Neotango

Last night I hosted the first ever Neotango night in Iceland. History was made! Daniel from the cafe told me that's not so hard to do in Iceland. Fair enough, but still. I like to think of Icelandic people as an adventurous lot, what with Halldor Laxness writing a book about the Independent People and all. So the 25 or so tango regulars who showed up (a fair sized crowd from our little community, and quite nice for the size of the cafe) were ready to create something new. Cafe Hljómalind is a non-profit organization that serves organic food and runs an open space community center, and the handful of regular cafe guests who were there last night soon put away their computers to enjoy (and even participate) in the unexpected happening.

I'm as fond of classic tango as any tango addict, the older the better in fact, but I was excited to have the chance to explore modern tango and alternative music beyond the usual 1 or 2 tandas on a normal milonga night. Something interesting happened - all of a sudden, Gotan Project and Narcotango became "classic", allowing me to try out selected tunes from Mugison, Beck, and (hehe) Britney Spears. To be sure, people didn't flock to the floor in droves during Mugison's Pathetic Anthem, but the ones who did *really* dug it :) And it was great to hear Siggi's one word comment after Peggy Lee's Fever  -  "geðveikt" (insane). The music fit the hip, alternative cafe atmosphere perfectly; classic tango is a bit more esoteric in that respect and perhaps more difficult to "sell" to the random public.

About half way through, we had a little mixing game, designed both to allow the non-dancers to join in as well as encouraging the regulars to think outside the box. What more can I say about this fantastic evening? Decent sound system, comfy old chairs and couch, nice old floor with "character", visitors from abroad, kid friendly space. At the end, I got kisses and hugs from everyone - that's 25+ kisses! (some kiss both cheeks). And best of all, Daniel thanked me for coming and said I should do it more often. Well, twist my arm!