Dear Tango Friends:
9th Memorial Day Weekend DENVER TANGO FESTIVAL :
- May 21 - 25, 2009.
- Early arrival workshops by Daniel Trenner on Thursday, May 21.
- Early pricing for two more weeks (see below)
- Lots of cheap Denver flights.
- Doubletree Hotel $89/night +tax with free hotel shuttle.
TANGO FESTIVAL: "BY DANCERS; FOR DANCERS"
- Come join the friendly Denver Tango Dancers and all your friends
from past festivals.
- We expect attendance to be in the 300 - 400 range.
- Preliminary Class and Milonga schedule is now out.
- Register at http://tango.org/2009memfest
WHAT'S DIFFERENT AND SPECIAL ABOUT THE DENVER TANGO FESTIVALS?
Workshops are oriented to SOCIAL tango dancing, not STAGE tango. The
level is generally pretty high, and many advanced dancers will be
attending workshops. This is where you meet and get to know partners
for dancing later at the milongas. Workshop gender ratios are very
close to 50/50.
Please see the class schedule for a list of all the classes and
teachers. The schedule is still preliminary, meaning that specific
classes and teachers may shift around. (Don't print it until the last
week).
DANIEL TRENNER and the TANGO REVIVAL OF THE 1990s
Daniel Trenner, the featured, early-arrival teacher for Memorial Day
2009, has often been called the "Pied Piper of Tango" in the United
States, because he was so foundational to the development of argentine
tango across the country. Daniel made extensive national tours
starting in the mid-1990s, with the result that tango exploded beyond
a small base in a few large cities, (LA, NY and San Francisco). He was
probably the single most effective community builder for tango in the
US if you look at how many cities, dancers, teachers, organizers and
communities he touched and inspired.
Daniel launched the careers of numerous tango teachers and
organizers, both US and Argentine. His Tango Seminars in Buenos Aires
introduced foreigners to an older generation of tango dancers, and
awakened them to an awareness of "how they dance tango" in the
milongas of Buenos Aires. His video series documented the ideas and
styles of numerous famous dancers from Buenos Aires, many of whom he
also brought to the US for festivals or tours.
Daniel was no stranger to controversy, offering several challenges to
the traditional concept of tango:
- He famously criticized the teaching methodology of the 8 count
basic, suggesting that improvisational methods would be more effective.
- He challenged the emphasis on learning tango using show tango
sequences, by teaching tango as an improvised social dance.
- He introduced the concept of swapping roles for leader and
follower, both as a learning technique, and within the dance itself.
- He challenged traditional styles of tango by bringing in concepts
from West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop and Salsa.
DANIEL's CLASSES
Daniel will present several seminars on tango history: discussing
music for social dancers, the history of tango, and the history of the
tango revival. If you never met Daniel when he was touring, I suggest
that "Daniel's Beginning Tango From Zero" will offer you a most
interesting experience of what makes him such a great teacher. Daniel
will also present a Teaching Symposium: "Facing the challenge of
teaching the Non-Argentines to Tango".
HOW TO SIGN UP:
(1) Register at http://tango.org/2009memfest
(2) Payment through Paypal or check to : LEM, LLC
(3) Book the Festival Hotel "Denver Doubletree": Code "TAN"
303-321-3333
(4) Book your flight: United and Frontier have hubs in Denver.
ABOUT THE MEMORIAL DAY TANGO FESTIVAL IN DENVER
- 7 Buenos Aires style milongas, Line-of-dance, Tandas and Curtinas
- 2 Classes per day from Thursday to Sunday
- Outdoor BBQ and Milonga by Tango Colorado at Cheesman Park Pavilion
This is another "Tango Festival For Dancers, By Dancers", which means
everything is designed with the dancers in mind. Dance floors will be
arranged with tables around the edge so walkers don't disturb the line
of dance. The floors will be crowded, but courteous. Expect two or
three lanes and Buenos Aires style floorcraft. DJs will play tandas
with curtinas.
Most people are familiar with and use the cabeceo to get dances, and
the teachers will emphasize navigation and floorcraft in their classes.
EARLY PRICING
- Milonga Pass $75 (All 7 milongas)
- Workshop Pass $90 (4 classes)
- Festival Pass $155 (All 7 milongas and 4 classes)
- Saturday Arrival Pass $135 (4 milongas and 4 classes)
- Additional Classes $35/day (2-classes)
Tom Stermitz
http://www.tango.org
Denver, CO 80207
