina Moeler: take your chances but make no mistakes when you’ve taken any of her lessons private or group you would be sure to find out what problems you are having. Enough of this is actually great in a dance lesson especially when you are likely to move on to other levels.
Many dance instructors are busy giving lessons today because a multitude of new dance students approach them already with the knowledge of what problems in their dancing they have discovered, making it easier for the new dance instructor to carry on with a dance lesson. Some of these students are sometimes not as appreciative as they should be considering the fact that having the knowledge of a problem is better learnt more often and important than finding the solution. There are more bad dancers than good ones because there is not an expert dance instructor specializing in finding the problems of bad dancers. Every instructor wants to make you better but what good is that if you can never know what makes that dancer a bad leader or follower?

Michael Foster: Has creatively introduced a formal Dance Program which includes Argentine Tango Dance as the basic form. It’s the only balanced approach to learning the dance. The Technique and Balance™ program prepares the student with the understanding of basic to advance body language, how the body interacts in the leader/follower positions. This is highly creative because learning the parameters of ones external physic in motion can help in many ways not to mention many other dancing styles.
Michael does not do private one-on-one dance lessons, in fact his productions includes a full dance program consisting of approximately 7-hours. This can be broken into 2-sessions for a weekend crash course.
Michael says! His program is certificate granting base on performance and credit given by him to the student. Michael is also teaching his program to instructors, which makes his pricing quite reasonable

Newsletter Q&A
Newsletter: Q&A- Mariela’s un-official New York Tango Festival. (Tango and attention goes hand in hand)

Q: Why is there another Tango Festival already taking place in New York?
A: For a number of reasons, starting with the fact that unlike many other states New York City is built on competition. If anyone does something long enough and it appears to be successful almost immediately after this is convincingly so there comes along a rush of similar happenings.

Q: But is not that silly?
A: No it isn’t, not according to New York City standards. But I must admit that the competitiveness often exhibited in New York City are synonymous to those corresponding to a much larger and more economically viable audience. Tango is relatively new to New York City and has not so far captured the elite of New York City’s top socialite. It is not yet known for any of New York’s resident celebrity to have frequent any of the almost 19-milongas every week in New York City.

Q: So you’re saying this has nothing to do with competition?
A: No! I am saying it has everything to do with competition; it is simply not the kind of competition noticeable by most New Yorkers. In a way and very often the people associated with the Tango Scene in New York can become high-minded, even though it is uncommon especially in a City such as New York to involve oneself with the feelings of superiority above that which is particularly associated with a life style or social status. Many other cities of the United States both carry and endorse the statement “You can Fake It…Till You Make It…” The State or New York which includes the common socialite New Yorker (The Homeless) does not endorse or realize this notion. If you are a fake In New York City? You’ll remain a Fake forever.

Q: How does being a Fake connect with social Tango?
A: The evolution of tango in New York City comprised of a number of stages which also includes the arrival from time to time of a different brand of Argentines (The people mostly associated with tango). Each time this happens there is what is lately being called the “Sleep-Overs” a few of which can work their way into the social commons of New York Tango. There is however a good side to the evolution of tangos to the Big “A” these comprised of the avant-garde of now known Tango Era. The New York Times have been following these since 1992, dropped it off as another come and go in 1998 and picked it up again in 2001. If you don’t know, The New York Times sets the trend for all lifestyles form the elite socialite to the commons – which is what the Tango community partly represents.  

Q: Are you saying that the Tango evolution is about to loose momentum similar to back when the Times drop the story?
A: Yes and No. Yes- because insidious competitions similar to what has happened at the Seaport this Summer and the examples portrayed by most of the people involved in a small group of about 2 to 300 individuals essentially known as the tango people could not see through the blinds that the City was preparing to endorse 100% the Argentine Dance Tango community.

Q: Can you elaborate?
A: Perhaps another time, remember we’re discussing something else, though it has some tire-we should remain on this present topic.

Q: I insist to know how did the blind and not being able to see come about?
A: The Seaport began charging a fee in one area of the port open for tango dancing and offered another area of the port open for dancing freely. Most of the Tango dancers preferred over free dancing instead they choose to support the area where the dancing was for a fee. This make’s it very difficult for trend building when the Seaport only wanted to help continue Free Tango Dancing. Besides the New York Times can hardly find a really good thing to report about this social community.

Q: Ok! Can’t say I understood all of that but you know more than I do. Now what if Mariela collaborate with the Original Tango Festival on having something in the near future in order to bring about a number one Tango Festival in New York City?
A: This will never happen. This is not Paris where the government steps in and tells the common citizen what is best for the community and the city at large and even offer funding opportunities. Well in a way the city of New York does provide funding for cultural events – which by and large Argentine Tango Festival could very well be awarded an opportunity for funding, but that is neither here nor there since most of the tango enthusiasts are more equipped with a Thursday night milonga, a Saturday night all-nighter or free dancing anywhere besides the Seaport.

Q: What does Mariela have to prove?
A: Good question…Nothing! For the sake of the City, you and I, and dancing tango in the commons of the city or atop the rooftop of the Rock.

Q: What about Tango and the rest of us?
A: We should again wait as long as it takes for someone to conceptualize a vision to unite the community and be patient enough in the hopes that the vision would come to life. But you must remember it is easier to formulate the thoughts of destruction rather than to create and build something that’s productive and good.

Q: What should we talk about in our next topic?
A: Here is a list, go right ahead and pick one.

 

Last weeks headlines news: http://newyorktango.com/nltwo.html http://newyorktango.com/nlone.html
Southstreet Seaport Tango
Sundays all Summer – The South Street Seaport Tango “Show & Tell” Dancing continues, though all the upheavals and innocent discrepancies. Some things are best un-said or better have never been said. But we who believe should remember that if there is never (Free) dancing at the South Street Seaport again after this year we have only ourselves to be blamed.
C-you in 7:30-11pm on Sunday SAYS Michael.

Free Dance lessons at City Locations Starts in November
Free dance lessons in bars around the city – During the month of November. Michael Foster’s Dance Network will be introducing free dance lesson at a number of popular venues throughout the 5-boroughs of New York City beginning in the month of November.
They are to include: Bars, Restaurants, Dance Schools, Social Clubs, Gyms and Private Studios. Updates are available at http://NewyorkTango.org/cs Forum.

New York Tango
Newsletter home page is coming soon–
Presently please view online by typing into your browser
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