Spring Tango in Atlanta
March 29th - April 1st 2007
Southern hospitality, dogwoods, azaleas and...Tango!
An event organized by dancers for dancers,
featuring nationally recognized treachers and DJ's
All Events will be held at the Holiday Inn Select
in downtown Decatur
130 Clairemont Ave. Decatur, GA 30030 404-371-0204
All the info at Atlanta Tango Festival
MIAMI 2007
TANGO FANTASY FESTIVAL
The largest and longest tango festival in the world outside of Argentina!
Once again this year, Tango Fantasy presents TWO Masters of Tango Shows!
(Sunday, May 27 and Saturday, June 2).
Tango Fantasy Festival 2007 will have 10 "Taxi Dancers" imported directly from Argentina to dance with all the ladies at our 9 nightly Milongas and also assist with daily workshops.
This fabulous benefit is for all female registrants.
An authentic "Milonguero" from Buenos Aires will conduct special workshops.
More news and registration form on our flyer. Call us to be added to our mailing list.
The teaching schedule from last year will show you how it works. The schedule for 2007 will be posted when finalized - but the format will remain the same.
By Néstor Pinsón (from Todo Tango)
Gradually permanent street stands were installed and soon the number of boys agile and strong to run along the streets a race against time came to spread as soon as possible the impact of news, many times exaggerated or half made-up. The boys found their task restrained by the abundant presence of kids; it was a time of misery, of an alarming lack of jobs, so the kids brought the possibility to get some more cents for their income to many families. Furthermore they were sought after because they were faster and more daring than the older ones.
They swiftly got up and got off streetcars -their preferred vehicle-, they left one and immediately caught another, without caring for its direction and making exclusive use of their intuition for sale.
A new character had appeared in the landscape of the city of Buenos Aires and quickly the same happened in the cities of the interior of the country. But the street newsboy had not still the name that distinguished him in a special way. We had to wait until 1904 for that.
The word "canilla" derives from the Latin word "canella" that is the diminutive of "canna", cane in Spanish. The dictionary defines the term: "the long bone of legs and arms".
On January 17th, 1875 Florencio Sánchez was born in Montevideo.
Since he was 16 he devoted to journalism working for different Uruguayan media and when he was still very young he decided that his future was in theater, he dreamed of becoming a playwright.
He arrived for the first time in Buenos Aires in 1892. In La Plata he worked as clerk in an office where the boss was Juan Vucetich, a famous police official and inventor of the fingerprint system (1858-1925). His first works were written in this city. In 1902 he traveled to Rosario, province of Santa Fe, to work as editor-in-chief in the newspaper La República founded by Lisandro de la Torre.
The world of journalism inspired him and he wrote a theater play, a small one-act play with three scenes. The main character is a boy who sells newspapers. He was looking for a title, but he was touched by one of the Rosario boys with extremely thin legs. Spontaneously the word "canillita" sprang up and so he named his play.
A Spanish theater company devoted to zarzuelas, the one led by Enrique Lloret, agreed to stage it. It was premiered on October 1, 1902. The main role was carried out by the "tiple" (soprano or treble voice) of the group, a certain Mrs. Iñíguez, according to what is written in the program that detailed the cast. "Tiple" is the highest human voice, typical of women and children.
The play was staged to great acclaim, to such an extent that it was performed for twelve consecutive nights. By that time, Florencio was in need of money, he lived nearly in misery. Furthermore he longed for marrying his one and only fiancée, who finally became his wife.
In 1903, he met the actor and impresario Jerónimo Podestá who premiered his title: "M'hijo el Dotor" to great acclaim.
Due to this he dared to suggest the company staging his one-act play "Canillita" in Buenos Aires. By that time there were no children acting at plays, instead young women that possessed that ability played the part of kids. The chosen one was who would be later the famous actress Blanca Podestá.
The repercussion of "Canillita" was beyond the expectations. Critics wrote praising the play. The "newsboys" fully identified themselves with the name. Then, of common accord with the artists, a performance with free admission for all the newspaper vendors was organized. The event took place at the Teatro Comedia, the one located on Carlos Pellegrini Street, between Cangallo and Cuyo (now Presidente Perón and Sarmiento). The appointment was on a Sunday at 2:30 pm. The attendance exceeded the capacity of the room and noisily celebrated the simple lines of the pieces that were sung and they even tried to take part in the play when the police arrested the "canillita". They did not see the difference between fiction and reality yet, like in the old days happened with the play "Juan Moreira".
Florencio had tuberculosis, and as he had saved some money he traveled to Europe. But just like in tango, his ill body did not resist any longer. He was taken to the "Fate bene Fratelli" hospital of Milano where he died on November 7, 1910. Years later that day was consecrated as "El Día del Canillita" (The Newsboy Day) as homage to our dear Florencio Sánchez.
There are other data that tried to explain the meaning of the word, some of them rooted in popular beliefs, according to each case. It was said that this nickname was born when in wintertime somebody saw the kids with their noses dripping like a faucet. (Canilla also means faucet in Spanish)
In 1957 in the readers' letters section published in the newspaper La Nación, a Uruguayan gentleman, old distributor of papers, regarded himself as the creator of the term. He recalled in the letter, that at the turn of the nineteenth century he had a vendor kid, son of a woman called María Canilla. On one occasion that he had to call him from a certain distance and as he did not know his name, he shouted "Canillita". Later the term was applied for all newspaper vendors.
A couple of articles published some years before chronicle the life of María E. de Ísola, known at her time as "La China María". She died in 1934 at age 82. He was regarded as the first woman who sold newspapers, always near or based at the corner of Rivadavia and 25 de Mayo.
Florencio Sánchez in his play "Canillita", with poetic simplicity, describes the features of the character when in the first scene the latter appears on stage and begins to sing the following quatrains:
| Soy canillita Algo travieso Soy embustero Muy mal considerado no soy pillete | (I am a newsboy a guy that's funny with little money And quite poor clothes.) (A bit mischievous (I'm a big liar (Though many here (Not a rascal, I say |
The second scene begins with a "pasacalle". So is called in the Spanish género chico when before a secondary or short curtain, a musical scene takes place while time is made for the change of clothes and scenography. They are five quatrains sung by several kids, the best are the first three:
| Vendemos los diarios La Nación, La Prensa Llevamos nosotros | (We sell newspapers in this city, in streets and squares, cheap places and barrooms...) (La Nación, La Prensa (We satisfy |
Movies were as well concerned with this issue. On June 26, 1936 the film "Canillita" was premiered, with the actors Gregorio Cicarelli, Benita Puértolas (mother of the remembered TV conductor Héctor Coire), Lopecito and the singers Amanda Ledesma and Príncipe Azul. The Pedro Maffia Orchestra played a tango with the same name composed by Julio César Sanders and Daniel López Barreto, with lyrics by César Felipe Vedani.
On June 8, 1938 the movie "El canillita y la dama" was premiered, with Luis Sandrini and Rosita Moreno, directed by Luis César Amadori.
Tango, as it was quite likely, gave birth to many pieces about this subject and with the same title.
Besides the above-mentioned, there are other tangos "Canillita": one composed by Carlos Pibernat, recorded by Julio De Caro on October 22, 1925; another by Francisco Canaro, who firstly recorded it with his orchestra on March 31, 1936 and later with his Quinteto Pirincho on December 19, 1956. The Cuarteto del Centenario recorded it as well in 1978.
There are, besides, three written pieces that were hardly committed to record, one composed by Alfonso Gallardo, another by H. Toto and lastly, one by Osmán Pérez Freire with lyrics by Antonio Viergol.
As well the brothers Enrique and Carlos Saborido published a piece titled "Caras
y caretas", and subtitled "El canillita".
Another tango "Canillita canillita", even though in some discographies appears as "Canillita", was composed by Tomás De Bassi and Antonio Botta. It was recorded on December 29, 1925 by Agustín Magaldi, that same year was also recorded by the Osvaldo Fresedo orchestra and in 1928 by Sofía Bozán with the orchestra led by Francisco Pracánico.
Besides other titles concerning this subject, we end this note mentioning the t
rue homage meant by the tango "Para vos canilla" written by Horacio Quintana and Gutiérrez Martín. It was recorded by Rubén Juárez with the Carlos García orchestra, in his first record in 1969 and, later, reprised by Hugo del Carril with the orchestra led by Armando Pontier on July 7, 1971.
By Abel Palermo (from Todo Tango)
He was a pianist with the rhythmical tango school of the greats, with a good orchestral sense besides his capabilities as soloist. He made his debut at age 16 on Radio Argentina and from 1940 to 1942 he played in the orchestra led by Miguel Zabala "Zabalita" whose vocalist was Carlos Casares.
In 1943 he was summoned by Emilio Balcarce to join the brilliant orchestra that backed Alberto Castillo in his premiere as soloist. On December 7, 1943 they recorded the tango "Manoblanca" and the waltz "Luna de arrabal" for the Odeon record label.
The team Castillo-Balcarce recorded 20 pieces, and the work carried out by Paz on piano and Julio Ahumada as lead bandoneon was of the greatest importance.
But the stage in which he would demonstrate all his musical capacity would take place between 1945 and 1954, in the unforgettable Francini-Pontier orchestra lined up by Ángel Domínguez, Nicolás Parracino, Juan Salamone on bandoneons; Pedro Samartino, Aquiles Aguilar and Mario Lalli on violins; on cello, Adriano Fanelli and Rafael del Bagno on double bass. The leaders Enrique Mario Francini and Armando Pontier played as well violin and bandoneon respectively and the arrangements were written by Argentino Galván.
On November 10, 1952 he was invited by the record company Pampa to lead an orchestra to accompany the singer Alberto Podestá for the recording of the tangos "Alma de bohemio" and "En el olvido". The latter composed by Andrés Falgás with lyrics by José María Contursi.
In the late 1955 the orchestra was dismembered and tango suffered the disappearance -according to my opinion- of one of the most important aggregations in its history. After that each one of the leaders formed his own orchestra and on November 3, 1955 Francini with his orchestra recorded for RCA-Victor the Eduardo Arolas' tango "La trilla" as an instrumental, and with Podestá on vocals, "Petit salón" written by Vicente Demarco and Silvio Marinucci. Paz was the piano player and the arranger, while the other members were musicians of a remarkable level: Julio Ahumada, Alfredo Marcucci, Marcelo Yopolo, Victor Lavallén, Dino Saluzzi, on bandoneons; Francini, José Amatraián, Emilio González, Enrique Rodríguez, Mauricio Marcelli and Alfredo Terré, on violins; José Bragato on cello and on the double bass, Rafael del Bagno. The arrangements for the numbers sung by Roberto Rufino are excellent: "Melodía oriental" and "Espérame en el cielo".
In the mid- 1959 the orchestra was disbanded and our pianist is again summoned by the Pampas label, this time, to lead an orchestra to back the female singer Elsa Rivas in her recordings.
Two years later he joined, in his double role as pianist and arranger, the Joaquín Do Reyes Orchestra. In 1962 he temporarily replaced maestro Horacio Salgán in the Quinteto Real.
In 1963 he joined the staff orchestra of Radio Splendid conducted by maestro Ángel Domínguez. Later he led the group that accompanied the singer Miguel Montero for a rather long time.
In 1968 he appeared at the café-concert La Calle with a quartet lined up by the bandoneonist Antonio Marchese, the guitarist Héctor Davis and Pablo Piazza on bass.
He was not a composer of big hits but he wrote good pieces: the most well-known were "A mí no me hablen de tango", with lyrics by José María Contursi; "No matarás", with Eugenio Majul; "Los días pasarán", with Carlos Bahr; "Calesita de barrio" and the waltz "Cerraste los ojos", with José Otero and the instrumentals "A pedido" and the milonga "Tamborilera."
Regrettably, at age 49, he died of a heart attack when he was working in the summer season in the city of Mar del Plata. So was gone this great friend, loved and admired by all his fellow musicians and those that were lucky to know him.
By Natalia Lifchitz
translated by Dolores Iglesias Rocha
The bandoneón and the tango are almost inseparable, an ideal couple, two faces of the same coin. From the songs dedicated to the instrument to the opinion of experts, it is unquestionable the inveterate ligature that has been established starting with the approach of the "fueye" (bellows, slang for bandoneón), between it and the music that cradled it, incorporating it immediately.
Gold Cradle?
In spite the fact that there are diverse versions about the birth of the bandoneón, the strongest says that its invention was in charge of the German Heinrich Band (originally from Hamburg) in the year 1835. The wind instrument, composed by a bellows, with a wooden box and keyboard with forty four buttons, was at first created with the purpose of cheering up the Bavarian peasants and also, to supplant the organ, though supporting its solemnity in the countryside masses. The bandoneón way then, at first played a more sacrum roll rather than artistic, that is why some compare it to the harmonium.
Its the first denomination -band-union- naturally derived from the creator's last name and apparently, a sort of cooperative in charge of solventing its fabrication.
Its following names were bandonión, bandolión, bandoleón, mandolín and mandoleón.
The first samples arrived in Buenos Aires at the end of the nineteenth century, presumably around 1870. The versions on its arrival also vary: apparently it was introduced by a German sailor (although there are those who say that he could have been English or Brazilian). Some assure that it was José Santa Cruz, one of Mitre´s soldiers that was coming back from a victorious war of the Triple Alliance, the first one who played the instrument since he might have obtained it from a barter for clothes and victuals, done the deal with a blond crewman from a German freight-carrier moored to the Rio de la Plata.
Now the question would be why did the bandoneón failed in its native land and had, instead such favorable welcome in this region. One possible answer would be that "a new intrument like this one, was destined to failure in such an old town, and it was precisely this particular young and turbulent land who inserted a heart into that small wooden box, turning it into the tango's sonorous spokesman, in its own soul.
"Like a child whose mother has abandoned"
At the beginning, the first bandoneones with forty-four or fifty-three knobs performed tango without accompaniment in intimate parties of family ones. It was Domingo Santa Cruz (son of José, the soldier) who incorporated it to the musical ensemble. The tangos were performed by flutes tercets, guitar and violin. Occasionally the accordion or mandolín and the harmonic were included.
Later, when included the bandoneón, it began displacing the flute until it took a stand and became the star of the ensemble.
Some changes were also made on the button knobs, the instrument evolved including seventy one keys (that is thirty eight buttons on the singing box and thirty three on the lower one) becoming diatonic, that means that it would play different sounds when it was opened and when closing it. According to Zucchi "the bandoneón has a dual artistic feature: when opening the bellows, its sonority is brilliant and clear, but when closed it sounds extinct, muffled, as well as noisy and quarrelsome, as if they were fighting between beatitude and the malindraje".
The country that purchased most of the bandoneones (mostly manufactured, in general, by the German Alfred Arnold) since 1922 until 1930 was Argentina, and the instrument in the advertisement proclaimed to be "the ideal one for a perfect interpretation of argentine tango".
With the inclusion of the instrument in the tango, this last one earned more harmonic richness richness and varied the role of the rest of the instruments, and to its influence it adopted a more deep grumbling tone due to the "sonorous" color of the bandoneón, and basically varied its rhythm.
Since the bandoneón was a totally unknown instrument, there was no previous experience in order to make possible the application of resources originated from other musical genres. But, it had the capacity of being an instrument willing to learn and mold, and that is precisely what made possible its quick affirmation and consolidation in tango, and improntu creative performance typically Creole.
At first, the teaching of the instrument was rather difficult, considering that there existed no competent teachers, and the conservatories considered that it was degrading to include it as a subject. Once the experienced executants would learn the pieces "by ear", that would pass them on to the beginners, teaching them the hand settings, not knowing which note corresponded to such key, being their only guide the ciphers on each knob. Considering this, it was even possible to "pass on" a piece by mail (letter).
"Its the one that expresses what I want to say"
There is no doubt that it is difficult to try to explain in a rational way the relationship between the tango composer and the tango. In any case, it would be more judicious to suggest poetically an idea of this wise and profound communion between them.
Ever since the beginning, it has been established a relationship between them, a relationship of mutual forsakes: both accompany each other in solitude. The bandoneón stops being a simple musical instrument, to replace the inseparable singer and the poet. Both share a deep sorrow, a dark anguish, a restrained cry, the cry that can only come out if certain poetry is supported by the sweet and sonorous melody of the bandoneón. Its the instrument that traduces most faithfully sleepless nights and the grief of the poet, its it who with its melancholic and deaf complaints intones the pain impossible to even name with words.
Its notorious and persistent the personification of the figure of the bandoneón in the very many songs that name it (Calla bandoneón! ...calla por favor!).
Clearly the bandoneón is neither for the poets or interpreters a simple instrument, but a friend, which can comprehend, and can also be the voice, whether its what one's voice can no longer intone, the ring and tone that complement the voice with a griefless perfection.
It is also the witness, sometimes mute of the poets sorrow and always, in comparison to the traitor woman, its loyal and faithful to its interpreter.
It has in itself the dichotomy, the sadness and sweetness, expresses the deep melancholy of the tango and exalts it to its limits. Without him, the tango would lack of its most deep and plaintive notes.
Cries the bandoneón, and so does the tango when they get together, it is there where thay acquire the style, its true nostalgic spirit, the broken melody, there dwells its charm, in the profound grief of the bandoneón.
Glossary:
Definition:
Portable wind instrument of single with notes vertical keys (chord-keys free) operated by a bellows played with both hands on the right and left side of the bellows.
There exist chromatic models, on which by pressing a key the sound is the same, whether when opening it or when closing the bellows, an achromatic bi-sonorous, in which by pressing one same key will emit two different notes according to whether its while opening it or by closing the bellows, this is why the chords vary.
Accordeón: Cretaed in Viena, Austria in 1829 by Cyrillus Damián . In our country it was known since Juan Manuel de Rosas´s epoch and the black musician Jorge Machado would play it in the wild milongas in San Telmo.
Concertina: The date of its creation is uncertain, and it is due to the fact that the German Carl Uhling, luthier and clarinet solo player. For each key, whether when closing or opening the bellows, one would obtain a different note which would constitute the germ of the creation of the bi-sonorous.
By Edgardo Ritacco
translated by Dolores Iglesias Rocha
Tango has always been a young phenomenon.
The splendor of its composers (Eduardo Arolas, Vicente Greco, Agustín Bardi, to name some of the few) took place in the post-adolescent era.
At first, tango was impudent, optimistic, immensely creative, subtly violent, unstoppable.
Curiously, the first that threw some cold water to such fervor of fueyes and feverish raptures were the ones that were then called “los de la guardia nueva” (the new generation).
Julio De Caro was not inflexible. On the contrary. His orchestra could get in the ring with the music stands and musical scores. Many looked at him as if he were weird. What did the tango have to do with all that paper work, like the director once said, if there would be a wind stroke, would the musicians be clueless?
As a paradox, when the guardia nueva began to settle down, the tango started loosing fire, the improvisation and the surprise of the heroic times. But in those times, (20´s decade, beginning of 30´s), its protagonists were still young.
The last half of the 30´s decade showed the first decay of tango. All of a sudden the death of Gardel, followed by the death of Agustín magaldi, held back fire from the singer’s bonfire, and the people began to withdraw their support. The orchestras were living hard times: pro-men like Osvaldo Fresedo, for example, would come back from the United States with their ears filled with Jazz, and from the boxes would create a spectacle of three foreign songs for each tango.
Only Juan D´Arienzo riding the excessive pride rhythmic back of his extraordinary pianist Rodolfo Biaggi, would fight the match without giving or asking for a truce.
But when starting the 40´s the great porteño scenario had already been staged. The bleechers and cafés were flooded with orchestras. There was a time when there were almost 300 orchestras playing simultaneously in the different neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. The most popular names were downtown. The rest were spread throughout the neighborhoods, trying to earn merit so as to enter the small circuit in the heart of the city. “I would not go beyond Patricios and Pompeya – the inmense Horacio Salgán recognized one day to the journalist – We had to do our homework very well, so as to be able to loom downtown.”
But the 40´s were not the result of the first youth. The protagonists were already around their thirties and forties. There was no longer the rebelliousness of Arolas, nor the genial unconsciousness of Gobbi senior. Everything had been changed for everyone’s own style, the orchestration plus the growth of the singers, which were no longer chansonniers to become one more instrument in the orchestras.
The 40´s was the explosion of tango. But rather a nostalgic explosion: many plots talked about the past that will never come again, like the magic 1920 that A pan y agua proclaims; he names guapos (studs) that no longer inhabited the porteño streets, they mourn the genre becoming more French-like (“eras un varón / sencillo y compadrón / de una palabra sola / rimaba tu cantar / con la emoción triunfal / del bandoneón de Arolas / pero empezó tu decadencia / cuando te dieron tanta ciencia / y hoy rezongándote cabrero / un lagrimón fulero / enturbia tu canción”, Tango de otros tiempos complains).
The 40´s tango was a dance hall tango, a tango with extraordinary musicians ( the sprout of Aníbal Troilo, the stylish adjustments of Osvaldo Pugliese, the mixture of stars with Miguel Caló, the notorious impetus of Ricardo Tanturi, the strength of D´Arienzo, the experimenting of Francini-Pontier, the canyengue precision of Alfredo Gobbi). And also the explosion of the tango singers, that may as well have a chapter of their own. But was already a middle age phenomenon.
Today, after the long night of the second decadence of tango (60´s and 70´s decades, over all), young people have come around and gotten closer to tango and its compass, to its ritual and its dance. They do it their own way, with a seal of their own, mixing Piazzolla with the primitive bands with flute and guitar, deconstructing it a bit and also respecting another bit. Maybe that is why it is now again a phenomenon of the most powerful years, the resurrection of tango may be more real than ever.
At last.
Article from ABCTango
Who Can do this Class ?
This class is suitable for dancers who are familiar with Course 3 (Medium 1 course) content at the VERY MINIMUM (usually takes at least 18 months of dancing) OR with at least 3 years dance experience.
You need to attend this class with a dance partner (if you want to attend this class then ask someone to do it with you, and if you have trouble finding a dance partner for this class then use the E-Group) - we will swap partners as usual during the class.
Price
£8 (£5 concession)
CAMBRIDGE TANGO
Milonga this Saturday
night in the Kings Hall, Market Harborough beginning at 8pm and going on
until at least 11pm.
There will be the usual mix of good buffet food, a welcoming glass of
excellent wine or beer on arrival and great tandas of tango, vals and milonga
throughout the evening.
In addition, the bandoneonista Joaquin Amenábar will be performing live for
us to dance to at some stage in the evening since he is staying with us to
teach a full weekend workshop of Tango Musicality, his specialty.
So, how about nipping over from the chill Eastern steppes of Cambridgeshire
to sample some of the warmth of Leicestershire with us? You will be most
welcome.
Attached is a map to show where the Kings Hall is but basically you leave
the magnificent A14 at Junction 2, speed into the very centre of Market
Harborough on the A508, make towards Leicester and turn right just before the wide
Georgian High Street narrows to single file traffic. The car park on your
right is the 'back yard' of the Kings Hall.
£7 a head. How could you resist?
David and Judith
Tango Mercado
Thursday, January 18th
Intermediate Class by:
(from 8 to 9:30pm)
He can take any stage any space and make it his own.
A serious-minded professional dancer, ensemble member, or visionary choreographer. Angel has worked and studied with Carlos Gavito, Nito and Elba and Hector Zaraspe.
He has danced live at Manhattan's most illustrious venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Town Hall also shared his artistry with an appreciative worldwide audience, appearing on Good Morning America, Best Talk.
Angel's unique style in Argentine Tango, Milonga and Vals, and his encyclopedic knowledge of the Latin American Folkloric repertoire, plus a lively take on contemporary social dances including Salsa and Merengue, ensure that he's always in demand -- from the ballroom to the barrio, from Boston to Buenos Aires anywhere excellence is found.
We are proud of having Angel teaching again.
This Friday
Milonga
MOULIN ROUGE
Last one for 2006!
In 2007 the Moulin Rouge will be on the 3th Friday of the month
Put it in your agenda!
Prosecco, Prosecco, Prosecco!
Beginners Class
from 7 to 8pm by:
Juan Pablo
DJ
Yesim Sezer
"La Turca"
Argentinean slang word of the day:
JUNAR:
Ver, mirar disimuladamente, percibir.
Vigilar, reconocer, explorar, acechar, espiar.
Entender.
"To see, to watch, to look at in concealment, to perceive"
"To guard, to recognize, to explore, to ambush, lie in wait for, to spy"
"To understand"
Norwich tango
Friday Nights @ Thorpe Hamlet 1st School
7-10.30 pm £4 (£3 concessions)
Includes beginners and improvers lessons 7.30 - 8.30 followed by dancing. No partner or previous experience required just a pair of slippery-soled shoes (leather is ideal) Thorpe Hamlet 1st School
Telegraph Lane East, Norwich, NR1 4AN
Norwich Tango Constitution
Constitution
Email: info@ NorwichTango.com
Information: 07786 796478
Tango Oblivion
"The way I teach Tango focuses on finding your own centre, creating a point of energy within yourself, and connecting from there with another person without losing your own balance. For me, Tango is improvisatory, a place to dance your inner self. I always say: if you can walk, you can learn the Tango. If you feel you have two left feet but you always wanted to try out dancing, here's your chance."
Tango offers a unique place to find out about our presence, about how to communicate clearly without dominating, and about how to follow actively, without losing our own power. These are qualities that we need in our everyday life, especially if our work brings us into close contact with many people. Besides being fun, Tango can provide a 'playground' to sharpen our awareness and to practise our skills of interaction.
My worthy administrator, watching me from the side lines, comments on my teaching style as follows:
Feel the floor
Feel yourself
Feel the music
Feel the contact
Feel your partner
And . . . . . dance, dance, dance
United Free Church Hall (Sunday Practicas, 3rd level classes, various workshops and some special events)
Go up the little old shopping street in the centre of Town. 50 metres below the arch you will find the United Free Church on your left. Go through the white door on the side and reach the Church Hall at the end of a beautiful alleyway. I tell you, it's worth coming to the Practica just to experience the alleyway!
The Mansion (Monday evening classes)
The Mansion is situated in the Centre of Totnes. Just walk up the shopping street and you will find it opposite Lloyds Bank.
The Ariel Centre
The Ariel Centre is the Theatre space connected to KEVIC's, the comprehensive school in Totnes. You will find it on your left as you leave Totnes towards Dartington, just past the orange foot bridge.
The Barrel House (Rough guide to Tango and Dancing)
This is one of Totnes's pubs/restaurants, at the top of town, just above the market place on the right hand side. We will dance upstairs. The Barrel house serves good food, so bring enough money with you!
The Masonic Hall
Find the Market place in the upper part of the town. Facing the back of the Market place, you will see the Masonic Hall. It is an odd looking tall and lonely red brick building by the side of the path that leads to the big car parks.
St Mary's Church Hall
Take a little time to find this one if you haven't been there before! St. Mary's Church is the big red brick Church 100m below the market square on the high street. Just above the church, past the jewellers, is a little alleyway which leads you by the side of the Church. Walking along this alleyway, you will find at some point on your left an even smaller alleyway, which starts off with an iron gate underneath an archway. This will lead you to the Church hall.
The Totnes School of English
This one's easy to find: it's in the Arch with the clock tower, in the middle of the Town!
Birdwood House
Find the market place in Totnes. When you stand facing the market place, with the street in your back, Birdwood house is the first house on your right. the classes are taking place upstairs.
Elsewhere:
South Zeal Village Hall (Henry's Party & 3 days of workshops)
From Totnes, go up the A38 towards Exeter. Take the Bovey Tracey turn-off. Go to Bovey Tracey. Straight across two roundabouts will take you along the outskirts of Bovey Tracey and onto the A382 towards Moretonhampstead. Stay on that road for a good 20 minutes (beautiful!!!), through Moretonhampstead (sharp left turn but stay on the road) an on to Whiddon down. When you come to a little roundabout, follow the signs to South Zeal and Sticklepath. After a few miles, South Zeal is signed on the right hand side of the road. The Village hall is in the very centre of the village. It would be good to park on the car park a few hundred metres away from the Village hall. look out for signs to the car park, it is up a little road to the left.
From Exeter, go westwards on the A30 for about 20 minutes. On the first roundabout, go off and follow the signs to South Zeal.
Train and bus times to South Zeal:
Train London Paddington - Exeter (you and also take trains in the direction of Plymouth or Penzance) on Friday afternoons: (12.05-14.08), (12.18-14.56), (13.05-15.18), (15.05-17.30), (16.05-18.16), (16.35-19.15), (17.03-19.23), (17.33-20.11) - please double check nearer the time!
Tickets are cheaper if you buy in advance and ask for return tickets if you plan to return by train too. they are even cheaper if you travel already on the Thursday :-)
Click here for the train web site.
Bus from Exeter to South Zeal - (direction of Okehampton): 14.25, 15.25, 16.25, 16.55, 17.25, 17.55, 18.25, 19.40, 20.40, 21.40
My introduction to dancing Tango was a gift given to me over 7 years ago by a dear friend to whom I am forever grateful. It has changed my life forever since.
