Archive for January, 2005

Full Schedule for Regional Weekend in Wilmington

Monday, January 24th, 2005

January 28-30, Tangophilia will be moving our Regional Weekend of Argentine Tango to Wilmington, NC. So far we\’ve got over 40 people attending this event, traveling from as far north as Virginia Beach, VA and as far south as Tampa, FL.

Here\’s the schedule.

Friday 28 January 2005
8:00 – 9:00pm Introductory Lesson (taught by Tangophilia instructors) for newcomers and beginners
9:00pm-1:00am Milonga

Saturday 29 January 2005
11:00am-12:30pm Workshop – \”Navigational tools, musicality and
creativity on the social dance floor\” for dancers with some experience
(taught by Tangophilia instructors)
12:30-2:30pm Group Lunch at the Vi�t Bistro, College Rd.
3:00-6:00pm Regional Practica
8:30pm-2:00am Catered Dinner + Demos + Milonga

Sunday 30 January 2005
11:00am-3:00pm Tango Brunch/Practica
3:00-5:00pm Tango Workshop for Local students

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Classes Cancelled Wednesday 19 Jan 2005

Wednesday, January 19th, 2005

Due to the weather in Durham, we\’ve decided to go ahead and cancel the Foundations and Intermediate Tango Classes and Practica this evening. No reason to risk people slipping around on some snowy and icy roads (and even if you\’re fine driving on it, there are plenty of other people around you who aren\’t ;-) …). The 2nd classes of these series will be held next Wednesday, Jan 26th, and the classes will be extended one week to end on Feb 9th. Stay warm.

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Human Do, Human See

Friday, January 14th, 2005

This article, Human See, Human Do: Ballet Dancers\’ Brains Reveal The Art Of Imitation, describes recent research conducted into understanding the \”mirror system\” of our brains. The \”mirror system\” activates both when we practice a movement and when we observe it. What this research demonstrates is that activation of the system is more pronounced when we\’re observing a motion that we\’re practiced in versus when observing a motion that is unfamiliar.

Professor Patrick Haggard of UCL\’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience says: �We\’ve shown that the mirror system is finely tuned to an individual\’s skills. A professional ballet dancer\’s brain will understand a ballet move in a way that a capoiera expert\’s brain will not. Our findings suggest that once the brain has learned a skill, it may simulate the skill without even moving, through simple observation. An injured dancer might be able to maintain their skill despite being temporarily unable to move, simply by watching others dance. This concept could be used both during sports training and in maintaining and restoring movement ability in people who are injured.�

This might help explain why it\’s easier for an experienced dancer to understand and execute movements after brief viewings. It would also help explain why I find it so hard to sit still when watching a tango performance. :-)

Found at Mind Hacks: Ballet and the mirror system

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Dance Gumbo Tonight

Friday, January 7th, 2005

We\’ll be dropping by Jack Wolf\’s Dance Gumbo tonight to encourage them to play some more Argentine Tango in the mix. The Dance Gumbo is an event DJ\’d by Jack Wolf in which you can expect the widest variety of dances throughout the evening. Jack will play EC Swing, WC Swing, waltz, cha-cha, zydeco, tango, salsa, merengue, and other dance music to keep the eclectic crowd moving. The dance will be held at Triangle Dance Studio. There\’s some kind of intro lesson at 8pm and dancing starts at 8:30 and continues well past midnight.

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Switching to Wordpress

Friday, January 7th, 2005

I\’m just about done converting the blog software on tangophilia over to Wordpress from Moveable Type. Anticipation and stalled migration had been at least some of the reasons why this blog hasn\’t been updated in a long time. Now with those out of the way, and the blog installed on a more open platform, I can get around to writing about a year\’s worth of pent-up thoughts and ideas ;-) .

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