Thursday 28 June 2012

Save money, great upcoming tango events, 'question time', summer break, guest teacher, and more...

Summer is here! (Although its doing a fairly good job of disguising itself so far.)

There's quite a lot of info in this post. So get yourself a tea and read on for some exciting events, new learning opportunities, plus some chances to save some money..

Workshops and your revision notes
The workshop on 10th June was great fun, if you made it along, thanks for being a part of it! Hopefully you're feeling the difference in your dancing at the milongas already. As promised here are some revision notes I made for you, along with a few related ideas which you may find helpful:
Revision notes for 10th June Technique Booster workshop - developing a delicious embrace

New workshop
The next workshop in Southampton will be on free leg movements and embellishments, including a variety of leg wraps, ganchos and boleos, along with rulos for followers. It will help you find more relaxation, freedom and fluidity in your tango dancing.
As usual, the workshop will be suitable for recent beginners and more experienced dancers alike. For those who feel ready there will be the opportunity to explore some leg wrap and gancho chains.
The date is not yet fixed, so if you'd like to do it, please let me know which of these two dates you can make: 22nd July or 29th July, Sunday afternoon 1-5:30pm, followed by a 1 hour practica.
I'm trialling a new price for the workshop in order to make it more accessible for more dancers. The new price is just £24 for the whole afternoon workshop!
 
Events and Performances
If anyone is around Deal on the Friday 29th June, I'll be performing at the Deal Festival in Kent with Sophie Miller. For the opening evening we'll be tangoing to around 8-9 songs over the evening, including to live music! For more details on the event please see: http://www.dealfestival.co.uk/
Before that, on 28th June, I'll be performing in London at the City Arts and Music Project with Bianca Vrcan for the Platform 33 event. For more details and tickets see: http://www.platform33.co.uk/
 
Summer break
I'm going away to Holland for some further tango training myself in July, so Wed 11th July there will be no class (although Liz might open the hall up for practice), and Monday 9th and 16th July Liz will be running the beginner class.
 
'Question time'
Here's the idea: If you're keen to learn, each week I invite you to come to me with one tango question after your class. It could a step you're struggling with, a new step you'd like to learn, a general sticking point, something to do with timing or musically. Basically anything tango related you'd like my input on. I will then spend 5 minutes with you individually on your question. Besides hopefully encouraging more people to come to class, I really hope this opportunity will encourage you to focus on how you'd like your tango to develop, and assist you in getting there. Now the rest is up to you!
 
Invite a friend
For a while now I've been running the deal where if you bring 3 other people to a course you get a free private lesson. I'm now adding to that a second deal:
Bring a friend and get a free group lesson. If you bring someone new along to a lesson or to the beginner course, who you think might enjoy tango, then you get a free group lesson. Bring two people, get two free lessons, and so on. Simple. So if you want to reduce the cost of your tango, and help share the joy of this magical dance, get your friends along!
 
Save even more money, pay in advance
Would you like to cut over 12% off the cost of tango lessons? Then now you can pay in advance. Make a subscription for lessons online, billed every 8 weeks, and pay only £7 per lesson, rather than the normal £8. You effectively get a free lesson every 8 weeks!
If you want to come to more than one lesson a week you can save 25% off the normal class price! Full time college or university students (or the unemployed) can get almost 50% off normal lesson prices! Book now on this page:
Guest teacher
On Wednesday 4th June, Sarah Stribley from Thames Valley Tango school, will be teaching with me. She'll be sharing some of her knowledge on ladies technique, for making your footwork more elegant and musical. For the leaders, in this session I'll be showing you some fancy footwork of your own.
 
Socials
As mentioned in the previous email, Lisa's leaving party is on the 21st July, from 7pm at Povey's. You are warmly invited. If you'd like to come please let me know!
Would you like to organize a tango social? Great! Drop me an email with your idea.
 
Take care, and I hope to see you soon,
Joe

Friday 1 June 2012

A Jubilee tango performance, some sad news, my first tango film appearance, a new workshop on 10th June, party time, and more!

I hope you're enjoying the sun (and haven't gotten too burnt!) and your dancing.

Here are some of the exciting things that have been happening recently at Tango Lingua, and what you can look forward to in the coming weeks!

Diamond Jubilee Tango Performance This Saturday 2nd June, I've been invited to do a tango performance at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee fundraiser event for The Alliance of Fibromyalgia ME/CFS. I'll be performing with Liz and we're really looking forward to it. We'll also be giving a fun 20 minute taster lesson. Please come and join us!

It's in Twyford (near Winchester), and starts at 8pm. There will be live music and other entertainment. Tickets are £12, including a complementary glass of bubbly. For booking contact Loveday on 01962776583. For full details see this poster: Jubilee_fundraiser.jpg

On the subject of performances, a big thanks to Gary and Sue for inviting us to perform on the very special occasion of their 30th wedding anniversary, earlier this month! A further thank you to Visionary Events for inviting us to perform at the Carnival fundraiser event at 90 Degree, in Southampton on 30th April.

The Return of the Technique Booster - 10th JuneThis Technique Booster workshop on Sunday 10th June is about improving your ability to dance socially with the music and with your partner, in the milongas. We'll focus on the embrace - and making it feel delicious - and simple patterns and turns you can improvise with to express the music more.

An afternoon workshop gives you the chance to get technique into your body in a way that's not possible in a regular evening class. It's going to be a lot of fun and it's going to be recent beginner friendly! That means you don't need a lot of tango experience to benefit from this workshop.

Does that mean if you've been dancing for a few years you won't get much from it? No. As with the previous workshop, the basic idea is presented, along with optional and more challenging variations for you to try, if you feel comfortable doing so. The aim is that everyone who comes can enjoy it and be appropriately challenged.

Time: 1pm - 5:30pm (with tea and snack breaks), followed by a free 1 hour practica.
Price: £32 per person (£26 concessions)
Venue: Povey's Dance Centre.

No need to come with a partner.

Book the workshop for Sunday 10th June now:
http://www.tangolingua.com/workshops/southampton-10th-june

My First Tango Film Just a few weeks ago I was asked by Hourglass Productions to dance in a short film. The concept was to do a dance interpretation of a new romance - so perfectly suited to tango. I said yes. As it turned out, I ended up doing the acting parts too (hopefully not too badly). Laura Beduz kindly partnered me for the film. Here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHdDXabUC2U

Calling for new blood (and old) - Argentine Tango Fundamentals Course A new 'Core Skills 1' course (formally known as the beginner course) begins on Monday 11th June. So if you're completely new to tango (or to dance in general), or you already have some experience but want to refresh the fundamentals to help overcome some sticking points, you are invited to take part in this 6 week course.

For full details of what you'll learn, and to book now, see:
http://www.tangolingua.com/courses/core-skills-1

You can read some testimonials of happy tango students, past and present here:
http://www.tangolingua.com/testimonials

Know some people who would like to try tango? Get a free private lesson for every 3 referrals.

Sad news, but let's make the most of it (and other social occasions)The sad news is that Lisa is leaving us for South Africa, at the end of July. Having started barely 6 months ago, her passion for tango is inspiring and I know a lot of people will miss her. But on the bright side, she's having a leaving party, to which you are warmly invited! This will be on Saturday 21st July, from 7pm. Contact me for full details. There will be food and drink, and you are invited to bring some to contribute. Of course, there will be lots of dancing, so bring your tango shoes!

But before that, there will be a BBQ (hmmm, BBQ :) ) on bank holiday Tuesday 5th June, from 3:30pm. Bring yourselves, plus food and drink!

Finally on the social front, I'm thinking of going to see Prometheus (the Aliens prequel) at the cinema, maybe this Sunday. If you'd like to join me, let me know :)

In closing I'd just like to give a huge thank you to the tango teachers from London, Bournemouth and Totnes who visited last Saturday for the very first Tango Teachers Symposium, and made it such a success. Here's to the next one! And here's a picture of us on the day: