Tango Madison

               Finally, another real tango adventure! I do enjoy going to new places and inching my way into the tango crowd. Tonight, I went The Cardinal Bar at 418 East Wilson Street, Madison, WI. There were about 35 people there and, guess what ladies? There was a huge shortage of followers! Yes, once again, the event that supposedly never happens, happens once again.

               I’d guess there were five more guys than gals the whole night. I didn’t get any dances except with the instructor whom I almost forced to dance with me. I’m not complaining, I was just there to check it out and I know it takes awhile for strangers to warm up to me, especially way out here in the cheese capital of America.

               The bar was a little strange. The dance floor was in one room and the tables and chairs were in another. From the room with the tables and chairs, you could watch the dancers on two monitors but I found it hurt my neck as the monitors were near the ceiling.

               The instructors gave a very good hour-long beginner lesson which I caught most of. They didn’t try to overwhelm the students with fancy moves, they just focused on moving to the music, walking forward and swaying.

               The talent pool ranged from total beginner to expert Argentine but most of the people were beginner-intermediate level like most Americans are. Dress was very casual and I only saw a few pairs of nice high-heeled shoes.

               I can’t remember the instructors’ names; I think the woman I danced with was named Heather. She was very nice, no negative vibes and she danced with all the beginners, several times.

               Here is a link to the Madison Tango website: http://www.madisontango.org/

               That’s all I have to report since I didn’t get any dances. This is a typical experience for a tango dancer entering a new community. I’ve done this so many times now, it is almost routine. I’ll be here for a whole year. Hopefully I'll be spending a few weeks in Durango every other month, so I’m in no hurry to see what it’s like dancing tango with these people. It’ll happen soon enough.

               It was not such a bad drive, only 120 miles. Milwaukee is a much bigger town and only an hour further. Chicago is only another two hours and I’m certain that I’m going to be making that drive sooner or later, so stay tuned for some more exciting tango news from the Kayak Hombre and Capitan Frog. 

Peace, love, tango

perri