Early Bird Registration For Tango Fireworks 2002! Plans for Tango Fireworks 2002 are well under way, and we urge you to plan your summer vacation now for June 28-July 6 so that you won't miss this super tango week. We have confirmed the following teachers:
MILENA PLEBS & EZEQUIEL FARFARO, the most influential woman in the history of tango and her dazzling partner, surely one of the fastest rising male stars in the tango world; OSVALDO ZOTTO & LORENA ERMOCIDA, one of tango's superstar couples, renowned for their elegance and meticulous technique; JULIO BALMACEDA & CORINA DE LA ROSA, not only the most talented and respected of Buenos Aires' new generation of milongueros, but also daring and innovative, as teachers in demand all over the world; NESTOR & PATRICIA RAY, "The Fred Astaire of Tango" and his talented partner will share with us the essence of 1950s social tango, the rhythmic style variously known as "club," "Milonguero," "confiteria," "apilado or "close embrace"; DIEGO DI FALCO & CAROLINA ZOKALSKI, elegant, lyrical and creative, they bring to their dancing both the romanticism of traditional salon tango and the precision and technique of the new generation of professionals; BRIGITTA WINKLER, one of the most important teachers in the European tango community for over 15 years, she will teach one of her specialties, close embrace tango. We are trying to confirm ERIC JORISSEN as Brigitta's partner, and we hope to know for sure in the next week. Also returning next year is the incredible COLOR TANGO ORCHESTRA! Once again, we have tried to select a faculty that represents a wide spectrum of tango styles. We guarantee that the 2002 faculty will equal the very high teaching standard we set in 2001. LOCATION We will be returning to the beautiful Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach Hotel, located just seven miles south of Los Angeles International Airport in one of Southern California's most charming beach communities. The special sleeping room rate will be $135 single or double. To reserve a room, please call (800) 368-9760 and remember to mention Tango Fireworks to get the special rate. All classes and events will be held in the hotel's four large, air-conditioned ballrooms with wood floors. All classrooms are conveniently located off the foyer area, just steps from each other and from the guest room elevators. No long walks to the different classrooms and no half-mile hikes to get to your hotel room! The Redondo Beach King Harbor area has many good restaurants all around the hotel with a wide range of prices, and you're just steps from the beach and lots of recreational activities. Again, we will provide ample complimentary drinks and snacks during the breaks between classes. We will also provide two changing rooms for participants who are not staying in the hotel so they can comfortably shower and change between the end of classes and the evening's milonga. PROGRAM & SCHEDULE This year's milongas will go from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., and will be deejayed by some of North America's best tango deejays, including Portland's Robert Hauk, Alaska's Dan Boccia, and New York's Robin Thomas. The Friday, July 5 milonga with Color Tango and the Saturday, July 6 closing night dinner, show and milonga with Color Tango will go until 3 a.m! The event will begin on Friday, June 28 with an opening night reception and milonga. Classes will start on Saturday, June 29 and end on Saturday, July 6. There will be four class sessions each day except for Saturday, July 6, which will have two class sessions. The sessions will have four simultaneous classes from which to choose. The classes in the last session of each day (except for Saturday, July 6) will be review/practica format. There will be a free day on Wednesday, July 3 with no classes, so that everyone can rest, sightsee, go to the beach, etc. There will be a milonga that night. Thursday night will feature Redondo Beach's wonderful Fourth of July fireworks display over King Harbor, which you can view from the beautiful Harbor Terrace before the milonga. CLASS LEVELS Tango Fireworks is dedicated to providing the highest caliber tango instruction available at any tango event in the U.S. Classes will be divided into Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced, but each class will specifically address particular technical and musical skills and elements within tango, milonga and vals. We are designing a special, progressive, beginner's track that will help beginners "jump-start" their tango and maximize their learning experience. In response to many requests, we will ensure the level of expertise in the advanced track by limiting the attendance in those classes to those who are truly advanced tango dancers. Participation in the advanced track will be subject to the approval of the instructors. Back by popular demand is our daily "Warm-up/Stretching/Body Alignment Class" taught by Megan Reisel, Director of Movement Therapy at the Canyon Ranch Resort and Health Spa. We're also excited to present a seminar on the "Tao of Tango" taught by author Johanna Siegmann, as well as discussion sessions on the history of tango. REGISTRATION OPTIONS: We will have two options for registration this year, the full event from June 28-July 6, or the weekend of July 4, 5 & 6. Although we must raise our prices to cover rising expenses next year, we are still cheaper than both the Miami Tango Fantasy and Norah's Tango Week, and we think we offer more value for your tango dollar. Compare the programs and prices below: TANGO FIREWORKS Full package: *26 classes *9 milongas *Closing night dinner, Masters' show and milonga - AT NO EXTRA CHARGE! *Two nights of live music with the world-famous COLOR TANGO ORCHESTRA! Early Bird Reg: $589; Regular Reg. $689 Miami Tango Fantasy Full Package: *28 Classes *9 milongas *NO DINNER *EXTRA CHARGE FOR MASTERS' SHOW *Live music by Golden Tango Early Bird Reg: $625; Regular Reg: $795 Norah's Tango Week: *28 Classes *8 milongas *No dinner *Live music; band not confirmed yet *Masters' exhibitions Early Bird Reg: $685; Regular Reg: $725 ---------------------------------------------------------- TANGO FIREWORKS Weekend package: *10 classes *3 milongas *Closing night dinner, Masters' show and milonga - NO EXTRA CHARGE! *Two nights of live music with the world-famous COLOR TANGO ORCHESTRA Early Bird Reg: $415; Regular Reg. $465 (Equals $135/155 per day of classes) Miami Tango Fantasy Weekend package: *8 Classes *3 milongas *NO DINNER *NO MASTERS' SHOW *Live music by Golden Tango Band Early Bird Reg: $270; Regular Reg: $310 (Equals $135/155 per day of classes) Norah's Tango Week Weekend Package: *8 Classes *3 milongas *NO DINNER *Masters' exhibitions *Live music; band not confirmed yet Early Bird Reg: $305; Regular Reg: $335 (Equals $152.50/167.50 of classes) TO PAY THE EARLY-BIRD REGISTRATION RATE FOR TANGO FIREWORKS: We must receive your deposit of $150 per person no later than December 31, 2001. The balance for all early bird registrants will be due March 30, 2002. Send a check payable to: Linda Valentino 1209 N. Kings Rd., #2 West Hollywood, CA 90069 Or you can charge your registration to Visa or MasterCard by going to www.paypal.com and e-mailing the payment to [email protected]. We will soon have a merchant account so that you will be able to charge payments to your Visa or MasterCard directly on our website, without using PayPal. ***Please indicate on all early bird deposits whether you are reserving for the entire week or the weekend.*** GROUP DISCOUNTS There are two discount programs available this year. For tango teachers and organizers of workshops and milongas OUTSIDE the greater Los Angeles Area, we are offering one free registration for each five paid, full-event registrations. For non-teachers/organizers OUTSIDE the greater Los Angeles area, we are offering a 5% discount for groups of ten or more who register for the full event. These two discounts cannot be combined. If you want to organize a group, contact me for brochures and posters. FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO RECEIVE THE PRINTED BROCHURE WHEN IT IS READY Call Linda at (323) 650-0509 or e-mail me at [email protected]. COMMENTS ON TANGO FIREWORKS 2001: "Let me say thank you for the wonderful event you organized in Redondo Beach. I had a beautiful time and greatly appreciated all that you did to make it enjoyable for all of the participants." --Mark, Portland "Just a note to let you know I thoroughly enjoyed the Workshop. Not only was the instruction superb, your organizational skills made the event run like clockwork. You really paid attention to the details and I, for one, truly appreciated it." --Michael, Chicago "It was wonderful, you did a fabulous job. The teachers, the orchestra, the milongas, it was great. I know word will get out about this event and next year will be even better!!!" --Luren, New Mexico "Tango lovers sit up and take notice - a new standard in tango festivals has just been established by Tango Fireworks 2001 in Los Angeles....The more than 200 participants who came from places as far away as Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, not to mention all parts of the United States, were treated like tango royalty with top-notch classes....The instructors were uniformly friendly, helpful and inspiring. The classrooms and milongas were held in spacious air-conditioned hotel convention facilities just off beautiful Redondo Beach. This was my first time to dance in LA and I was very impressed with their dancers. And equally favorably impressed with the beautiful beach where just a few minutes from the hotel you can eat fresh crab, shrimp by the bucket and 30 kinds of oysters, or bicycle or roller blade up to 27miles on the Strand along a beautiful sandy beach that is, if you have any energy left after the classes. The organization was superb. This was the 6th tango festival that I have attended in the last 3 years and one of the best organized. Nothing seemed to be forgotten or left to chance. Every morning, we had a wonderful stretching class especially devoted to improving our posture and balance needed for tango. Why haven't other organizers addressed this issue? Not only were we treated to fantastic classes, but at breaks, copious delicious drinks and snacks were provided--no extra charge, and no time lost. All the milongas also had delicious snacks provided. Oh and I forgot to mention the orchestra Color Tango! What a treat to dance to live music that makes you cry just to listen to the sweetness of it. I got to meet so many nice people and made good friends from all over the world. I had a wonderful time and highly recommend this tango festival for next July. I have already sent in my deposit to hold my place for next year. Hope to see you there." --Stella, San Francisco
