„Happy Tango” came to my life as a gift from a wonderful housemate Johan Steyn who decided to enrich mine and Abdullah’s trip with some useful and practical information. That gives a special meaning to this book from the first minute. Tango is happy only if you share it with the other person. It is a gift in your life as well. It comes unexpectedly. You can take it, drop it, leave it for later, forget it or treasure it. I sent my “Happy Tango” with Abdullah to Buenos Aires first, so it can wait for my arrival. It did.
I started to read the book and I could find myself in every single word, in between the lines in every situation described by her. It was a bit like my own story written by somebody else. I knew one thing I need to meet Sally Blake in person and confront her tango visions with mine. I found her on facebook and wrote an invitation for a coffee. Surprisingly she got back to me and proposed meeting on Wednesday in bookstore on Avenida de Corrientes 1543. I was trilled. It happened to me first time that I am reading the book which is so close to me and I have an opportunity to meet the author. Most of my favorites authors died long time ago and the only way I can meet them is trough my dreams.
I arrived to the bookstore 20 minutes earlier. I found the café which was Sala Osvaldo Pugliese. I have noticed Sally sitting on the table with a group of people. That was her weekly writers meeting where they discuss written pieces and do a lot of creative exercises. I sat down on the table, ordered a tea and waited until the meeting is finished. My excitement was growing with every minute passing by. It is another dream coming true. Buenos Aires is my magical world where everything is possible.
When the writers completed their task, greeted themselves and left the café Sally joined my table and we started to talk. She told me her Tango story and why she decided to write a book. It was very interesting as her Tango appeared on the motorbike trip crossing Mongolian landscapes. Can you imagine intro to Tango in the middle of nowhere? We where exchanging our little Tango stories and each of them had a reference in Happy Tango.
Sally was telling how hard it was in Buenos Aires at the beginning as she came here as a complete newbie and she wished she had a guide to show her around and minimize the disappointments. Hard way is sometimes the best way. This experience gave a birth to Happy Tango which all the newbie’s can enjoy and benefit from right now.
Sally now is well experienced Tanguera, knowing well how to behave, what are do’s and don’ts at the milongas, how to get what she wants on the particular night and how to make her Tango experience fulfilling and satisfying. At this stage after 5 years in Argentina She discovered other things to complete her life and so she dances, writes and paints. Everything she does derive from Tango as a main source of inspiration.
During our long over tea conversation we analyzed, measured, colored, and chatted Tango away. There were so many topics touched: from connection, trough milongas, and partners, to shoes, clothes and finally make-up as well. In the last point I proposed Sally that I can do make-up for her. She was very happy about it as she said “nobody did it for me before”. On the way out from café we have met two gentlemen’s who happened to be writers too, so we spend couple of minutes looking at their book and sharing few stories. After the spontaneous meeting we left Sala Osvaldo Pugliese heading towards Alto Palermo shopping center. The conversations seem not have an end and we were continuously getting more and more excited about Tango scene in Buenos Aires. In Alto Palermo we found a Lancôme counter and thanks to courtesy of Alejandro I was able to play with the cosmetic products again and choose Sally’s Wednesday look. I realized how much I miss touching the faces and applying a pop of color on the cheeks and lips.
It was fantastic meeting full of surprises and powerful female conversations. Sally’s “Happy Tango” goes with me wherever I go. Now it has her personal touch in it as she penciled few new ideas and unpublished details. I will see her soon at writers club meeting. She works on her new book draft at the moment which is “Happy Hearts Quest”. I am so looking forward to read it. Happiness is in us. Sometimes is great if somebody can help us to rediscover what it really means in the specific time. Joy and satisfaction are the purpose of our lives. We share these moments with others trough many different activities. Happy Tango is one of them for me. That is my key to open the heart to feel life fuller and deeper.
0 comments:
Post a Comment