Osvaldo and Coca in Italy - Summer 2010

We are always searching on Youtube for the newest videos of Martha and Manolo, Osvaldo and Coca and Alberto and Paulina. Osvaldo and Coca told us they would be in Italy for 40 days this past June/July - so we checked Youtube every few days to see if someone will post some videos of their performances there.

No such luck. Osvaldo and Coca are teaching in Sweden now, but there still aren't very many videos of their tour of Italy. Notwithstanding - there are two very nice ones of their performances at the Todi Tango Festival - dancing to Di Sarli's Ensuenos, and Canaro's Tormenta:

Osvaldo and Coca dance to Di Sarli's "Ensuenos" at the Todi Tango Festival, 2010

Osvaldo and Coca dancing to Canaro's "Tormenta" at the Todi Tango Festival, 2010

Man Yung was staring intensely at the beginning of Osvaldo and Coca's "Tormenta" performance - making me rewind and re-rewind it again and again. "I haven't seen Osvaldo make a start like that before!" he said. "Could you see it? Could you see it?"

Then he mumbled something about the way that Osvaldo has been dancing recently, it reminds him of the old Chinese saying "The Lion pouncing on the Rabbit".*

But of course I didn't understand what the hell he was trying to point out. One step, two steps, a thousand steps - forward, backward, left, right... to a follower with enough mileage on the dance floor, it starts to look pretty similar!

One other, major problem - I was distracted and mesmerized by Coca's shiny silver shoes.

Comme Il Fauts! You'd be wrong to think that Coca goes out dancing in clogs or orthopedic footwear - or even the "old school" pointy shoes that milongueras seem to be wearing in tango footage from the 70's and 80's. I was shocked when I saw Coca wearing Comme Il Fauts every time I saw her at a milonga back in March...

But why should I be surprised? I may not exactly know what a "Lion pouncing on the Rabbit" is, tango-wise - but the Lions of the tango world better watch out! Coca as the "Prowling Tango Tigress in sexy heels" - that's something that most tangueras can relate to!


*Hmmm, I don't think Man Yung means "Carnivore Carnage on the dance floor"... I asked him today and he told me that it means putting more effort than what is required into doing something right. He explained: "To catch the rabbit, you don't need the ferocity and power of a lion - it may be enough to exert the power of the wolf, or even a fox. The best Tango dancers always put in everything that they have in their dancing, even though they could create quite an "acceptable" performance using only half their ability."**

** Oh, that's what he means - ENTREGA.***

*** OMG!!! Shoes! [Whoops, distracted again!]