Our teaching experience

Steve is a life-long musician and creative artist. Before tango, Steve developed his teaching skills as an IT trainer for a national charity and as a horse-riding instructor. Both roles helped him to evolve a pedagogical interaction with people and an 

understanding that effective teaching requires a development of a student's mind, body and spirit. 

Steve and Debbie have been teaching Argentine Tango for ten years and run a dance studio that specialises in the art of Argentine tango in Bramshaw in the New Forest (picture below).



The 124 sqm dance studio at Bramshaw within
easy reach of Southampton, Salisbury and Bournemouth,
5 minutes from junction 1 on the M27 MAP

They also organise regular social events and teaching weekends with visiting teachers from around the world.


BOOK A BEGINNERS COURSE
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Feedback from a local dancer who had a
series of private lessons with Steve
to prepare for a trip to Buenos Aires.


Where can I learn to dance with Steve and Debbie Morrall?

We teach group workshops, weekly classes, private lessons at our dance studio in Bramshaw,
New Forest only 5 minutes from junction 1 on the M27. Directions

If you are a beginner, you can learn to dance with us on Tuesday nights. The course will teach you how to dance salon style tango, 'walking in an embrace to music'. This takes place on Tuesday evenings from 8pm - 9.30pm followed by a 1 hour practice session (see below for the next start date, cost and course content). BOOK ONLINE

If you can't make Tuesday evenings, we also offer one day intensive starter courses called Tango Toolkits at the weekend. MORE

When you graduate from the first level 'walking in an embrace to music' class, we offer an second level class on Wednesday night which focuses on devveloping the language of the dance based on the five moves, and rotating in an embrace to music.

This also takes place in the dance studio at 8pm - 9.30pm also followed by a 'practica' (practice session). The next second level term will start in the autumn. When you graduate from this class, we guide you towards our Thursday night advanced musicality class, private lessons and week-end workshops, advising each dancer on the format that best suits their needs.

Occasionally, we lead workshops and teach at festivals and other tango events around the country which we publish on our events page and via our 'opt-in' email newsletter.

Our teaching method

Steve is a natural and intuitive teacher who draws on strengths that Myers-Briggs (MBIT) would categorise as eNFJ (extravert, iNtuitive, Feeling, Judging) a rare mix of qualities only found in 2-3% people. 

Steve is an advocate of the possible, someone who will say 'half full' rather than 'half empty', a teacher who instinctively looks to and expects the best in people. He inspires confidence and self-belief because he is enthusiastically confident and believes in himself.

As a teacher, he encourages with positive feedback, celebrating the smallest improvement. In mixed level workshops, Steve is at his best and can spontaneously and effortlessly dream up activities and imagery that will help students acquire dance skills.

He teaches tango as a process of engaging mind, body and spirit and will draw on all his life skills of theatre, music, dance, clowning and art to help people bring out their inner potential.

Steve and Debbie do not to teach choreography which traps dancers in sequences and makes them slaves to their memory. 

Tango is about the music and dancing from the heart. In a recent class, Steve and Debbie were working on breaking the dance down into taking one considered step at a time. In the class, Steve said "....think of tango as non-verbal communication. A conversation with a stranger will start simply and grow in depth and complexity as we learn how they respond, what they are interested in, what moves them and what they don't like." To illustrate this, he showed the dancers  exercises to apply this concept in the way mind and body could understand. 

"Start every dance simply - even with a partner you know well. They can have off days too and need to refocus on you and your dance. Don't hurry steps, savour moments of simply walking together in an embrace. Ask yourself - can you feel her heart beat? Can you feel tension? Are you tense? Don't forget to breathe. A deep, slowly exhaled breath in an embrace will encourage your partner to relax."

Read other articles by Steve on argentine tango in Pink Papers.


Curriculum for our 8 week Tuesday night beginners class at Bramshaw, 8pm - 9.30pm

Week:
Objectives: Price:
1 Secrets of the tango embrace and the tango walk. Introducing floorcraft.  £8*
2 Side step or change of weight. So similar yet so different.  £8
3 Collaborative movement through non verbal communication. £8
4 Walking in an embrace to music. Tango is ALL about the music, so lets learn how to dance simply to it. £8
5 Learning to dance tango is like learning another language. Lets tell each other a story in 'tango-speak'. £8
6 Walking the dance or dancing the walk - understanding the difference will help you move like an Argentinian. £8
7 The whole dance is made up of 5 core movements, 3 linear, 2 rotary.  £8
8 A review of all the above and gentle assessment of participants' needs to improve their dance £8
After each class there is a free 1 hour supervised practice session when you can put the moves into practice, ask questions, and build your confidence.
You can book your place(s) for the beginners' course online now.
The next courses start on these dates:
January 3 2012 £64 for 8 week course BOOK
Tuesday 6 March 2012 £64 for 8 week course BOOK



Other workshops and classes that progress and augment our teaching philosophy

Tango Bodyshop is aimed at dancers of any level who feel their dance needs a boost. It uses the latest video technology to give instant visual feedback to dancers and is a very powerful learning and refining tool for posture, style, axis and balance.

The
Tango Tangk is a weekend workshop organised by us in three levels. Teaching is provided by visiting maestros from around the world who we know and trust to provide the very best tuition. Steve is available for private lessons during Tango Tangks.

Our musicality workshops and seminars separate the processes of (a) learning to understand tango music and (b) moving with understanding to tango music. Using a grand piano and bandoneon, Steve Morrall teaches these workshops using a mix of seated audience participation to build an understanding of musical structure and movement to music. This process draws on his experience of engaging left/right brain through teaching techniques.

Download lesson notes for our beginner's course here


It is nothing more than a dance, so have FUN!


©Tango UK 1999 - 2012