26 April 2007

¿De Angelis, te gusta?

I befriended a Canadian gentleman here, with whom I especially enjoy dancing to a Di Sarli tanda with, and with whom I would dance with at least once at the common milongas we both happen to be at. In my earlier weeks in Buenos Aires, I would struggle to converse with him in Spanish (since I have forgotten most of my French), as he did create an impression that he could speak very little English.

Last night was his second-last night in Buenos Aires before going back to Cananda.
I danced more tandas with him than usual as a farewell to him, and the last tanda with him was a De Angelis one. During one of the 'small-talk windows' (the time windows of approximately 10-20 seconds starting from the end of the previous song to the beginning phrase of the following song during which one needs to make polite small talk with your partner before commencing to dance) in that De Angelis tanda, I asked him if besides Di Sarli, he likes De Angelis as well, to which he nodded "Si", and started to explain and gesticulate that the music of De Angelis makes him feel like swimming.

His comment inspired me to extend his analogy further by likening the music of De Angelis to that of synchronized swimming. Now, when I listen to a De Angelis, it conjures up an imagery of a group of synchronized swimmers with their heads, arms and legs bobbing, stretching, waving, extending gracefully out of the water...

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