Q: If you had to define the underlying emotion of your personality...of who you are... how would you describe it.

Cristina: Shy but eager to socialize. I use Tango to make me a more sociable person. I was very conscious of that decision when I decided to learn Tango. It was very scary. No one knew me in Tango, so I knew that I couldn’t embarrass myself. I could define myself because no one knew my background.

Homer: Sensitive and contemplative with a hint of mischievous energy. Sometimes I get a rebellious tendency when I feel that something is out of balance.

Q: How does that play out in Tango:

Homer: The sensitive and contemplative helps me try to understand and appreciate all sides that Tango has to offer. The other part decides what it needs to do in any given moment.

Q: For instance?

Homer: Okay... when I moved to San Francisco in 2002 and soon realized that there was a need for something more that would bridge the gap between traditional music and more alternative music. This idea, with the help of many like-minded Tango folks, turned into Cellspace, whose positive, balanced, and progressive environment has become a standard SF event over the past three years. For me Cellspace represents the result of several years of personal growth - from being a naive novice, to a rebellious dancer, to a state of allowing Tango to evolve naturally.

Q: Well.. what about the way you dress? rebellious, revolutionary, necessity... what is it?

Homer: It is just me. a process of growing into myself ..into my Tango identify. It’s been a natural process.

Q: I noticed more people dressing in what I perceive to be “your style” in Buenos Aires during my last trip. So the dress code for the Tango community is changing. You hear about it on Tango L all the time. People are wearing sneakers to milongas or dressing down and of course, there are the complaints. Did you experience any negativity about your choice in dress?

Homer: You can say that for the first year and a half, I wore a 3 piece suit , or tux, or just dressed up. I was living in Arizona and then LA. Then I slowly started to add or take things away from my outfit. Sunglasses or kangol hats with my tux. Actually, it all started in February 1998 when I shaved my head because I was going bald. So I bought my first kangol hat. I still have it. Then I started experimenting with other types of clothes. .. jeans, t-shirts etc.

Q: Why? and what did the community think?

Homer: Once in a while, people would say I wasn’t dressing right for Tango.

Q: Were you the only person?

Homer: Moti Buchboot, Jaimes Friegen, and I would go out with our partners. It’s easier for women to be more casual but men generally wore their shirts tucked in. etc. We would hang a 6 inch bungee cord from the waist (belt loop) and call it our “special purpose”. We would hang trinkets off our belt buckles.... bart simpson, toys etc. We used to be called the dirty 9 (can’t remember who the rest were) but eventually became the dirty 4. It was great because the women liked dancing with us (mostly in the line of dance except James who liked to hang out in the middle).

My style of dress was defined for me when I signed up to go to Linda Valentino’s event in LA with Cristina and she told me that I could go but I couldn’t wear sneakers, jeans, baseball caps, t-shirts..ie..no "hip hop couture." I asked for a refund of my money and setup a protest all night milonga without a dress code. It was very well attended and designed not to conflict with her event.

Q; I didn’t know that your fashion was called hip hop couture!

Homer: She helped me define my style... Tango hip hop couture. but from that point on, I have refined how I dress. People started making pants for me and I started wearing nice dress shirts left out.

For example, with the same pair of pants - there’s the casual hip hop couture which is a t-shirt - if I wear a soccer jersey it is sport hip hop couture - if I wear an untucked dress shirt it is elegant hip hop couture. if I wear something really crazy - glow in the dark, etc - it is funky hip hop couture. :-)

Now I’m getting into different types of jewelry. Cristina has been giving me different items. Maybe you could call this hip hop karma. (shows me a pendant in sanskrit)

Q: and Cristina?

Cristina: I wear what’s comfortable. I never categorized myself as either casual or elegant. I want to be comfortable, and I want it to move with my body. Sometimes I will endulge in sparkles.

Homer: Cristina is a total Tango fashion maven and she spends hours picking out clothes. Women in the bay area adore her and look up to her as a fashion idol.

Cristina: I’m able to carry off weird combinations because of my personality. If an outfit is carried well, it doesn’t necessarily have to work.

Q: What do you like best about dancing with Homer?

Cristina: The intimacy of the connection.... the comfort zone... the complete trust of each other...the sensibilities of how we fit to each other as dancers, as individuals and as a couple. It’s like experiencing the most indepth conversation with him. No judgement, no criticizing.

Q: What do you like best about dancing with Cristina?

Homer: The best thing that I love about dancing with Cristina, is the unique energy that she gives me and support as a follower. She is at the same time able to follow everything that I lead and also make it her own. and Cristina has the incredible ability and eye for creative movement so oftentimes she can take an idea that I lead and can help me evolve it to something that I didn’t see. Especially when we’re practicing. When we’re practicing, she can give me very concise and important information about myself as a leader and what I can do in order to lead better.

Q: What do you think he likes best about dancing with you? (Homer is not around)

Cristina: The maturity of my experience... not only as a social dancer but as a person. As a social dancer, it’s how I express myself... my confidence in how I dance... musicality, my own way of moving. I think he finds it enjoyable and also something he can really relate to. I think another aspect that he enjoys about dancing with me is that I go in with the idea of taking care of us... not just myself... as a shared experience... not just what I take but also what I can offer.

Q: What do you think she likes best about dancing with you? (Homer has not heard what she has shared)

Homer: I try to take care of her by listening to her body and the way she moves. Also I feel that because we are in an intimate relationship, we are able to connect at a level that is beyond ordinary levels of Tango bliss. On the other hand, we know that our Tango connection can either be the most heavenly experience to the worst in hell. When it’s good, we let it last.. when it’s bad, we stop dancing immediately and walk away without hard feelings. This process did not come naturally but it’s a way of preserving our relationship first and the dance second.

Q: When I was in BA, I asked for a private with a well known teacher. I was told by his wife that they only give privates to couples. Later, a friend explained that this couple is very careful about being alone with their students. Have you ever felt compromised?

Homer: No because I don’t let myself fall into a compromising position with my students and I believe that my students understand my intentions of being a teacher and not someone trying to seduce them. I also feel in my experience that men tend to be more aggressive and women more subtle about seduction. Lastly, I have worked very hard to change my career to be a Tango teacher and that is something that I don’t want to compromise or belittle by inappropriate behavior.

Cristina: It happened when I was a student... not a teacher. During a private lesson with a teacher I had to express that I only wanted a lesson. He stopped but I lost alot of my innocence and the lesson ended shortly.

Q: Turning points in your dance?

Cristina: 1st turning point - 4th year when I started practicing more and given the opportunity to not only criticize and analyze Tango but also my own movement and how it relates to Tango. I had enough experience that I could start to analyze it more carefully... objectively and subjectively. How I see and how I feel. identifying my own personal style. ... owning my movement.

2nd turning point - after my 6th year... I had met Homer already and had also traveled more and had danced with all kinds of leaders. I realized as a follower that I can be a cameleon and be the follower that my leader wants me to be. At the same time, find a way in myself to express my own identity.

For instance, I can pick up how Homer wants me to dance but I can also find a place for me... an expression of myself.

3rd turning point - when I started teaching with Homer as an experienced follower. I have had to reflect on my knowledge and attempt to articulate that to others. I had to understand my own experiences.

Homer:

1. My first move to LA (‘97) and learning social dance from various stage dancers

2. Returning to Tucson (‘99) and opening the Shoebox Tango Club (a live-work dance studio)

3. Back to LA (2000) and discovering the organic Tango philosophy (plus a month of classes with Chicho and Lucia)

4. Settling with Cristina in SF (2002), becoming a founding member of the non-profit Project Tango and opening cell space (2003) with a group of like-minded volunteers.

Q: In reflecting on your experiences, did you ever feel that you took a wrong turn?

Cristina: Yes definitely. For example, now I’m very aware that I took classes in the past that were a complete waste of my time and now I also realize, that even though it was waste of time, that I learned something about myself. I learned that not all Tango teachers are good teachers and that I should be more vigilante as a student not to eat everything they feed me. I need to take the time to examine what they are teaching. For instance, “how does this relate to my body” or “ how does this relate to how I hear the music”. I know now that I need to figure out things by myself.

Homer: In my philosophy, I am who I am by making mistakes and learning through my failures - a way of thinking I learned after 9 years of martial arts (not to mention the ‘keeping the cup half-empty’ attitude when it comes to learning Tango).

Q: What was your biggest mistake that you learned from?

Homer: The biggest mistake was when I lost a friend because I did not know how to separate my artistic, philosophical, and professional Tango boundaries from my friendship boudaries.

Q: What qualities does an excellent teacher have?

Cristina: Excellent social skills. For example, the idea that they need to recognize that each person has a different learning pattern. They need to be able to deal with that in the most effective manner. They also need to be respectful of other people and have to present a personality, that even though they are the teacher and have more knowledge, they also need to have the energy that they are open to learning. It’s coming into the room as a teacher and student. They must come into the room with a very good grasp of the material that they are teaching and be able to articulate it.

Homer: In addition, an excellent teacher has to create a positive environment for their students to learn and grow. Also, a good teacher must leave the door open for each student to take the path towards their highest level of Tango intelligence, even if that means the student leaves and takes another road to achieve their full potential. In fact, a good teacher should encourage their students to explore everything that is Tango around them so that they can make the best decisions for themselves.

Q: Not everyone has the same drive as we do to achieve our “full” potential. I have found that I have to accept that some students are happy with a limited level of dance.

Homer: Tango is both a social form and an art form. Each student decides how much of each element they want in their Tango. Some just want enough dance technique to be social and others want to be explorers.

Q: What are the qualities of an excellent leader?

Cristina: A leader who owns his movement and his dance. He must know his music. He must be a good listener of his follower. Be caring... be clear in his lead.. and who isn’t afraid to make mistakes.

Q: Are the qualities different for a woman leader?

Cristina: no the same.

Q: Do women have the same struggles as a man in leading?

Cristina: ummmmm... it depends. If a woman leader is a strong follower, then there’s a different sense of tentativeness to her lead versus a beginning male leader. The other extreme, is that as a beginner leader she can be too strong.

Q: What are the qualities of an excellent follower?

Homer: That they are sensitive to the lead but strong in their answer. They own their bodies ... not the leaders. Also good followers are just as involved in listening and interpreting the music as the leader is, while still following.

Q: What do you think is the most common flaw of leaders?.... pet peeve?

Cristina: When they project arrogance... when they are over confidence. (laughter) when they’re not listening in general.. specifically, to the music, to the floor, or even to themselves when they’re too caught up with other things.

Q What do you think is the common flaw of followers? ... pet peeve?

Homer: When followers become frigid and not so flexible within the embrace and in the form of the dance. When they don’t allow themselves to have fun and make mistakes and work through them.

Q: What do you think you still have to learn?

Cristina: Music, history, tradition,... I still have more to learn about myself as a person... as I grow older, there is that sense of looking forward to something more from me.. which I like. I have so much more room to grown technically and musically, I wouldn’t say that I have learned everything. that would be the death of me as a dancer.

Homer: Alot... right now i’ve been learning upright bass so that I can play Tango music and perhaps contribute one day to the evolution of the Tango music form...even if it takes me 10 years. Most importantly, I’m trying to learn how to survive myself and not burn out as a Tango teacher and dancer.

Q: How does one keep themselves from becoming burnt out?

Homer: By constantly listening to, paying attention to, your current physical and mental Tango health and making the appropriate changes to keep you going.

Q: Your priorities?

Homer: My relationship with Cristina comes first. Then myself as a Tango dancer and then my career as a Tango teacher.

Q: do you consider yourself a dancer or a Tango dancer?

Cristina: I consider myself as a dancer because I can move my body to the feel of the music. Once I start thinking of myself as a Tango dancer, it becomes more than just the physical movement itself. I also become a social person in all of it’s essences. As a person who talks, converses. I see myself as a Tango dancer because I am able to connect and converse with different leaders and followers through the music. Tango is not just the dance itself. It is what happens between the leader and the follower. Rather it is exciting, sad whatever. There is more of me at stake.

Homer: Both. For me, there is no difference. The vehicle for me to express myself as a dancer is Tango but I do consider myself a student of dance.

Q: What is this about you being the “queen of the serpents”.

Cristina: Maybe it’s because of my long curly hair... you know... Medusa...(laughter) A friend of ours, Jaimes, coined this name. He called me Queen of the Serpents because I can go slow or fast... and I move in a spiral. Homer interjects: “yep, she can throw in a leg wrap that is amazing!”

Q:( We later discovered that once, when Cristina was a child, she killed a cobra with a garden hoe!)

Homer, why are you “water”?

Homer: My friend, Jaimes, decided to give colorful descriptions to his Tango friends. Jaimes is a dragon. Alex is a wizard and I am water because of my nature to flow with my partner. Iif they are not able to follow me, I follow them but if they follow me well, I increase the current flow and our dance becomes more dynamic.

Q: Have you ever had an insecure moment in the dance?

Cristina: ALL THE TiME!! Definitely. As time goes by, it becomes less often. When it attacks, I don’t fear it as much anymore. What I do is ask myself “why is this happening?. What is triggering this? Does this involve just me or another person? "My insecurities usually pop up when Homer is involved. Then I talk to Homer about it and he helps me figure how what I’m experiencing. When I begin to understand it (not necessarily solve it), I feel better.

Q: Well, I have to tell you that for example, my experience in Portland affected everything in my Tango life. I started to question if Tango was for me.

Cristina: I have been attending Tangofest for 6 years now, and it does the same to me. I question my ability to follow in the presence of many many good dancers.

Q: Yeah, but I don’t feel that there is a sense of kindness or empathy for the less advanced. It’s like being in high school again.

Cristina: It’s exactly like that. Apparently, I developed this reputation that I don’t sit with the advanced dancers at the stage or near the podium. They asked why I don’t sit there and I said that I want people to feel that I was accessible. I try to sit among everyone in order to dance with beginner and intermediate dancers and to not be apart. There are so many good followers and the leaders go ga ga over the quality. But the other followers feel such low self esteem. The mechanism for community is there, but the reality of it is different. We are big supporters of the underdog.

Homer: Yes. as a beginner, sometimes I would have a hard time asking someone to dance. Sometimes I still do. Also, performing has been the biggest challenge to myself as a social dancer. I used to hate it but now consider it a challenge and something that makes me a better dancer. It’s one piece of the overall pie.

Q: Onto brighter things: Best moment in Tango?

Cristina: When Im having

Q: No just one moment.

Cristina: When Homer and I danced at the Argentine Embassy in Washington DC March 2004 to “Nothing Else Matters”. That was my best moment because it was the best interpretation of how Homer and I can convey how we feel about Tango. We felt we showed how connected two people can be in the dance. After that demo, many people came to us a year later. We don’t remember any specific pattern, but what stood out was the connection that Homer and I were experiencing.

Homer: In addition to Cristina’s, two weeks at the 2004 Carpe Diem Festival in Sweden where a large group of Tango people cooked, cleaned, recycled, played and danced together. It gave me a really strong sense of what a Tango community could be at it’s best.

Q: What was your reaction to the Wall Street Journal article? and how did you feel about the reaction from the Tango community?

Cristina: First reaction: I was very proud of Homer. He deserves the acknowledgment even though the article didn’t give the full story of who Homer was as a dancer and instructor. Regarding the backlash on Tango - L, I knew there was going to be negative feedback but I also realized that there would be support from our friends. When you have a good moment, it also carries liabilities. So I think sometimes it’s good to acknowledge those liabilities.

Q: The future of Tango?

Cristina: It’s going to continue to evolve and cross cultural boundaries and unite all the dancers under one common language.

Q Is this utopia?

Cristina: I hope so...but it’s true.. every country that I visited, Tango was a way to communicate. No matter how good or bad.

Homer: The future of Tango? Let’s find out..