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"The
dancers body is simply the
luminous manifestation of their soul. This is the truly creative
dancer, natural but not imitative, speaking in movement out of self and
out of something greater than all selves"
Isadora
Duncan
"Movement
is the door to learning"
Paul
Dennison
"We have hosted
maestros like Gustavo Naveira & Fabian
Salas at La Rogaia, but your musicality workshops are the best I have
experienced"
Wolfgang Sandt on Steve Morrall's
workshops on tango
musicality at La Rogaia.
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Welcome to the latest newsletter from
Steve and Debbie Morrall at Tango
UK in Bramshaw.
What's
on at Bramshaw in May and news in general
Stefan
and Komala are back in the Tangk. Superb teachers from El
Corte
in Nijmegen. More
below...
Leading
Ladies - a reversal of roles
heightens the senses, increases awareness
and generates confidence
Mid
Summer Special - a special
social tango
event at Bramshaw. More
below...
Changes
to our 2012 Programme - we are
not continuing
with our 2nd Saturday milonga. More
below...
Milonga
19 May - our regular monthly
Saturday night dance. More
below...
Tango
Toolkit
20 May - calling all
beginners. More
below...
The
tanguero project - the need
for confident,
musical men who don't just
lead. More
below...
The
dance within the dance - The
way we teach taken
from a student's perspective. More
below...
Stefan
and Komala are back in the Tangk 25-27 May
In
1999 when tango in the UK was still in its infancy, El Corte in
Nijmegen was the place to go for inspirational teaching and fabulous
dancing.
We are delighted to announce Stefan and Komala, who work closely with Eric
Jørissen at El Corte, are teaching the next Tango Tangk on May
25, 26 and 27th. Their four progressive workshops will focus on
'Footwork in walking and turns'.
If
you can't make the whole weekend, they are also giving a pre-milonga
drop class on
'Don't panic - milonga' on
Friday May 25 at 7pm, and 'Space
management in vals'
on Saturday May 26 at 7pm.
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Leading
Ladies - a Saturday workshop with Steve Morrall on 26 May
Steve
is running a small group workshop for ladies who want a foundation in
the technique required to dance the man's role with musicality. His
teaching style offers an alternative to the simplistic notion of 'lead
and follow' in tango. At Tango UK, we teach that the process is much
more about invitation and repsonse. It is a form of non-verbal creative
dialogue and like any conversation it requires context, articulation,
eloquence, expression and knowing when to 'speak' and when to 'listen'
to make it understandable.
The benefits of these two 90 minute sessions are two-fold. You can
learn how to 'talk tango' in the man's role (what other people would
call 'leading'), and you can also gain confidence when dancing in the
woman's role through an increased awareness of what the man is (or
isn't) doing.
BOOKING |
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Mid
Summer Special
We
are confidently predicting that we will have a second summer in 2012
having experienced the first in March this year. To celebrate
mid-summer in whatever form the weather takes, we are rolling out a
weekend of tango dancing.
Our summer festival is about dance, dance and more dance. Rather than
bringing in teachers (as there is so much choice around these days) we
are rounding up some super Tango DJs to keep you dancing all weekend.
Food preparation may involve charcoal and lots of smoke (I'm not going
to tempt fate with the 3 letter acronym).
Make a date in your diary for a festival of social dancing at Bramshaw
on June 22-24. Camping is available just down the road and for the less
hardy we have a list of local B&Bs. |
DANCE, DANCE, and more DANCE on the last
weekend of May at Brammers
At the
Tango Tangk on May 25/26/27 we offer 16
hours of social dancing
over the weekend, with evening milongas on Friday and Saturday from
8.00pm to
midnight and more relaxed Tango Cafés on Saturday and Sunday
from 4.00pm to 8.00pm. You can pay with your credit card.
Buy a weekend Dance Pass (save £7) Add
to Basket
Buy a weekend Dance Pass plus 2 pre-milonga classes (save £8)
Add
to Basket
Or just dance on Saturday from 4pm - midnight (save £2) Add
to Basket
Changes
to our 2012 Programme
Please note that we have decided not to
continue with the additional second Saturday of the month milongas. We
introudced these at the beginning of the year in response to requests
from local dancerswho were frustrated that there was nothing locally
that weekend, on a regular basis. However, it appears that other
organiser all had the same idea (some even changing the day of their
milongas) and suddenly we were inundated with local milongas on the
Saturday. We see no point in conflicting on regular dates so we have removed
the following dates: 9 June, 11 August, 8 September, 13 October, 10
November, 8 December.
If you are ever in doubt about what's on at Bramshaw, just take a look
at our homepage, where the next event is shown in the black column on left hand side. If you want to check
further ahead then
click on the "Calendar" link at the top of the page. HOME PAGE
Milonga
19 May
Dance at one of the longest running UK milonga's outside of London,
with music DJ'd by a life-long musician with 12 years experience as a
tango DJ.
Our next regular 3rd Saturday milonga in the dance studio is on May 19
and costs just £7 (one of the cheapest milongas around in
these wallet squeezing times). Includes snacks, soft drinks, Verano and
possibly some birthday cake!
We are ending our Tango UK loyalty card scheme when the current batch
of cards runs out. You will be able redeem any filled cards
that you currently hold up until 31 December 2012 when the scheme expires. |
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Tango
Toolkit 20 May
As part of Tango UK's initiative to introduce newcomers to Argentine
Tango, our next Tango Toolkit for beginners in on Sunday 20 May.
This month we offer a two for the price of one for any recent beginner
or improving dancers who want to go back to basics to review their
fundamental technique using our method.
Pass this invite to your friends and we will thank you with a free
milonga entry for any couples your refer who subsequently book a Tango
Toolkit.
TOOLKIT
INFORMATION |
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The
Tanguero Project
Tango UK is in discussion with a TV production company to record the
learning development of a group of men as they learn to become
confident tangueros by working for 6 months in a 'men only' environment.
The course will emulate the way tango skills were passed from compadre
to compadre, man to man in Buenos Aires.
If you know a man who wants to learn to tango the Argentine way and is
free on Saturday mornings, contact Steve Morrall at Tango UK
CONTACT
DETAILS |
The Dance
within the Dance
The continuing development of Argentine Tango in the UK
Looking back over the last 12 years of Argentine Tango in the UK I
realise how far we have all come. The tango scene is growing, and
dancers, in the main part are getting better and better. At Tango UK,
one of our first visiting teachers was Yvonne Meissner and I remember
her describing her early days of tango with embarrassment as she
recalled dancing and performing without the understanding and
accomplished movement that time and practice had since given her. I
guess we all do this to a degree. We start by dancing a complicated
dance simply and with enthusiasm, but in the eyes of a more experienced
dancer, not very well.
Tango dancing is relatively easy to learn if one has an
aptitude for feeling rhythm and learning
sequences of movement. But rarely does this type of
tango dancing take you into the realm of flow and the intense
experience of synergy. If it does it happens almost
by chance. Generally, the dance is taught and learned in a
relaxed way. In this simplistic form, it is
easier to teach and less demanding on students to learn. The result is
that students of tango acquire enough skills to move around the floor
in an embrace
which can be very enjoyable because dancing
with someone can be sociable, fun, intimate and sometimes
sexy. But there is more.
Carlos Gavito used to say tango is 'whatever you want to make
it'. There is the linchpin. If you want to make it more special, there
is another form of tango. It requires dedicated practice time,
and the ability to humble ourselves to a more
advanced and detailed learning process that can, at times, be
challenging. Hard work and dedicated practice will reveal a 'dance
within the dance'.
To dance the dance within the dance, a tanguero has to learn how to
play their body like an
musical instrument. A musician first practices on their own to gain
confidence in playing their instrument before playing with other
musicians in an ensemble. Likewise, a tango dancer needs to master five
fundamental movements before they can join the 'ensemble' of two people
in an embrace. In the embrace, both dancers then learn how to let
shared movement flow naturally, without tension. In this way the dance
couple can learn how to become one dancer with four legs, when time
seems to suspend and everyone and everything else in the room
disappears.
To achieve this level of tango takes dedication. It is the same journey
of
dedication that artists, craftsmen and musicians have to travel
if they are to be as one with their instrument. At Tango UK we guide
dancers on this journey.
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