From Buenos Aires...
HUGO "GATO" VALDEZ & ANDREA MONTI
in Los Altos, Sunnyvale & Palo Alto, April 1-3
Gato & Andrea have earned an international reputation and respect, not only
for their elegance, technique and musicality,
but also their "caminar a tierra" which has made them true representatives
of the typical tango "porteño.
FRIDAY, APRIL 1 @ The American Legion Hall, First Str. (opp Draeger's), Los
Altos
Meet Gato & Andrea at Emilio &
Violeta's Milonga 9pm-Midnight (Christy Cote will be teaching the
class 8pm-9pm)
WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
Single workshop $30.
Leaders' discount package: Workshops 2 & 4 for $50, no charge for attending
Workshops 1 & 3
Followers' discount package: two or three workshops $25 each, no charge
for attending Workshop 2
Advance registration requested. phone: (408) 739-9737, or e-mail:
[email protected]
SATURDAY, APRIL 2 @ The Moose Family Center, 905 Kifer Road, Sunnyvale
(between Wolfe & Lawrence Expressway; 101 exit South Fair Oaks)
1:00 -2:30 p.m. - Workshop 1: Followers' Technique I
Fundamentals for walking, ochos, boleos, turns and exercises on
pivot,rotation, balance and changes of weight.
(Leaders welcome - no charge)
2:30- 4:00 p.m. Workshop 2: Leaders' Technique I
Fundamentals for walking, musicality, pivot, balance, "albanicos", body
posture, body attitude, changes of weight.
(Followers welcome - no charge)
SUNDAY, April 3 @ The Elks Lodge, 4249 El Camino Real, Palo Alto
(near Arastradero/Charleston, between Rickey's Hyatt & Trader Vic's)
2:30 - 4:00 p.m. Workshop 3: Followers' Technique II
Review of fundamentals taught in Part I, ochos with adornments, turns with
boleos, and embellishments.
(Leaders welcome - no charge)
4:15 - 5:45 p.m. Wiorkshop 4: Tango - Intermediate
Tango Salon fundamentals with close and open embrace, smooth
walking, changes of direction, simple turns with walking exit, and double
time.
6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. MILONGA ~ with performance by Gato & Andrea
hosts: Dorcas Hendershott & Earl Allen, music by Emilio Flores.
a great floor, refreshments, and plenty of aprking
Milonga $12 , $10 for workshop participants, $7 for students
Contact: Dorcas Hendershott, [email protected]
phone: (408) 723-9778
Details of workshops in SAN FRANCISCO on Saturday and Sunday, APRIL 23 &
24: http://www.stanfrd.edu/~dorcas/EspirituLibre
PRIVATE LESSONS: Call (408) 739 9737
Gato & Andrea will be available in the South Bay on April 1-4
As popular teachers, they have developed, through many years of experience
and work, a teaching method based on the technique of posture, balance,
axes, weight changes, rhythm and especially on the tango walk, making
emphasis on the interpretation of the music, and encouraging the students
to express their feelings when dancing. They have toured extensively, both
nationally and internationally, as well as performing in Show Clubs,
Restaurants, Tango Bars, and Milongas "porteñas" such as "Bar Sur", "El
Caballito Blanco", "Palacio San Miguel", "Sociedad Italiana de Lanús",
"Café Homero Manzi", "El Club del Golf", "El Club Torcuato Tasso", El
Parakultural, La Pulpería, Tía Lola, Salón Canning, La Nacional". They have
taught and performed in Argentina, Brazil, the United States, Central
America, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Spain, Germany, Australia, New Zealand,
South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. In 2004, the taught at II
Encuentro Internacional de Tango Valencia (Spain) and in the Portland
TangoFest in Oregon (USA).
Gato Valdez was born in Buenos Aires to a family of "milongueros". As a
small child, he accompanied his parents to a well-known milonga in the
south area of the city called "Bomberos de Lanús", where he had the chance
to watch the legendary old "milongueros" dance. He started to learn tango
in the milongas in 1983, first by watching the milongueros, and later, by
taking many lessons with the great masters: Fino, Antonio Todaro, Raúl
Bravo and Mingo Pugliese. In 1984 he performed professionally for the
first time with the Osvaldo Pugliese orchestra in the film "Tangos, el
exilio de Gardel", directed by Pino Solanas, film that got the best film
award in Venecia Festival, 1995. He has also appeared in many films such
as "Gracias Maestro", (an argentine film directed by Luis Segura and
dedicated to the life of Osvaldo Pugliese), "Evita", directed by Alan
Parker; and "The Tango Lesson", directed by Sally Potter. In 1994 he
founded the group "La Postango" together with the singers Pablo Banchero
and Cardenal Dominguez.
Andrea Monti has also been immersed in tango since she was born in Buenos
Aires. Her parents were faithful tango fans who introduced her to that
magical dancing world; and later she became deeply involved in tango
schools, at the "prácticas and at the "milongas". Her solid training as a
professional tango dancer is based on almost two decades in jazz dance,
classical technique and stretching, as well as the highest contribution of
the best tango teachers and colleagues from Buenos Aires, such as Mingo
Pugliese, Gustavo Naveira, Graciela González, Sergio Natario and Alejandra
Arrué, to mention only some of them. As a dancer, Andrea is outstanding in
technique and her way of walking the tango beat. As a teacher, she is
outstanding by her dedication and methodology, achieving in this way an
optimal level of communication with her students. Since 1999 she has been
teaching specific ladies´ technique seminars , using a method and system
that she has developed through years of experience, conjugating her studies
in tango, in technique and in the modern-contemporary jazz dance
