Dear Tango Aficionados, "The Nutcracker" is a holiday staple, and most of us have seen it before. But this weekend in Aspen, a world-class company is putting on the show with a unique tango twist! Take this opportunity to combine first-class ballet, original tango music and dance, and world-class skiing in a single memorable Colorado mountain event!
The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (www.aspensantafeballet.com) is producing "The Nutcracker" for five shows in Aspen on December 17-19. In a unique approach, the world-class ballet company has hired renowned Argentine bandoneonist Dan Diaz to re-arrange the "Spanish Dance" entitled "Chocolate" from its usual flamenco-oriented presentation into...a tango! Dan himself provides live solo bandoneon accompaniment on "Choco-la-tango", and Brian and Deb of Dance of the Heart dance tango in the show. The original tango arrangement was premiered last weekend for six shows in Santa Fe's Lensic Theatre to great acclaim. This weekend in Aspen, the shows will be on Friday at 7:30 PM, and two shows each on Saturday and Sunday, a matinee at 2:00 PM and an evening show at 7:30 PM. Brian and Deb will host tango classes in "Building the Tango Connection" between the shows at the Aspen Ballet School from 4:30-6pm on Saturday and Sunday. Classes are $20 each, and include a free 1/2 hour practica after each class. For those with a lot of energy, you can ski in the morning, take a tango class in the afternoon, try out the material at the practica, and still make the evening performance of "Nutcracker Tango"! Information for Purchasing tickets for performances in Aspen: BY PHONE: Call toll-free 877-DANCING (1.877.326.2464) to Aspen Santa Fe Ballet's in house box office. There is a $4.00 handling fee per order. BY MAIL: Mail the ticket order form to the following address: Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, 0245 Sage Way, Aspen Colorado 81611. There is a $4.00 handling fee per order. IN PERSON: Visit the box office at the new ASFB headquarters in the new Colorado Mountain College building, located at the Aspen Airport Business Center. There is a $4.00 handling fee per order. LAST MINUTE: Tickets may be purchased, if available, at the Aspen District Theater, one hour prior to each performance. Tango Classes with Brian and Deb Classes are held in the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet studios in the new Colorado Mountain College Building at the Aspen Airport Business Center. Brian and Deb have just returned from their latest "tango intensive" in Buenos Aires, where they soaked up all things tango for a month in November and early December. The Aspen classes will reflect the advanced material they focused on during this visit with innovative tango teachers Mauricio Castro and Carla Marano, plus additional group and private work with Gustavo Naveira and Giselle Anne. Brian and Deb have now accumulated over one hundred hours of advanced group and private study with Gustavo and Giselle, recently featured on the cover of "El Tangauta" magazine with the label "El Maestro de los Maestros". The material in Brian & Deb's classes reflect a deep understanding of how to develop the almost mystical "tango connection," and how this awareness interacts with an analysis of tango structure, training improvisational abilities, and interpreting tango music with sensitivity and clarity for one's partner. Brian and Deb are among the most experienced professional tango teaching couples in North America. They have been teaching, studying, performing, hosting visiting teachers, leading tango tours, and producing milongas and tango events together for the last six years (see www.danceoftheheart.com for a complete list). During their last Buenos Aires trip, Carlos Libedinsky, creator of "Narcotango", extended them an invitation to perform with him in Buenos Aires using portions of their "Aires Tango" show choreographed to Libedinsky's music. In their home base of Colorado, they have taught social tango to thousands of students in group classes, and routinely teach hundreds of private tango lessons each year, despite tango travel schedules that have taken them abroad for four months out of the last year and a half. In 2005, they return to Buenos Aires to co-host the "Buenos Aires Tango Intensive" with Luciana Valle in February, and return to Scandinavia in June to meet the demand for their teaching and performing in Denmark, Finland and Sweden. For more information about classes, contact Brian and Deb at [email protected], or call 303-938-0716.
