39 DAYS TO GO till the Nelson event of the year! 3 nights and days of social dancing in and around Nelson no teaching, no performances... just good old fashioned dancing "in celebration of the milonga"
Class this Sunday will begin at the earlier time of 4pm so we can all finish up in time for the Verdict Milonga at 5.30pm.
We have had three extraordinary classes so far this year. The focus has been heavily on arriving on axis, clear pivots and setting up the dance as we mean to go on. We have been listening to each other's bodies and giving great feedback to each other in a positive and helpful way. Fanstastic classes so far and more great classes to come. I have some lovely exercises up my sleeve to further advance these classes.. I hope to see you on Sunday afternoon.
After class we can look forward to Lunatico Escoces (aka Graham Galt) DJing the Verdict Milonga this week.
Here's a video of Michelle and Joaquin who will be teaching in Wellington the weekend of 9 February and I will be Djing at the milonga! FUN!
The start to Tango Nelson 2013 has begun with two great occasions.
We had the Practilonga@The Art Zone last Friday night and had dancers Peter and Sabina visiting from Germany who made Nelson a destination based on seeing the Nelson Tango Website and the Practilonga advertised. Thanks for a great night to all those 20 dancers who came. It was hot and sticky and very very tango!
Thank you to all those who came to the Sunday Reviver Class!
What a great class it was with exercises around connection and special emphasis put on inviting and assisting the follower onto their axis. A simple yet fool proof way to make sure we are always looking after each other and dancing as best we can!
Regular classes are resuming as of this Sunday
20 January
The return of the regular Sunday Technique Class
5 - 6.30pm (doors open at 4.30)
$15 casual
St John's Hall, Hardy St (opposite Chipmunks)
Last Sunday of the month class starts at 4pm - 5.30 followed by free milonga at Verdict Cafe and Bar
21 January
Monday Classes Back on Track
6pm - 7.15pm Beginner/Advanced Beginner
7.15pm - 8.45pm Intermediate
$15 one class
$20 two classes
The 6pm class will take on beginners at certain times of the year. The first Beginners course commencing 4 February.
MILONGA COURSE
4 WEEK MILONGA EXTENSION COURSE
Did you complete the 5 week Milonga course in November and now you want to continue and build on those skills? Can you already dance Milonga but want to shape up for the Summer Tango in Nelson weekend?
Then this is the course for you.
13 February - 6 March
6pm - 7.30pm
YMCA, 156 Toi Toi St, Victory
$75 for the course
BEGINNERS
As of the 4th February we are starting the journey to encourage more beginners into our growing Tango Community.
Please let all your friends know! This is the perfect class for revision. I encourage all Improvers to re-do the class, revise the basics and get greta satisfaction out of sharing your knowledge and helping the Absolute Beginners find their feet.
Absolute Beginners Tango Course
8 week course
4 February - 25 March 2013
6pm - 7.15
St John's Hall, Hardy St (opposite Chipmunks)
$100
Please note the final class on the 25th March will have Quique Miller teaching the beginners class and the following Intermediate class and this will be the beginning of his week long teaching stint in Nelson.
QUIQUE MILLER AND FABIAN RODRIGUEZ
Quique will be holding workshops the weekend of 30 and 31 March.
Quique will be available for private lessons through the week.
Quique and the lovely Fabian will be in Nelson from 25 March - 2 April. So make sure you are in town to hang out with Fabian and learn from Quique!
SUMMER TANGO IN NELSON 8 - 10 MARCH
Before Quique and Fabian arrive we have the Summer Tango in Nelson weekend!
3 nights of social dancing around Nelson "in celebration of the milonga"
Again this year we have great venues to showcase our tango to our visitors, we have the Playhouse, The Granary and Fellworth House as our venues as well as a surprise outside venue! Out-of-town registrations are starting to come in from Auckland and Wellington. The Djs are sorted, the venues booked.
It is full steam ahead!
Easy things you can do to help make the event successful
Add to the fever by logging onto the Facebook page and encouraging the out-of-towers, please make them feel special and wanted!
Offer a bed to the DJs or dancers just flick me an email and I'll help you sort it out.
Bake a cake for the Saturday night or Sunday milonga, or bring your "signature finger food dish" to share
Volunteer to drive some out-of-towners to the Playhouse venue - you are going anyway... why not share the space in the car!
But seriously - if you do want to help out I am always appreciative, just flick me an email with your thoughts.
OK time to watch a video!
Lets watch a milonga video from Michelle and Murat who will be teaching at the NZ Tango Festival this year in June. www.nztangofestival.co.nz
This past year we had lots of tango in Nelson! We upped the number of group classes to three a week and sometimes four with the special addition of followers workshops and the milonga workshop on a Wednesday night at the great Nelson Tango Studio Practica space at the YMCA in Toi Toi St.
The gorgeous Quique Miller and Fabian Rodriguez flew in from Argentina and shared their expertise with us on the dance floor - Quique with dancing and Fabian with singing. Remember the fabulous night at Kush hosted by Graham which totally went off!
March 2012 Summer Tango in Nelson Edition 2 was a total success with 25% more dancers visiting our shores than the first year. We had beautiful women DJs: Nina from Wellington, Maida from Auckland and Marion from Christchurch playing the music for the entire weekend and I snuck in a set at the Sat afternoon alternative milonga at Bar Berlin - while it was teaming with rain outide we were tapping our toes and tickling around the dance floor between glasses of bubbly with our new friends from all around NZ. We had visitors from the States and Australia who wowed us with their dancing. I think it is safe to say a good time was had by all!
The tango addicts amongst us had a little break then we headed over to Wellington for the NZ Tango Festival in June and came back inspired by what we had seen and what we learnt from our international teachers. Some of us volunteered for the weekend and others danced the nights and days away in a daze.
Golden Bay drew us into their tango web and with the lovely Reto and Vera we all got together again and shared some of the GB magic. We had tangueros from Wellington, Reefton and Westport who joined us this time. Don't we just love a get-together!
We have created two regular monthly events now which can be added to the Tango Libre calendar. The first Friday off the month is the Tango Libre Practilonga (held at the Art Zone) and the third Friday of the month is the Tango Libre Milonga (held at the Masonic Hall).
Well the Christmas Milonga has to be one of the highlights of the year - what a great night that was. Thank you all so much for coming. I ended up cooking for 50 people. I have to say the baked ham was quite special (can give you the recipe if you like!). Neville from Wellington was the DJ for the night and he had us dancing all night. The floor was crowded with locals and visitors as well - from Christchurch, Melbourne and Belgium. Quite the gathering.
So Nelson and Golden Bay tangoueros and visitors - thank you for making all this possible. Thanks for growing the scene here and making Nelson a desirable tango destination.
Whats in store for 2013? Jan - Dec
Classes and monthly events starting with the Practilonga on the 11 Jan March
Summer Tango in Nelson
Quique Miller and Fabian Rodriguez May
Golden Bay Tango Weekend June
NZ Tango Festival September
Golden Bay Tango Weekend
AND MORE!
See you all on the dance floor and thanks for being an inspiration to me and keeping me teaching!
