[Tango-A] NA-C:New Years in Mt Vernon with Chas and Gaia

[Karen Whitesell]

Hi all, greetings from Missouri.  Please join us for an extravagant New Year's Eve Weekend tango Party.  I call it a Mini Meet in the Middle.  Not mini when it comes to talent though, I have asked Chas and Gaia of The Tango House in Denver to give us some classes and entertain us for the public.  

Get out of town and come to the country.  A whole weekend of dancing, eating, socializing, and celebrating an up and coming new year.   You'll think you're in Buenos Aires, when you walk up the stairs...

see flyer at: 
http://www.thelearningdepot.com/murrays-1/tangoevent.htm

Chas has descrbed his classes:  Friday night Dec 29 7:00 pm Technique for ALL LEVELS. Figures and Elements will be offered that are appropriate for every experience level in attendance. Your capacity to maintain a good connection during a variety of motions WILL be challenged REGARDLESS of the time you've spent in tango. This in fact is the definition of "technique". The reason every instructor worth his or her tango shoes wants to teach technique is because they know that everyone has room for improvement. They know in fact that technique is all there is to know about tango - that those (instructors AND students) who focus on patterns will never know the true joy of the tango. Tango-by-rote holds back not only the individual but can hold back an entire community. The common fallacy is "I've had that before." Or "I'm tired of just walking". The reality is that a sharp instructor can identify a seemingly minor issue that will improve a person's tango radically. We provide coaching. We show easy, enjoyable, unique, musical and socially responsible figures as tools to expose where you need help no matter where you are in your tango development. EVERYONE belongs in this workshop! We hope you will look at this opportunity as a prerequisite for the subsequent workshops.
8:30-11:30 pm  Practica  Private classes available on the Mezzanine

Sat Dec 30 

Class 10 am-11:30 am Show Tango 101, ALL LEVELS

"Show Tango" works best when it doesn't look choreographed. We want to see the same sensuous passion in a performance that we feel when we dance the tango. As a spectator, if we notice the choreography the tango can lose the essential sensations that draw us to it in the first place. It becomes cold and insincere. There are two tricks to good show tango. One is "Emotional Projection". To project outwardly the feelings that in "social" tango we reserve for ourselves and our partner - to expose our feelings so to speak to onlookers. This can be difficult for many but the good news is that it doesn't require big, elaborate, fancy figures. It simply requires an understanding of the kind of motion that will result in greater emotional impact on spectators. We will offer choices for performance. Some you have seen, some you have not. More usefully though, we will show you how to make simple adjustments to the tango choices you are already making to impress an audience not necessarily with gymnastics, but with passion.

The second trick to good show tango is "Musicality". Who hasn't seen a well rehearsed performance that included all the bells and whistles but left a ho-hum response? The performers sacrificed Emotion and/or Musicality in favor of big figures. Even more important in show tango than social tango, relevance to the music is essential for the greatest impact. 

Here then is more good news. The two most important "tricks" to effective show tango, both raise the bar for good technique! This track is for EVERYONE. "Show Tango 101 & 102" WILL improve your social tango and for most the improvement will be profound. Please don't avoid the sessions because you don't plan to do any demos. Also please don't avoid them because you are "advanced". The more experience you have in tango, the more available you will be to small adjustments that will greatly enhance your rewards.

Lunch 12-1:30 catered in

Class 1:30-3:00 Milonga de Chas y Gaia, ALL LEVELS

Milonga is the frivolous side of tango - the childish and the playful. It is the Pogo stick in an otherwise more sophisticated arsenal of toys. And like the Pogo stick, it can be a little more challenging. Chas & Gaia are considered "Milonga Specialists". We have achieved this distinction simply by focusing on the small differences in technique that account for Happy Milongas. We will share these techniques and as with tango, offer elements that serve to better instill good technique in our bodies.

We will find more challenging places to use the traspie. We will see how the music can help greatly in determining which type of traspie to use. We will see how "patterns" create themselves as a wonderful consequence of a functional connection.

Attendees in our milonga workshops have discovered the rich choices available and want more. This is a coaching session for all levels. If you are brand new to milonga you will establish a solid foundation. If you have lots of experience you will learn how to achieve the exciting and fun elements you see from the very best dancers of milonga. 

3:-5:00 Practica Private classes available on the Mezzanine

Sat night 7:00 pm Dinner Catered, 8:30 Performance, 9:00 Milonga 

Sunday Dec 31

11-12:30 Brunch  Catered 

12:30-1:30 Review Practica

1:30-3:00 Class Show Tango 102, ALL LEVELS

Please see the description for the Show Tango track above.

3:30-5:00 Class Vals: The Tango That Flies , ALL LEVELS

The unique character of vals (tango waltz) comes entirely from the timing. Done well, the vals soars with a wonderful sensation. We will show experienced and new dancers alike how to get this exhilarating feeling out of the vals. We make it a point to present material that challenges the most skilled dancers in the group, while providing new and interesting choices for everyone. Vals should "fly" and we can "fly" in very little space IF we bring proper technique. It's not the choices or elements of The Vals that make it different than tango but the rhythm. Manipulated with Dynamic Intention, the vals rhythm can create a floating sensation that we are sure, with just a little more oomph would allow us to defy gravity. All tango elements and figures fit into the vals rhythm, but vals is not vals if the rich rhythm variations are ignored. This class will focus on the vals rhythm and how we mold what we already know to it. The unique vals rhythm used in harmony with dynamic intention will let you soar. Come let us help you get your wings.

5:30-6:30 Practica Private classes available on the Mezzanine

8:00 pm  Soup and Salad 9:00 pm Milonga

12:00 New year's Eve Champagne toast/Dessert

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You have noticed that all our workshops are for "ALL LEVELS". We have come to realize that "beginner", "intermediate" and "advanced" are all but totally arbitrary terms. The reality is that every tango dancer needs the same information to improve: Technique. That does not mean "just walking". Walking, as with every tango element is not the goal but the consequence of good technique. We have developed proven procedures that lead tango dancers of all levels systematically to more rewarding tangos in more lasting and more meaningful ways. We consider the creation of a workable foundation to be not the most important thing, but the only thing and the thing that is missing in North American tango. We believe that to have the greatest impact in any workshop we need to reach the greatest number, and the widest experience level possible. For this reason we design our workshops to be appropriate for the newest among you while helping the most experienced improve that vital technique. Our workshops are coaching sessions and the figures we show are chosen to challenge tango dancers to achieve the highest technique. We guarantee that everyone will be sufficiently challenged in these workshops. If necessary, we will divide the groups for more effective training.

Price: $170 Friday through Sunday--5 classes, 4 meals, 4 practicas, 2 unending milongas

Separate Pricing: Friday= $40 Sat and Sun = $150. Sat=$100, Sun=$100, Sat night dinner/dance $45, Sun dinner/dance $45. Each class/meal or milonga $25 ea. Practicas are free with class. 

Call or Email Karen 417-471-1001 ASAP. Space is limited.  

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