Author: Elena Pankey
Date: 06-12-03 22:45
Argentine Tango With Master Ive Simard
At El Mundo del Tango
By Elena Pankey
“Everybody has the tango, they just did not discover it yet, and that’s all. Talent in tango is number four, not number one. Number one is to wish it, to want the real tango, then the discipline, then the consistency, then and the talent. Tango is about being yourself.”
Master Ive Simard
I am among those who are lucky, happy and honored to be a student of Master Ive Simard. One year ago I began to learn the art of Tango with Ive. My road to El Mundo del Tango takes about one hour from my home, but I drive there almost every evening for my private lessons with Master Simard and for some other activities. Ive gives me consistent and fundamental training in this challenging mental dance. Moreover, I attended his Master classes (Tango, Valz-Crusada, Milonga, Pecho) and his Performing class which are designed for the future teachers and advanced dancers.
His lessons are not only about the tango steps. They are creative philosophecal images, which help us to recognize why we do the certain movements. At the beginning, for some people, it could be pretty difficult to appreciate Ive conceptions. However, everything in his clarifications is logical, harmonious and beautiful. Many people told me, that when they have some problems with understanding or learning Tango steps, they would come to Master Simard. Ive has special knowledge, life experience and talent to explain very clearly in two minutes everything that some students have learned for years.
As we know historically, many steps in Tango arrived from many other dances with a big immigration to Argentine in 19th century. So, Tango became the cultural condense, coagulation of many nations. Since I am learning Character dances as well, I try to distinguish such elements during our lessons with Master Simard. According to Ive, tango contains 21 dances, and recognizing them makes our lessons incredibly interesting. It is also sharpens our Tango. However, for me another aspect of Ive’s theories is more important.
Master Simard feels that we all need to know more about what is Tango. Some students come to his lessons with a notebook to write down his precious thoughts, which nobody before expressed. “Tango is about awareness. It is an esoteric dance, a standing meditation. Tango is just the moment. It’s to be there at every second. If you are not there in the moment, you are just finished. In tango there is a word - quietness. You must know stillness. When somebody starts, his mind goes at 100 miles an hour. When he is an accomplished dancer, his body goes at 100 miles an hour and his mind is at rest. It’s peace of mind. You cannot balance tango without peace in mind. You have to be there, you cannot be in the past or future. That is why it is good – for many people it is a big therapy, because what do we mostly think about? What will I do next year or next month, or what I did last week was so nice - perhaps I was fishing. However, the fish is an illusion now and what we will do next month is an illusion. What’s our reality? Now. In addition, tango, it is always now, now, now. If you lose one single moment, you just trip over. It’s why it’s difficult. That’s one of the very, very difficult problems. You don’t own your past and you certainly don’t own your future - you own only the moment. The tempo of tango, the speed, the 4/4 time, is the normal human walking speed. It corresponds to the heartbeat.
We have many loyal people here and their lives have really changed through tango. Ive likes to repeat: “Everybody has the tango. You dance who you are. Tango is about being yourself.”
Diego.
Free Int. lesson is every Saturday at 8pm, then Milonga $10.
Other classes and video check on www.ElMundodelTango.com
Epankey@Juno.com
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