[Tango-A] NA-W: 3 Week Notice: Denver Tango Festival

[Tom Stermitz]

Dear Tango Friends:

9th Memorial Day Weekend DENVER TANGO FESTIVAL :
  - May 21 - 25, 2009.
  - Early arrival workshops by Daniel Trenner on Thursday, May 21.
  - Lots of cheap Denver flights.
  - Doubletree Hotel $89/night +tax with free hotel shuttle.

TANGO FESTIVAL: "BY DANCERS; FOR DANCERS"

  - Come join the friendly Denver Tango Dancers and your friends from  
past festivals.
  - We expect attendance to be in the 300 - 400 range.
  - See Class and Milonga schedule http://tango.org/2009memsched
  - Register at http://tango.org/2009memfest


WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THE DENVER TANGO FESTIVALS?

Workshops are oriented to SOCIAL tango dancing, not STAGE tango. The  
level is generally pretty high, and many advanced dancers will be  
attending workshops. This is where you meet and get to know partners  
for dancing later at the milongas. Workshop gender ratios are very  
close to 50/50.

Special focus this year on history of tango, with rare selections from  
Daniel Trenner's extensive collection of videos and archival material.  
Daniel's collection includes videos and interviews with a number of  
well-known historic and current figures from tango.

The jewel of course, will be the glorious Outdoor Milonga in the  
Cheesma Park Pavilion sponsored by Tango Colorado.


DANIEL TRENNER and the TANGO REVIVAL OF THE 1990s

Daniel Trenner, the featured, early-arrival teacher for Memorial Day  
2009, has often been called the "Pied Piper of Tango" in the United  
States, because he was so foundational to the development of argentine  
tango across the country. Daniel made extensive national tours  
starting in the mid-1990s, with the result that tango exploded beyond  
a small base in a few large cities, (LA, NY and San Francisco). He was  
probably the single most effective community builder for tango in the  
US if you look at how many cities, dancers, teachers, organizers and  
communities he touched and inspired.

Daniel  launched the careers of numerous tango teachers and  
organizers, both US and Argentine. His Tango Seminars in Buenos Aires  
introduced foreigners to an older generation of tango dancers, and  
awakened them to an awareness of "how they dance tango" in the  
milongas of Buenos Aires. His video series documented the ideas and  
styles of numerous famous dancers from Buenos Aires, many of whom he  
also brought to the US for festivals or tours.

Daniel was no stranger to controversy, offering several challenges to  
the traditional concept of tango:
  - He famously criticized the teaching methodology of the 8 count  
basic, suggesting that improvisational methods would be more effective.
  - He challenged the emphasis on learning tango using show tango  
sequences, by teaching tango as an improvised social dance.
  - He introduced the concept of swapping roles for leader and  
follower, both as a learning technique, and within the dance itself.
  - He challenged traditional styles of tango by bringing in concepts  
from West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop and Salsa.

DANIEL's CLASSES

Daniel will present several seminars on tango history: discussing  
music for social dancers, the history of tango, and the history of the  
tango revival. These seminars will draw from his extensive historical  
archives collected when he ran the CD and Video store "The Tango  
Catalogue".


HOW TO SIGN UP:

(1) Register at http://tango.org
(2) Payment through Paypal or check to : LEM, LLC
(3) Book the Festival Hotel "Denver Doubletree":  Code "TAN"  
303-321-3333
(4) Book your flight: United, Frontier and SouthWest have hubs in  
Denver.


ABOUT THE MEMORIAL DAY TANGO FESTIVAL IN DENVER

  - 7 Buenos Aires style milongas, Line-of-dance, Tandas and Curtinas
  - 2 Classes per day from Thursday to Sunday
  - Outdoor BBQ and Milonga by Tango Colorado at Cheesman Park Pavilion

This is another "Tango Festival For Dancers, By Dancers", which means  
everything is designed with the dancers in mind. Dance floors will be  
arranged with tables around the edge so walkers don't disturb the line  
of dance. The floors will be crowded, but courteous. Expect two or  
three lanes and Buenos Aires style floorcraft. DJs will play tandas  
with curtinas.

Most people are familiar with and use the cabeceo to get dances, and  
the teachers will emphasize navigation and floorcraft in their classes.


WHAT'S DIFFERENT AND SPECIAL ABOUT THE DENVER TANGO FESTIVALS?

Workshops are oriented to SOCIAL tango dancing, not stage tango. The  
level is generally pretty high, and many advanced dancers will be  
attending workshops. This is where you meet and get to know partners  
for dancing later at the milongas.

Please see the class schedule for a list of all the classes and  
teachers. This is still preliminar, meaning that specific classes and  
teachers may shift around.


EARLY PRICING
  - Milonga Pass $75 (All 7 milongas)
  - Workshop Pass $90 (4 classes)
  - Festival Pass $155 (All 7 milongas and 4 classes)
  - Saturday Arrival Pass $135 (4 milongas and 4 classes)
  - Additional Classes $35/day (2-classes)

Tom Stermitz
stermitz at tango.org
Denver, CO, 80207