[Tango-L] Smooth Tango, Daniel Trenner

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

--- On Mon, 2/9/09, Joe Grohens <joe.grohens at gmail.com> wrote:
> I would like to ask Daniel where the term "Close
> Embrace Tango" came from, and who defined it, and what it originally meant.

The term came from Daniel Trenner.  When I first met him 8 years ago at one of his Montreal tango tours, he said that he was the one who coined it.  He didn't give much more detail.  This would make sense, since I understand that Argentines don't think of it as two different embraces.

We were very lucky to have Daniel here a few weeks ago, opening his first planned tour in 7 years.  It was a great weekend, and I can see why he is called the Johnny Appleseed of tango.  He encouraged such enthusiasm and excitement from first-time students.  He conveys the culture of BsAs, particularly male and female relationships, better than anyone I know.  So many stories!  And he was so generous and eager to share them.  I really had to watch the clock and chase people away from him to keep things reasonably on track because he was so giving.  It was really nice to have someone separate myth from reality.  Some of it surprised me.  A lot supported some things that I heard about but wasn't sure of.  You can also order some Bridge to the Tango videos (VHS) at his workshops.

The after-effects in my community have been encouraging.  People are now working on both their leading and following. Some of us are trying his teaching techniques in our classes.  Attendance in classes and practicas by beginners are up.  It's been almost a month and we're still digesting the material and incorporating bits and pieces into the community.  I'm glad to be reminded of some of the technical things I learned from him eight years ago.

His voice has been away from the wider tango community for too long.  His is a voice that can give some grounding to the tango developing today.  I encourage everyone to attend his lectures and workshops if possible.  He's currently in Portland, but he'll be in Houston (Miles), San Francisco (Homer), and perhaps a few other places from now until May.

Trini de Pittsburgh