Dance Workshop Descriptions | Music Workshop Description I Battle of the Bands | Milonga Costume Information | Private Lessons I Beginning Intensive Weekend I Location Info, including Directions, Parking, and Where to Eat I Los Divertidos Brunch and Greet
* Please note that there has been a change to the location of the Free Beginning Workshop on Thursday
at MIT. It will now be held in the Student Center rm 407. It will be easier for you to find,
since now it's in the same building as the milonga. *
Dance Workshop Descriptions
All levels
Everything you need to know to became an advanced dancer. (Florencia, Friday)
Groundedness, suspension, and use of center of gravity to generate movement and rhythm.
Florencia's note: This class is the most important to attend in order to understand the rest of them
and is really an all levels class, not just for beginners. The rest of my classes are built in progression.
Followers only: Drills and Embellishments (Tova and Carlos, Saturday)
Improve balance, strength, agility and articulation in your feet through the exercises in this class.
Working solo and in pairs, students will practice walking, ochos, giros, boleos, ganchos, lapices, curls,
and rhythm drills for fast, precise feet. Challenging for all levels of dancer. Flat shoes recommended.
Followers of both genders welcome. Best for dance levels Intermediate and up.
Leaders only: Body Awareness and Dissociation (Luis and Daniela, Saturday)
This is a workshop on fundamental concepts for leaders, leading to improved quality of movement and
a more consistent lead. We will work on development of awareness of the axes of the leader
and follower, dissociation techniques for enrosques, control of weight transfer, and body
awareness in the tango walk. Leaders of both genders welcome. Best for dance levels Intermediate
and up.
Beginning
Beginning Intensive Weekend (Tova and Carlos, Saturday and Sunday,
October 28-29)
Getting Comfortable with Tango (Felipe and Rosa, Thursday)
This workshops is for absolute beginners, with no tango experience. You will take your first tango
steps, and learn the basics for walking comfortably with your partner.
Intention and Connection (Korey and Mila, Friday)
Laying the groundwork for connected and expressive movement.
The Grapevine Turn (Nick, Saturday)
How to get into and out of the grapevine turn, and use it as a basis for more advanced movements.
Beginning/Intermediate
Beginning Milonga (Tova and Carlos, Friday)
Learn the basics of how to dance a milonga at a milonga.
(Milonga - May refer to the music, written in 2/4 time, or to the dance
which preceded the tango, or to the dance salon where
people go to dance tango, or to a tango
dance and party. Definition from tejastango.com.)
Dancing
to Different Orchestras (Robin and Jennifer, Sunday)
Secrets of the Embrace (Felipe and Rosa, Sunday)
Embrace technique and concepts
to lead and follow with ease and comfort as well as to adapt to the space and circumstances of
the different moves during the dance. For both, open and/or close positions. How to make smooth
transitions between different types of embrace.
Intermediate
Unusual and Unexpected Cortes in Milonga (Robin and Jennifer, Friday)
Rotations, Over-rotations & Turns (Florencia, Saturday)
Dissociation, control and release of the hip movement. Parallel & contrary directions.
Dancing to Alternative Music (Korey and
Mila, Saturday)
Korey and Mila will share insights and resources for tango dancers dancing to contemporary or non-tango music.
Syncopation (Luis and Daniela, Saturday)
In this workshop, we will study an important element in tango music: the syncopa. We will analyze the occurrence
of syncopa in each tango rhythm and explore how to develop syncopation in giros, sacadas, ganchos and boleos.
Argentine Spiced Milonga (Florencia, Sunday)
Different variations of milonga traspie.
Vals: Musicality and Turns (Felipe and Rosa, Sunday)
Get to understand the different possibilities within the vals rhythym and apply them to several turning
combinations to create a unique suspension and flowing feeling.
Intermediate/Advanced
Levantadas and Barridas (Nick, Friday)
Technique for dragging the follower's free leg to unexpected places by tracing a path either through the air or on the ground.
Dynamics, Subtleties and Nuances (Felipe and Rosa, Saturday)
Add suspense and flavor to your dance. Things that you don't see but make a diiference. Details
to enrich the dance from within and for your partner. Small variations on classic figures
to spice them up or create an enjoyable surprise or effect.
Circular Boleos (Florencia, Saturday)
Leading: Synchronizing contrary directions and timing. Following: Let go of the hips and free leg, big dissociation.
Single-Axis Turns for the Social Dance Floor (Robin and Jennifer, Sunday)
Modulation of the Dynamic Range to find the Fourier
Frequencies that Will Make Your Partner Go "Ahhhhhhh"
(Tova and Carlos, Sunday)
OK, we aren't going to talk about Fourier frequencies, but we will talk about
ways to change the speed and the quality of the movement to create an
interesting tango, even with the most basic vocabulary. We will play with
changes of dynamic using fundamental movements such as walking and weight
changes and progress to super-slow and super-fast ganchos and boleos.
Advanced
Sharing the Axis: Colgadas (Luis and Daniela, Friday)
In this workshop, we will work on shared-axis movement. We will develop concepts of weight awareness
and equilibrium through weight opposition and use these concepts to generate both linear and circular
colgadas.
Hybrid Ganchos (Korey and Mila, Sunday)
Sinuous, dynamic movements - this class draws from students' knowledge of linear boleos, ganchos, and sacadas.
Very Advanced - Sequences with Center Displacement (Florencia and Nick, Sunday)
Smooth colgadas to generate barridas and planeos, dynamic stops and back barridas.
Music Workshop Description
All levels
Tango Tool-kit (Korey and Ben, Saturday)
Practical skills for musicians leading tango bands: going from lead sheet to "arrangement" in 10 minutes,
tango counter melodies, harmonizing lines, tango bass lines, unison rhythms, and more.
Battle of the Bands
The world's first Battle of the Tango Bands will occur on Thursday, November 2, at MIT. Bands will each play a set of four songs with DJed music by Korey Ireland in between sets to keep the dancing going. The audience and three judges will vote on their favorite band (each judge's vote counts for 11 audience members). There will be prizes, including a day of recording, generously donated by Rear Window Recording Studio and a Tango Fake Book, donated by it's maker!
Dancers and audience members who want to vote must hear all of the bands. Voting tickets
will be given out upon arrival between 9-10pm. Voting can only be done after 11:45pm.
Here's the schedule:
10:00pm Tango Mucha Labia, Portland, ME
10:30pm Band on Pink Corner, Boston, MA
11:00pm Adriel Azure and his Dream Indigo Orchestra, Boston, MA
11:30pm Ben Bogart y los Gatos Azules, Providence, RI
The judges will be Milton Reder, guitarist (Four Piece Suit) and Rear Window Recording Studio owner, and triple-threat tango dancer, teacher, musicians Nick Jones (Denver) and Evan Griffiths (NYC).
Who should win? The point here is not to choose the band with the highest level of musicianship - although that is important - but to choose the band that is the best TO DANCE TO. What makes a band great to dance to? In our opinion they have to have a strong, driving beat with few tempo changes; they should play repertoire that is familar to dancers; and the music must have a good walking tempo (120bpm or faster). Bands should note that dancers don't necessarily appreciate clever arrangements - if you want to know why come to the music workshop on Saturday, November 4th!
Also, don't forget to show your support by dressing up as a band groupie! See below for more info...
Milonga Costume Info
Costumes are suggested at most of the milongas. It's fun to get into the spirit of Halloween and of the festival by wearing a costume - however, if you plan to dance, you must make sure that you can move easily in your costume. Here are some ideas to keep in mind...but before that,
Why all the costumes?
First, I must note that there's certainly no reason why you can't dress however you want all weekend - t-shirt and jeans all the way or a suit the whole time, no problem, there is no dress code! But here's a brief explanation of why costumes are encouraged: there's a collective joy and unity that we get out of seeing someone be creative, take a risk, and tango happily and with total concentration on the dance while wearing a two-foot-tall purple wig and go-go boots or as a cross-dresser for the evening in a vampy 1930s gown or a tux with tails. It's just delightful.
Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, and Tova and Carlos Moreno in examples of danceable costumes.
Costume Caution
Be careful when choosing your costumes to make sure there is nothing that will prevent you from having a comfortable embrace, or to prevent a free range of movement. Keep your head pretty simple: certain types of hats and most masks (which are so popular on Halloween) will prevent a close embrace, as will decorative makeup that rubs off on your partner. And even if you don't want to dance close for some (strange) reason, don't wear anything that sticks out much further than usual (it's like driving a minivan when you're used to driving a car - you and others aren't sure how close you can cut the corners).
This year, instead of opting to be a robot, pumpkin, or a bag of balloons, why don't you be a superhero, Beau Brummel, or a well-groomed caveman (with a primitive bow-tie, of course). If you wear something a little bit on the edge that you're not sure you'll be able to dance in, then don't forget to bring a backup outfit!
Thursday Battle of the Bands Milonga 9:00pm-12:30am
DJ Korey Ireland
Dress like a Band Groupie
Whether it's the dark glasses of Carlos Di Sarli's followers in the Golden Age in Argentina, the punk-cabaret look of modern day Dresden Dolls fans, or creating a new band look, it's all welcome here and will show your support of the new tango music movement.
Friday Golden Age Milonga 9:30pm-3:00am DJ Robin Thomas
Dress like a Golden Age Film Star
The Golden Age of tango is usually considered to be from about 1930 to 1945, so think glamourous, drapey, bias-cut
evening gowns and dashing, dapper suits or tuxedos. Emulate Carlos Gardel and his leading ladies, or Rudolph Valentino,
Joan Crawford, Mae West, and a host of others from the 1930s and early 1940s.
Saturday Paradiso Milonga 9:30pm-1:00am
Live music by Los Chantas, DJ David Liu
This milonga is a collaboration between Tango de los Muertos and
Tango Paradiso.
Dress Like Your Favorite Holiday
You're probably thinking that we mean you should dress like St. Valentine or Santa Claus - and those
would certainly work - but there are so many more holidays that you might expect.
Here is a PDF of a short list that you can print. Remember that the idea is not to celebrate the
holiday you choose, but to dress like that holiday, however you think that might look.
For fun: read this article on Bizarre Holidays from the Columbia News Service at Columbia University.
Saturday Sleepwalk Milonga 1:00am-6:00am DJ Ben Bogart
Dress in your pajamas
Get ready to sleep, but then change your mind and decide to come dance all night!
Breakfast will be available
for purchase after 3am.
Sunday The End Milonga 9:00pm-3:00am DJ Yulia Kriskovets
Dress in Skulls or Skeletons
Celebrate Halloween and be oh-so-chic by wearing skulls or skeletons to
this milonga. It's not morbid, it's fashion!
Private Lessons
Private lessons are available with:
Florencia Taccetti |
Nick Jones |
Daniela Pucci |
Luis Bianchi |
Mila Vigdorova |
Korey Ireland |
Rosa Corisco |
Felipe Martinez |
Jennifer Olson |
Robin Thomas |
Contact Corin to inquire about private lesson availability and rates:
Before Friday November 3rd <corinleee at gmail dot com>
During the weekend or before 413-441-4462
Los Divertidos Brunch and Greet
We are Los Divertidos (the fun ones), a bunch of Boston
dancers dedicated to meeting visitors, making new friends, and fostering fun at Tango de los Muertos!
We'll
be having a casual breakfast on Saturday morning before the workshops, from 10:30-11:30am in the
atrium at Springstep. Roll out of bed and come join us in welcoming you and/or others to Boston!
Coffee will be provided and brunch from Sweet Sue's will be available for puchase.
We also hope that you will come by our table at the festival entrance to introduce
yourself and to find sign up sheets for group meals and transportation (ie: to offer rides, find
rides, or find local navigators). Whether
you're a local Bostonian or a visitor, we want you to join us in being (and having) fun!
- Pamela, Joan, Michael,
Jacob, and Steve
