Ireland tango

[larrynla]

If you walk south from the Spire, the 100-meter plus needle in the middle of wide very busy O’Connell Street in Dublin, you will come in two or three blocks to Abbey Street. Turn left, eastward, and in a half block you will hear tango music coming out of second story windows of the Wynn Hotel. On Wednesday nights Monina Paz holds a milonga there.

I came there tonight, still a bit dull despite a long nap after 24 hours sleepless and two long flights to Ireland from Los Angeles. The floor is narrow and beautifully made and kept. On both long sides there are tables and comfortable padded chairs. The wide mix of ladies were friendly and I danced till exhausted, not long since fatigue still lingered half-hid.

Tomorrow night I may choose between two milongas. I’ll go to the closest first and perhaps brave the second.
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Why am I here? I’m halfway through a trilogy about Mary McCarthy, a 53 year old West Ireland farmer’s wife who wakes in her grave in the middle 1800s, thirteen and cured of the illness which killed her and of mortality itself. And with a couple of magical powers - though not to revealed for several books is that there is an alien scientific basis for the “magic” of the Shapechanger Tales series.

The trilogy is about her adventures, and how she changes the lives of a number of people - including some very bad people whose lives are changed mostly by being cut short. And its about how she changes the history of the world in several ways using various personas, some ordinary and some out of Irish myth such as Bearach Irusansdaughter, Sharpclaws daughter of the Cat King. And an Mor Rioghan, the Morrigan to the English, also known as the Grey Lady, mistress of sickness and health, and Cuchulain’s War Crow. Also as brilliant and beautiful Mary McCarthy, first practicing medical doctor in Ireland and inventor and popularizer of the telephone before Bell (who was the third or fourth inventor but the first one to make it profitable).

Now halfway through the trilogy I’m here to check facts and geography and atmosphere that I’ve previously only assumed or read about via historical research. And to return to the land of my ancestors, which calls to me though I’m content with my current surroundings.

Ahh! I’m starting to make typos even of such things as my own name. So this will have to be continued when I’m not half-asleep.

Laer Carroll - http://ShapechangerTales.com

 

[Captain Jep]

Hi laer

Yes keep the travel reports coming! There's a group of folk going to the Dublin Tango Fest September time who will be interested in your reports...

 

[larrynla]

Went to two more milongas tonight. More in a later post about them and the one I’m going to Friday night, possibly while I sit waiting Saturday for my flight to Galway.
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If you are visiting Dublin you should consult the daily guide to milongas and classes at the following link. Each entry includes a link to a Google map of Dublin events with an icon for each. You can then use the map to find a path from your location to the event.

www.dublintango.com/events/DublinTangoEventsGuide.html
maps.yourgmap.com/v/o_g1_Dublin_Tango_Locations.html

There are many web pages and guidebooks for touristry everywhere and Ireland and Dublin. You’ll find those which suit you best, but here are a few words for those visiting Ireland and Dublin that I happened not to find despite much research - or information which I found but did not realize its significance.

IT RAINS IN IRELAND. Not a big shock, right? It’s called the Emerald Isle because of this fact. But unless you live in the UK or similar country which shares this trait its importance has likely not sunk in. In one minute the sun may be out, in the next it may be raining - literally. In summer the rains tend to be gentle, the winds not terribly sweeping (away from seashores). Bring a brolly, sturdy, but compact enough to tuck in your belt or hang from it, and adjust. Drop of rain: break out the brolly. Gleam of sun: stow it away. Better yet, don’t bother bringing an umbrella halfway across the planet. Get one here, leave it when you leave. Wasteful? Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish. Think of it as helping to support the Irish economy if you need ammunition against your PCness.

RIDE THE BUSES. The public transport in Ireland, and I suspect much of Europe, is a marvel, much superior to that of my Los Angeles where we will literally drive a block to avoid walking it. (And then spend hours on treadmills at home and in gyms walking Stairmasters!) Get a (cheap!) all-day or perhaps 3- or more-day pass and jump on and off buses at need. And use it to get to and from the airport or from the train. Once settled in to your hotel, if you have time, take the Hop-On Hop-Off tour of Dublin. Even if you have no interest in historical sights you will get a quick overview of central Dublin. And you can leave and rejoin the tour at any time.

GET A HOTEL NORTH OF THE LIFFEY, near O‘Connell Street. I lucked into this because I wanted to be in a location central to the milongas my schedule allowed. I got a room at the Best Western Academy Plaza Hotel. Rooms are small but new and clean, which is not true of all Dublin hotels. It’s a block from O’Connell Street, a long wide (and perhaps the most major) north-south street in Dublin. It is crossed by a pedestrian street at the 120-meter tall stainless steel needle of the Dublin Spire. Ignore talk of fashionable Grafton Street (the name of O’Connell south of the Liffey river). Either O’Connell or the cross street contain shops and eateries of every imaginable kind.

AHH, THE WOMEN. OK, this is just for straight guys and bent women. But as a writer and fashionisto I felt it my duty to spend much time carefully observing Irish women, especially those wearing tight clothing. It seemed to me that they dressed quite fashionably with moderate cost. Many wore leotards against the chill, a few with fantastic designs that resembled elaborate but colorful tattoos.

The tango-induced adrenaline is finally wearing off. So I’ll echo the Argentines, who say goodbye in Italian. Ciao!

Laer Carroll - ShapechangerTales.com

 

[larrynla]

Waiting on my flight to Galway, where I’ll pick up a rental car so I can follow some of the journey of my immortal heroine Mary McCarthy. It’ll be my first experience driving on the left side of the highway, and I’ve planned my itinerary to keep me out of heavy traffic. I could use some extra prayers to keep me from disaster!
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On Thursday night went to a milonga a block south of the Liffey. It’s held in the Turk’s Head bar and occasionally the loud thumping of the band in the bar area intruded into the quieter moments of the milonga. But for most of the evening I didn’t hear it at all.

This is partly because the dance floor is in a side area away from the bar, with its own bar, audio setup, etc. The floor is roughly round, a nice size that kept us from being too crowded, and has a good surface. I liked the music and the people and had a good time.

Friday night I went to a milonga two blocks north and west of my hotel. It’s a dance studio, the entrance facilities a bit old, and the floor is narrow but not so much that it detracted from the dancing. The floor is also nicely surfaced.

Again I liked the music and the people, but I would not miss the videos which shone on the wall. They forced me to avoid the two far ends of the floor so that I would not be blinded by the light of the projectors.
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Both NASA and Boeing sent me to a number of places during my 25 years with them, so of course whenever I had evenings free I went dancing. The Irish tango communities are like all the newer and smaller ones in being less cliquey because they can’t afford to be.

But so far the milongas are pretty much the same as everywhere else - more women than men, beginning leaders blocking the flow, and “advanced” dancers doing space-eating and dangerous figures. However, I’ve experienced this in all the other dance styles I obsessed with in the 30 years before: including swing, disco, ballroom, and salsa. We must ultimately learn to adjust to these negatives so we can enjoy all the positives.

Such as the extraordinary beginning dancer I partnered with last night. Perhaps I’ll tell you more in my next post - assuming I survive driving in Ireland!

Laer Carroll - ShapechangerTales.com

 

[Captain Jep]

Is it mostly close or open embrace? Numbers?

I wish you good travels in Galway - I hope the swans are still there in Galway harbour...