[Tango-L] Alberto Dassieu

[Irene Ho]

We met Alberto Dassieu in February 2007 on the first night of our first trip we were in Buenos Aires.  We had wanted to meet him from watching a video of him dancing with Jan La Salle of New York in a performance of Milonguisimo on youtube - and we couldn't believe our luck when we met him in the doorway of Glorias Argentinas, where a special performance of Milonguisimo was going to be held that night.

Alberto has completely changed our way of dancing.  Because of him and advice from his lovely wife Paulina, I finally learned how to follow (instead of anticipating and being trapped in my own little world doing adornments that had nothing to do with the lead or the music).  My husband Man Yung has changed his posture, embrace and ability to express the music because of Alberto. Only two classes with Alberto, and finally we could dance close embrace, whereas we could only dance open or "tango salon" style before even after three years of dancing.

One thing about Alberto's videos on youtube is that there are a lot of candid shots of him dancing with students and people who are not his regular partners.  One thing that made us sit up and pay attention before we even met him is the way that he is able to lead someone who is not dancing at his level, maybe even a beginner - and make them look really good.  It takes a tremendous amount of experience and skill to do this!  

Alberto is touring Switzerland this summer.  He originally had plans to come to Canada in September, but I fear that may have fallen through.  I wish someone would realize what an incredible opportunity is being missed here and bring him to Canada!  He really is a gem - incredible dancer, incredible teacher and incredibly warm, generous and humble person.

This is the link to an interview I did with Alberto last year and some other information about our encounters with him:

http://ireneandmanyung.blogspot.com/search/label/Alberto%20Dassieu

Irene
 
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