Hi Tango dancers !
Just to thank everybody who attended Marcelo & Analia's workshop and to
let you know how successful it really was (and why).
Yesterday Sunday in Campbell, Marcelo Varela and Analia Vega
conducted their workshop
of Argentine Folk Dances. They demonstrated and taught in great detail
Chacarera, Chacarera doble, Gato, Gato Cuyano. etc.
32 persons participated in the 3-hour workshop from 2:30 to 5:30. It
turned out to be a reasonably well balanced class with 18 ladies and 14
men. Since there is very little difference in the way of dancing
chacarera for either men or women, it was not of any consequence that
there were four more women than men.
Everybody had a lot of fun and enjoyed the instruction very much. I
managed to be able to ask everyone halfway into the class and at the end
of the workshop, to express their opinion and their satisfaction. I dare
to say that everyone had words of praise and full satisfaction for money
well spent in an afternoon of learning a couple of new dances and the
teaching style of Marcelo & Analia.
Several of the people who attended the workshop, perhaps the majority,
have already traveled in tours to Buenos Aires milongas and they have
seen the people at the milongas dancing chacareras in particular during
the milonga intermissions, so they were eager to learn these dances.
Marcelo & Analia are very charismatic and made the 3 hours of
instruction a real enjoyment, fun and entertaining for everyone while
the result was that everyone felt the joy of the rewarding feeling of
learning something and be able to do it from now on. Of course,
chacarera is easier than learning Tango yet still it is something new
for most people in the Bay Area.
My understanding is that Marcelo & Analia had not and have not planned
on doing another similar workshop (at least not on this trip), however
most likely in the future they will. Several (most) of the other
travelling Argentine dance professionals can also teach these dances and
they love to dance them at the milongas in Buenos Aires. I have
personally seen in Buenos Aires Carlos Gavito/Marcela Duran, Pedro
Benavente/Mariana Hernan Obispo, Osvaldo Zotto, Christie Cote, Daniel
Lapadula and others doing these dances at the milonga intermissions in
Bs.As. Here in the local Bay Area, Nora Dinzelbacher ( a long time
world-known Tango teacher) has had an interest in teaching Chacarera,
etc., for some time. She offered a class some time ago, but I think the
Tango community was not well aware of the significance of "other
argentine dances" during milonga intermissions, so it was not well
publicized. (Nora is also a superb teacher and dancer of Argentine Folk
dances) Actually, several persons inquired if there could be such
workshops once a month ! Perhaps other organizers can do it at other
venues as well.
Again; thanks to Marcelo and Analia for a good job ! and thanks to all
those who participated.
If anyone wants to hear more opinions, you should solicit them from the
people who participated in this workshop. I am certain they can express
their satisfaction on this subject directly to anyone who asks.
Spencer Larkin
(Milonga in Campbell in the SF South Bay)
