Monday, July 06, 2009

WHO is LONDON for AISHA

We actually begin to ' land ' in London when we left it... The clash between the intensity of the Northern Polar Circle summer and London immediately afterwards produced this ' warp ' in time. Bodies there, but the spirit had to catch up, as the Indians say. There we were, in front of familiar architecture, pinching each other- are we in London already? Being in London meant, the time passed by so quickly and 2 thirds of our tour was over....

Besides, the heat wave did not match the image of this city we already knew.

But, there was another factor, which made a difference: our hosts!

We were picked up in Standstead airport by Sasha. Actually waiting for Bianca, playing our favorite game of trying to recognize one another. When meeting for the first time, I refuse to see the pictures of the people and I refuse to give them ' recognition details' about us. They have an advantage: probably have seen plenty of our photos and printed hundreds of flayers and posters of ours. OUR TANGO image, however, is not the same as informal, traveling image. The rest is adventure ( it cost me an hour of hide & seek game on Ibiza airport once!)

Instead of Bianca I spotted a handsome, exotic looking young man staring at me with a big smile on. As both Victor & me agreed immediately, it was his " Ibiza look " , which stroke us. And made us friends immediately. Then I knew why...

An Egipcian father, an ex- Yugoslavian mother, born in London, raised somewhere else, back to London as a teenager. Tall, dark and handsome would not be enough to give Sasha justice ( please do not protest!) . He is also very clever and of philosophical nature. And THE SWEETEST ACCENT IN THE WORLD while speaking English. The rest of this litany of virtues will be mentioned further on.
Sasha is his second name ( Alexandr) and his first name is something unpronounceable for an average mortal with limited knowledge of languages: it was full of clusters of consonants and smelled of pyramides and hot,dry air...

He liked to be Sasha, anyway. As Bianca liked to be Bianca....What impressed me was red'n'black colours of his car. ROJO Y NEGRO. Like Bianca's tango club. And MY favorite colours ( could not get away from my black& red outfits till I finally found a substitution: orange!). Sasha recalled how he drove from London to north of England to pick up a car he chose. To surprise Bianca! In that very moment I was beginning to imagine the ' goddess of Bianca' . This is, more or less, how I was imagining her- and saw her like that, but only the next day.
The very day of our arrival she looked quited different.
When Sasha brought us to our ' London home' ( a charming attic apartment in London in Walthampstow) this was an image I kept of her :She was very proud of having recently bought ( by an urge of female intuition) this lovely instrument from the traveling bandoneon player. She had already taken a class or two and by the way she spoke about it, I think she was serious and I took her word of playing a couple of tangos till we meet next year. She is my sort of girl! She conquered me immediately. Her offering me a bandoneon instead of accordion I use in our performance " Tangomorphosis" was very sweet: " Will bandoneon do? " -she asked...Anyway, it was so touching to hear the first tunes of " Corazon de oro" played by Bianca ( her left hand) on an Argentinean bandoneon in her London apartment, on one hot summer afternoon ( already sounds surreal, doesn't it?) while Sasha was preparing his ( first) specialty- café frappé. Everything sounds tango from the very beginning....

Literally, since I occupied the most luxurious ( sorry, LUXURIOUS) part of the apartment to practice tangos on my ( new) accordion. The most precious room turned out to have the best acoustics. It was almost' a spiritual experience' to enter ( and stay) in Bianca's masterpiece: a bathroom. Sasha was allowed ( as an artist) to sneak in and take some photographs while I was playing. The only thing I regret that he was photographing ME and not a BATHROOM.



And the continuation....

it was a walk with a surprise middle and end of it.
The middle surprise ( whispering between Bianca and Sasha) was the OBVIOUS and ABSOLUTELY PERFECTLY CHOSEN SUPPER: fish & cheaps! We were invited to one of the most traditional places to eat this ' local specialty' . It is an absolute must! We chose 4 different fishes and beer and kept tightening our new bonds. There was a lot to tighten up...
The second surprise was LONDON BY NIGHT. As it was London by Sasha & Bianca, incredible things start appearing in front of our amazed eyes.
First, it was, quite normal still, St Paul' s cathedral by night.
But then, it got more surreal: a piano appeared. A solitary piano with " play me I' m yours" invitation on.

We did not need more encouragement. Bianca sat by the piano and we started to dance in the heart of illuminated London, with St Paul' s cathedral as a background and Salvation Army on our right. Soon 'crowds' and new piano players appeared ( one living a mysterious piece of paper on the piano. It was VIRTUALLY OUR SECRET MAP! A map of 30 pianos scattered around the public places in London http://www.streetpianos.com/london2009/ It was asking to seek for more of them!)

... It was hard to leave, and even then we were stopped by the fascinated musician promising his best of Piazzola for us to dance... Sasha was enjoying himself playing an experimental photographer...

But there was much more to be discovered that night. For instance, this incredible sculpture. It looked like humangous winds ( of an angel?) so, while the architect was exploring it, we were playing with it... As I mentioned, a list of Saha's virtues is long. When we came back home that very first of our London nights, about 2-3 am, I discover that Sasha is also an excellent drinking companion ( as you all probably know, ladies NEVER drink alone) with a very impressive collection of exotic alcohols. So, we celebrated our newly made friendship, toasting ' bruderschafts' with the most explosive of vodkas. That's Sasha's Slavic genetics which allowed us to carry on till 4 am...Bianca, herself, was wine lover.Then, another ceremony took place: London was the most ' bohemian' place in regards to our acomodation. As artists, we were very pleased to accept a materace on the floor. Victor & Sasha took care to blow it ( and kept blowing it every night as we had a hard pleasure to wake up on a ' flat tire' ) Next day started with all the preparation for our tango event. SORRY, next day, as every day, started with a LIVE MUSIC ON THE PIANO. In this idiosyncratic house, we had private concert- a different piece every day, played by Bianca, while I was doing my yoga-stretching, Sasha was preparing the breakfast & Victor was trying to decide which position was the best to listen to the music...

OK, THEN...I took out all the cloths for tango fashion show. Bianca immediately found and acquired the pieces suiting her. 7 PIECES! SOLD AND GONE to dance in London! It was fun...


While the rest of the stuff was ironed, Bianca was showing me her hat collection ( as in her ' 'previous life' she was devoted to the art of millenary: mind you a new English word in my dictionary!). This gave me an excellent idea to combine my tango cloths with her.. very much tango hats!





Isn't she lovely with the hat on?
This one I got as a present!

THE FASHION SHOW with Bianca's girls was ABSOLUTE FUN! THE GIRLS WERE PERFECT MODELS and did not rebel against sometimes too extravagant or too exposing cloths..
Everything was professionally prepared- a specious room with the mirrors on where the girls were trying on the dresses and making up. Any man would give anything to be able to peep in, or to hide under the table there ( I vigorously refused to collaborate in such projects! But, yes, I got the ' indecent' proposals...)

Laud screams and applauses welcome each of the models. But actually, the ' sister look ' was a general hit of the night! As we were said to look like sisters, Bianca & me, we needed to wear ' matching' outfits. Not rojo & negro, unfortunately...
Only the first braves could have a photo like that. He said he' d treasure it and hand it above his bed. Not for less!
Another part of this special night was our Tangomorphosis. The photo above does not depict a famous image of a Dracula biting into my neck, but a closing scene of the performance- ' sealed with a kiss' ...

After those intensive days, we had time for a little pick nick! Yes, in London, indeed! Eping forest has many of almost absolutely wild arias and that's where Andrew & Carole invited us for a surprise pick nick. English style.
Perfect weather and white wine complemented the idyllic rest.
Next day ( Bianca's SPECIAL WEEKEND with US was a long one: from Thur till Sun, actually.. Mo morning!)- workshops and milongas again. Sasha was the best driver/technician/emergency helper etc. We could dance in peace..My and Bianca's tango caught attention of many. This was only our first attempt of a next year's performance ( mind you- very spicy choreography!)In between the workshops and milongas, we found time to film our tango in front of Big Ben ( part of our project " Tango round Europe" )Here, again, Bianca& Sasha assisted us. Amazed crowds watched the crazy tango on the bridge and then ' sister' walk round Westminster Abbey.
With this intense schedule I have no idea how we found time for mundane activities like eating. Obviously we did. Most of the times, after midnight. Sasha as a cook or Bianca as a cook. Aisha & Victor in roles of tasting/evaluating/prising.But one thing never failed: our every night ' spiritual ' ritual with Sasha. Obviously Victor & Bianca were happy to join! Have you ever drunk from a bottle with a shape of a shoe?There is so much undescriptible, even unutterable about our stay in London. Besides our various walks by night ( by the way- stroll around Chelsea yacht club and drinking wine by the Thames and by the moon!!!), shopping & cooking experiences, our visit to the CRYPT ( yes, to dance tango, not for any religious reasons), our exploring the Village, our venture on our own to the city center, a snack in Hyde Park, drinking and talking to our students, a surprise visit of Justyna H., our students from Cracow Festival 6 years ago, another surprise good bye visit of Andrew and his invitation for an interview in his radio programme ( too early for tangueros though)..... it's for another long chapter. But my idea was not a description of London, but the characters who made our stay in LONDON so special and unforgettable. FOR THAT VERY REASON LONDON FOR ME MEANS BIANCA & SASHA....

Our train to Malvern was leaving on Monday midday. Last café frappé and Bianca' s good bye question " would you come back in 2 weeks 'time on for more tango workshops following the blow of the success" ? How can we say no??!! She waved us good bye, like a Princess, from her attic window...

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT YEAR...

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