Contents

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Alberto Paz and Valorie Hart

Like all of the natural 'bailarines de tango' born before 1945, ALBERTO PAZ never studied contact improvisation or modern dance. He grew up as a natural dancer on the streets of Buenos Aires towards the end of the Golden Era of tango. Almost 40 years later ALBERTO PAZ was at the forefront of the renaissance of tango in the United States as an active promoter in California where he managed visiting professional dancers, published El Firulete, the first Argentine tango newsletter, and hosted weekly tango dance parties plus a tango radio program.

Through most of the nineteen nineties, ALBERTO developed long lasting friendships with and benefitted from the guidance and linfluence of Orlando Paiva, Eduardo Arquimbau, Rodolfo Cieri, Carlos Gavito and other great 'bailarines de tango.'

From early 1990 ALBERTO PAZ, was a broadcaster, a historian and a lecturer all over the United States, researching and studying the history of the Tango music and dance. In April 1997 ALBERTO PAZ and his dance partner VALORIE HART, a ballet trained with off-Broadway and summer stock dancing experience with a unique quality for dancing and teaching Argentine Tango, traveled to Buenos Aires to study for a teaching career with renowned master Mingo Pugliese. Upon their return to the US they began touring the country developing a clear and fair methodology for teaching based on the circular structure of the dance. They have been successful in promoting the authentic form of Argentine tango dancing in communities from Anchorage to Dallas, from Honolulu to New York, From Chicago to New Orleans and scores of cities in between.

Since 1997 they have organized an annual tango festival in Reno first and for the last four years in New Orleans. Since May 2002 they have toured various European countries every year receiving praise for their solid understanding of technique and their clear and fair method of delivery.

ALBERTO and VALORIE are well known for successfully developing a logical process to introduce, review and reinforce the essential elements of the structure of the dance, the codes and protocols associated with it, and the rituals that define the personal styling that characterizes a "bailarin de tango."ALBERTO and VALORIE cover basic, intermediate, and advanced technique, floor craft, and music awareness. Their classes are specifically designed to move beyond step collection, overcome short attention span, and correct the bad habits that result from imitation.
They use the Buenos Aires workshop method to optimize the learning process and raise the bar of excellence. ALBERTO and VALORIE provide individual attention matching each participant's level of expertise in a non-judgmental, welcoming, and nurturing network of support and encouragement in order to give everyone plenty of opportunities to advance at their own pace and as far as they wish.

In addition, they publish El Firulete, the Argentine Tango magazine, and are the authors of the inspirational series Tango, Our Dance, which is available on line at Planet Tango's web site.
Mingo Pugliese is a disciple of Carlos Alberto Estevez, better known as Petroleo, widely recognized as one of the innovators of Tango in the dawn of the Golden Era.

No comments: