Austin Vida

In the corner of a quaint neighborhood in East Austin stands a bright red and yellow building. What was once a church and former home of Church of the Friendly Ghost, now is home to Esquina Tango, a nonprofit organization that offers a variety of Latin American cultural activities.

As implied by the name, Esquina Tango started in 2008 as a simple solution for the lack of places in Austin that offered tango classes.

"There's no place where the heart is tango," said Monica Caivano, one of the owners of Esquina Tango (pictured below).

Caivano, with her proclaimed partner in crime, Gustavo Simplis, chose the church on East 3rd and Pedernales to open a place for Austinites to learn tango. Caivano has taught the sensual Argentine dance style in Austin since 1997, while tango has always been a part of Simplis' life.

Click here to read the rest at Austin Vida.

Last batch of non-music Accent articles from the Spring:
Carnival ah! all art under one tent
Calendar of Events
Round Rock rolls to finish
River Bats swoop in and win spot as ACC’s official mascot
I went on a trip with two of the editors Hanlly and Devon to shoot photos of the Art Yards tour. Here is the article with some of my photos.
Art Yard tour looks at lawns

Here's an artist profile I wrote for Austin Vida:
'Dimensiones' brings emotion through color to La Peña

Apparently I don't need any sort of vacation after all the craziness SXSW brings to my life because this week, Accent has a newspaper that needs to be sent to press by Friday and Austin Vida is throwing not one, not two but THREE shows this week. All one after another. However, the line ups are pretty awesome so I'm not too upset about my lack of rest. I envision a lot of coffee and Red Bull in my future.

TUESDAY
First up, we have a Nacional Listening Party at Mi Casa. Now this is less of a live show performance and more of a party to hang out. Austin Vida teams up with DJ Chorizo Funk as he spins the latest release from this Mexico City band, Maldita Vecindad y Los Hijos Del Quinto Patio. This album Circular Colectivo is the first release for this band in last 12 years. And if any of the songs posted on their myspace is any indication of what's to come on this album, I'm super pumped.

Held at Mi Casa again means 50 cent wells and tamales. We'll be also giving away free tickets to the upcoming Pachanga Fest! and Sexy Marvin's show, as well as CDs.

Starts at 8 p.m. and it's free.

Click here for more details at the Facebook event page.

WEDNESDAY
Speaking of Sexy Marvin's, that show with Rubix and Vinyl Dharma will happen the next night at Stubb's indoor. Sexy Marvin is coming to Austin for the very first time all the way from Monterrey. This indie band has opened for some heavy hitters such as The Killers and Muse. Don't worry for the spanish impaired, they sing in English. I can't wait for this show. We all know I'm a sucker for a great indie band.

Show starts at 9:30 p.m. If you get your tickets now, it's only $8 but for you procrastinators like me, it'll cost you $10 at the door.

Click here for more details at the Facebook event page.

THURSDAY
Then to end this week with one big dance party, Austin Vida is throwing a showcase. Just like our first one, we tapped into our favorite Latino locals: El Tule, Este Vato and Maneja Beto. This time we've added Latin pop fusion La Guerilla. Man, this is gonna be a Mexican wedding good time. Seriously.

This show starts at 9:00 p.m. and $5 for 21+ and $7 for the youngsters.

Click here for more details at the Facebook event page.

Austin Vida is at it again with another awesome showcase. Tomorrow night at La Casa (where Troubadour Saloon used to be), two awesome bands will be performing, In Situ Sound and Hydra Melody.

I caught In Situ Sound during Free Week after hearing my editors, Ian and Ajay, go on and on about how amazing this band was. They were right. They were amazing. Totally worth freezing my ass off to see.

Then the other band playing is Hydra Melody who I am excited to see live for the first time. Ian forward me the myspace link months ago to see what my thoughts were on this band and I immediately called dibs for an interview. You can check out that interview here.

So come on tomorrow night. Hang out with us. I've been told that there will be drink specials: 50 cent well drinks until 11. The cover is really affordable: $3 for 21+ and $5 for you youngins. What more could you want? Oh yeah, tamales.

Click here for the Facebook event's page.

News Briefs for Accent's second issue:

Students participate in mock health care panel at State Capitol

Pinnacle Parking Lot update

Spring Enrollment Increases

I wrote about the Fashion Freakout twice. One more in-depth than the other.

For Austin Vida:
Photo Gallery: Fashion Freakout 2010

Another for Accent:
Fashion Freakout

Austin Vida's indie showcase is this Saturday, Feb. 20, at Mi Casa, so we thought we'd give you some insight into the young bands we're featuring with a pair of Q&As. You can read Ian Morales' interview with In Situ Sound here. I spoke with the other half our bill: Hydra Melody, a progressive/alternative sextet from Helotes, Texas.

The band started as a middle-school pop-punk band, but evolved into the band we see now, a lineup that features keyboards and an auxiliary percussionist in addition to the standard guitar/bass/drums core. The setup provides an eclectic style of progressive melodic rock with hints of their Latin roots intertwined within the tunes.

Keyboardist Justin Berlanga recently chatted with me over the phone to provide an introductory overview of this headlining act for our first-ever indie showcase.

Click here to read the rest at Austin Vida.

Campus News Briefs for the first issue of Accent:

New semester of Austin Java Lit Gatherings starts this month

Gospel Extravaganza to be held at Eastview

Student Life wins International Gold Award for ad campaign

Former mayor, Reps, speak at CSPS welcome back event

Noyce Scholarship offers $31,000 for math and science

Then I wrote a short recap of Welcome Week.

Welcome week offers help and s’more

For Austin Vida, I wrote an in-depth profile on local artist, Alonso Reyes.

Painting for the future; local artist Reyes on his risqué oil paintings

From the moment the first note of Quiero Club's Nueva America plays, I'm instantly lost in an episode of the latest Gossip Girl episode. Cue the Kristen Bell voiceover with images of Blair and Serena living in the high society and Quiero Club belongs to the club of bands that provide the soundtrack to this popular CW TV show.

Click here to read the rest at Austin Vida.

Tonight one of the sites I write for, Austin Vida is hosting it's first showcase at Beauty Bar tonight. Although the site started in January 2009, I was asked to join the writing team back in June. Because of this site, I discovered there is more to Latino music than just cumbia and tejano. But before I get into a cultural enlightenment, back to the subject on hand...

So to celebrate one year of production, we are throwing a party in the AV way that we can. I can honestly say that the line up is pretty good and should be a fun show.

So come out to Beauty Bar tonight and celebrate with us. It's only $5 cover.

Click here to head to the facebook page for more details on the show and the bands.

I wrote a lot of non-music related articles this semester for Accent and turns out I'll be the Campus editor next semester. Excited! Doesn't mean the music articles will stop though.

Students Build a Park for tickets

Campus Life - Pinnacle

Fuel up for finals

East meets ACC

Top five restaurants to eat at SXSW

Here is a cool article about 2 local artists for Austin Vida. This was a cool interview to do.

Libres y Lokas: El Espetaculo de la Pobreza