Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Tango anyone?

Servetus has an amazing, analytical post about a snippet from a Spooks episode where it looks like Richard Armitage is using his tango dance experience to choreograph his moves with an undercover contact in The Bedoin Bar in Moscow.  I have been meaning to post about tango dancing for some time -- ever since I heard that RA was an afficiondado.  I am so bummed out that he hasn't performed one for the camera yet so that is why I got so excited about Servetus's post.

These ceramic dancers were in a store window in Leeds, UK where I visited in July 2010.  It was another of those little things that reminded me of  him.  I was unable to locate this picture amongst all our many picture files until just recently, which is why it has taken me so long with this post.
 
Here is a compilation of tangos from different movies I have enjoyed. You will see it begins and ends with a clip from a famous episode of "I Love Lucy" which garnered the longest laugh on television.  In case you don't remember this episode (I didn't), Lucy is hiding eggs in her blouse.



So Much Tango / by blackmamba111


You see a bit of this dance in the previous video, but as I love this scene so much, here is the complete scene.  If you haven't seen True Lies yet, I hope this bit doesn't spoil the movie for you. It is probably much more amusing if you have seen the movie. 

True Lies - Tango



I am sure most men would appreciate this tango!


Salma Hayek as the artist Frida Kahlo in Frida (2002)
 



Colin Firth is a heartthrob to many -  he was one of mine before I beheld Richard Armitage as John Thornton (who out Darcyed my favourite Darcy).  So this is the best I could do for a stand in (dance in?).

Colin Firth in Easy Virtue




Here we go! Thanks to Faboamanto who envisioned this little number for Percy Courtney in Miss Marie Lloyd.


Percy's Tango / by Faboamanto


It seems that once again, great minds think alike!  I must thank fellow RA blogger Gratiana Lovelace for finding this next video.  She was also inspired by Servetus's blog post into creating this post, with the help of her little mouse friend. :)


Guy/Merion - El Tango de Roxanne / by ChristianaRU


Ever wanted to learn to Tango?  There is this wonderful website from the Netherlands that is called Tango Style.  For the lessons videos:  Click here.

18 comments:

JeannieGisborne said...

I love the tango scene from True Lies, and your blog on the tango was a fun ride. I'm surprised more people haven.t seen that Guy/Merion vid yet! It was wonderful!

Phylly3 said...

Thanks Jeannie -- True Lies was such fun! And I was very surprised that Guy/Merion vid hadn't had more viewers. That's another reason why I had to repost it!

jazzbaby1 said...

Love this post, phylly3! Unfortunately when I hear tango music I always hear Billy Crystal saying, "You look mahvelous, you know you do!" so I get the giggles.

Anonymous said...

Hi Phylly,
Great post! It seems that Tango is a common elsewhere in the RA community. Here's a link to a scene from Shall We Dance, with another Richard (Gere).
http://manedwolfdotwordpressdotcom.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/shall-we-dance/

Ana Cris

Gratiana Lovelace said...

Hi Phylly,
Lovely tango post! The dance is so seductive that is makes anyone alluring. As if RA needed to seem any more alluring than he already does. Ha! And I love Fabo's video! It's a gem.

Thanks also for kindly linking to my earlier blog post. I will also do the same for you back on my post. It's nice to see how each of us interprets different topics like this--both the commonalities and the differences.

Cheers! Grati ;->

Faboamanto said...

Hi Phylly!

Great minds indeed! Love your post and as you can tell love dreaming of RA doing the tango one day too. Hope there's a producer and writer that will cast him in a film with a tango just for him :) Love the Guy/Merion vid, I hadn't seen it before. Thanks for the other clips too, except for the Frida Khalo one I hadn't seen the others.
Thank you so much for posting my Percy vid :) much appreciated.

Phylly3 said...

Thanks! And you are most welcome! I like to read what other people are writing about in the RA blogosphere because of my interest, but also so that I will not repeat what someone else has already done. Luckily, most of us come at topics with enough of a different viewpoint that it is not too repetitive. I also like to link to other people's work, because why should I just repeat what someone else has already said? That is partly me giving credit where credit is due - but also I must admit just my own sheer laziness! LOL

Phylly3 said...

@Faboamanto - I was very happy to post your video. I snagged it for my blog post as soon as I saw it, which is why I didn't comment on it I guess. I was going to comment on it later, but I had no idea it would take me so long to get around to publishing! I have finally commented on it just now. Great work!

Phylly3 said...

@ ALL COMMENTERS -- I just noticed that Blogger must have updated their comments posting. There never used to be a way to have nested replies before. This will be so much better to follow a conversation now! I wonder how long it has been. (I am not very observant - I must admit.)

Phylly3 said...

@jazzbaby1 - Only you would remember the music from that bit on SNL! I had to look it up to know what you were refering to. (the intro music was a tango!) That little interlude on Youtube also informed me that Billy Crystal made a dance tune out of his "You look Mah-velous" routine. Thanks! :)

Phylly3 said...

@Ana Cris - Thanks for reminding me of your thoughtful and creative post. As I commented there, I am not much of a dancer, but I liked your response - that I dance to the rhythm of my heart. It is a bit amusing though that I really like fast dances best! :)

Anonymous said...

What a lovely post! Maybe one day Mr. A will tango for the camera, and play the cello...

There is one more (obscure) tango scene. From The Highlander TV series: a tango on a ledge at the top of the Eiffel Tower. :D (I had a little crush on Adrian Paul for a while, just marking time till Richard Armitage appeared on the windscreen.

fitzg

bccmee said...

First singing then maybe someday dancing. Wouldn't it be loverly? *sigh* ♥

Phylly3 said...

Oooo! I'm afraid of heights! That scene (just watched it) makes my knees buckle! But thanks for mentioning it, I might refer to it later (now that I know about it!). I know what you mean about AP. I would have enjoyed that series if I had ever seen it before. I did watch the movie version though.

Phylly3 said...

How did you make that little heart thingy? Mine didn't work! :(

Phylly3 said...

Singing AND dancing! Yes indeed - completely loverly!<3 *singing: All I want is a room somewhere....* (with me + RA);) LOL!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link love! It's such a fantastic dance. I got interested because of "The Tango Lesson" (1997? or so?)

Phylly3 said...

Thanks for the information. I just looked it up and it looks fantastic! I hadn't heard of that film before. Here ia a link to the trailer (for anyone else who is interested):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfn5_sz_B8M