What dance is a creative fusion of cultures, spontaneous as jazz, that embodies the passion of a young nation? Argentine tango blends African rhythms, Italian instruments, Jewish klezmer, German bandoneon, and Spanish popular music. In Argentina, December 11th is National Tango Day. Two key figures in tango music, Carlos Gardel (1890) and Julio De Caro (1899) were born on December 11.
Before we were parents, Evan and I danced tango twice a week. He and I took lessons, went to prácticas (practices) and milongas (dances). Evan accepted the challenge of leading the complex steps and I learned to follow. After a year dancing at an arm’s length, we graduated to close embrace, dancing cheek to cheek. We lost sight of our feet and communicated sternum to sternum. When we truly connected to one another and the music, it felt as if we were floating around the room.
We danced with friends and each other in Madison for five years. In our wood-floored apartment, we hosted the first home milonga for our group. Evan and I continued tango until my abdomen wouldn’t make the signature s-like ocho move when I was 5 months pregnant. Now when we go to summer big band dances at Devil’s Lake in Baraboo, Wisconsin, we often tango to a fox trot song, and we teach our child to ballroom dance.
Do you like to dance? What is your favorite pastime?
Gracias for reading Fake Flamenco! ¡Olé! –Rebecca
Fake Flamenco 
What was it Leonard Cohen sang? Dance me till the end of love? 🙂
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Yes, exactly our plan!
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Good.
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I love the tango!
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Si, con razón!
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I love waltz and tango music, and mexican songs too, but I’m a horrible dancer 😁. Anyway, from time to time, in weddings and celebrations I try my best. I remember Robert Duvall’s passionate documentary about tango. Greetings!
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Assassination Tango, was fiction I believe. Duval danced well. Did he make a documentary too? I’ll look it up. Dancing like no one is watching and having fun is more important than dancing well in my book!
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You are double right 😉, about film —perhaps I confused it with a documentary about tango I’m not able to find— and about dancing. Thank you for your joyfull meditations about life. Read you soon, appreciated Rebecca.
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I just looked at a movie list and found there are many tango documentaries, and I haven’t seen a one! I’ll see if our library or the last video store standing has them. I like to watch the adornos the women make with their feet for inspiration. Thank you for your kind comments. I appreciate them very much!
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Oh happy day r! xoxo
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It was fun until I was too pregnant with Eagle to turn my torso! Ha.
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I would say nothing changed in you since 2008, haha
However, you have shorted hair now.
You once had bigger hair, unregonizable
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Thanks, very kind. Have you grown your hair long ever?
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Not much longer
My hair are curly
I get irritated after a point
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