tango

Tango in Granollers

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

Tonight we went to try out the tango in Les Arcades in Granollers. Somehow the fact that there is a class and a milonga right here, not five minutes away in Carrer Girona, had slipped past my tango antennae. It has been going since January – five whole months in which I could have been walking down our road, turning left then right and then straight into a bar with a dance floor at the back and a group of people who dance tango.
Last year we tried to start a tango class here but I stopped after a term as the effort needed to teach in Spanish as well as advertise it seemed beyond my capabilities. Sometimes I feel that the energy I use  to learn two languages, get used to a new relationship, survive being a sort of step mother to a difficult adolescent, drive a car on the right side of the road, try to get health care, worry about my dogs in Cornwall and all the rest……means I just can’t do one more new thing.
Recently I have been feeling very like this.
I didn’t include writing this blog in that list as normally it is something that flows easily and I enjoy enormously. But recently, this too has felt hard. Too many questions like – What am I doing? Who is this for?  Does anyone read it (apart from those three people that I know about -thank you, you know who you are), What can I say and what is better to leave unsaid?
I try generally to write about what catches my attention and what I find interesting about Catalunya and the experience of changing my life. Sometimes it is cultural, sometimes it is personal, and sometimes it is a bit of both. But when I am feeling alien and alone here and struggling with the feeling of being an outsider without a strong support system of friends and family on hand, then the words get blocked. I can’t only write happy thoughts here but it is also a bit frightening to write down my doubts and fears and let them drop into this void.
What is this to do with tango, I hear you think.
Everything for me. This is what took me to tango in the first place and this is what I bring to tango when I dance.  Connection.  Longing for connection. Risking connection.
Tonight my dear man accompanied me to the class and the milonga, He isn’t really interested in tango but came to make me happy. We danced together.  I had a bit of a glitch when the female teacher started to tell me how to do the cross but I remembered my friend Tiffany’s advice and just smiled. The male teacher came and danced with me twice and then, just as I was taking off my shoes to leave, the man with the black and white shoes and fedora hat came up to ask me to dance. When he first arrived in the bar I thought he would be too flashy but actually he was just very good, very attentive, very connected.
It was a good evening. I came away feeling happy.

The people were friendly, the music was lovely, and we were dancing tango in Granollers.

Which made it feel more like home.

Trip to town

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

Suddenly there is a backlog of stories to tell and photos to show. I don’t know where to start nor do I want to write several posts all at once and overwhelm you!
So I will begin with now and work backwards, hoping to get round eventually to some of the interesting things which happened weeks ago and but have been waiting patiently in the wings for me to find the right moment to write about them.
I went to Barcelona for 24 hours and came back today to the cooler air of Granollers.
Summer has arrived at last!  It was my first night sleeping under just a sheet and still feeling too hot.
I went up yesterday to dance some tango in the park. After meeting friends near Arc de Triumph we walked to Ciutadella and found the gates closed.
Strange.
Dogs waiting for their evening stroll

Policemen and cars inside

People were slowly gathering and some sat down to block the traffic. At last I remembered it was a protest, a gathering of the indignats who have been camping out in many towns as well as in Plaça Catalunya (and Granollers) to remind us all of the lack of true democracy which allows politicians and bankers to create laws to suit their own interests

 And calling for the dismissal of those who ordered the police violence on May 27th

We found the other tango dancers and decided to move to the Born to dance in the street

 On the way passing crowds of protesters arriving to lobby the Catalan government and keep up the pressure against the huge cuts in public services. This mornings newspapers had photos of massive crowds later in the night but we saw only the beginning

After dancing, (with eyes open for once as I kept my eye on the bags which felt more vulnerable than when we are in the enclosed space of La Glorieta,) we went for some tapas and a drink

Full of locals and tourists (see above?)  the place was very welcoming, a cava bottle brought out regularly to fill our glasses and the food was delicious

I don’t want to say where it was – it was busy enough already – but if you really want to know then leave me a comment and I’ll tell you! Those little cheese filled peppers were very very nice.
This morning, a visit with Oreneta to a wonderful exhibition in CCCB which as well as teaching me lots of interesting things I didn’t know about Trieste, also was a great example of how to create an inspirational space about things which could be quite dry and boring!
James Joyce spent some time in Trieste and finished writing the Dubliners there! And have you ever seen his letters to Nora? They are very steamy….
On the way to Passeig de Gracia and the train home I had a look at the acampada in Plaça Catalunya

It seems very settled there now, sharing space with pigeons and tourists, some of whom, perhaps not the pigeons but who knows, also take the time to read the information about the protests. There are beds installed high up in the trees, tents and kitchens, a garden and decorations around the statues in the square. I don’t know where it is all going but it feels good that there are people there, a change from the years of passive acceptance and feeling powerless.
So, that was my trip up to town.

Tango in Devon

~ Kate Wilson ~ Leave a comment

Talking of Singer sewing machines (I was in an earlier post if you remember?) we went up to Paignton on Friday to dance tango at the Tango Feast organised by one of my teachers Fernando Guidi. It took place in Oldway Mansion, an incredible house which was owned by the Singer family

In the early years of the 20th century the mansion was totally rebuilt in the style of the Palace of Versailles by Paris Singer, well known also for his love affair with Isadora Duncan.

Wonderful to dance with old friends in such a luscious ballroom. I like dancing in Barcelona but for me the familiar and friendly atmosphere of Devon tango is more relaxing and less cliquey.

I don’t dance as much as I used to but it is still worth a 6 hour round trip to have a few twirls around the room to D’Arienzo and Angel Vargas with some wonderful dancers.