No meeting Friday!

Just a reminder, we will not be meeting this Friday, 6 June. With the long weekend, there’s a motorcycle show of some sort at the Berry Showgrounds, and we don’t have our hall. But don’t worry — practice on your own — and then come back and see us the next Friday, 13 June, when we’ll be dancing again.

Thanks to all those who came the first week. You all picked it up very quickly, and I think we’ll all agree that Susan Boyle was brilliant dancing backward as a leader considering she barely knew the basic even as a follower. Many thanks.

Tango lesson on YouTube

This lovely little sequence is titled, Javier Rodriguez y Geraldine Rojas – Tango Salon Lesson, and I ran across it on YouTube. We’ll be doing most of the moves you see in this video in our first session, although I can’t promise we’ll all look this good! Thanks to Javier and Geraldine for making this available. (And more from them soon.)

Lessons to start

Our first introductory session is now set to start the end of this month! We will be starting classes in salon-style, Argentine tango. Salon tango is dancing for a crowded dance floor, not for the stage. It may be a little less flashy, but you can do it with other people around without hurting anyone, getting stepped on, or dropping your partner.

Fridays, 7:30-8:45 pm (open dancing ‘til 9:30)
First session: 30 May; 13, 20 & 27 June (no meeting the 6th)
Meets: Agricultural Hall, corner Victoria & Albany St., Berry Showground
Cost: $25/person or $40/couple (all four lessons)

Please feel free to get reservations even if you can only attend a few weeks; we’re going to pick it up again after the school holidays. In the long run, we hope to create an environment where people can come to dance tango in Berry even if they’re not taking any lessons.

Contact Greg Downey for more information or reservations
Mobile: 0428 331 695 or email: greg. downey @ mq. edu. au (remove all spaces!)

2007 World Salon Tango Competition video

Most of the videos we find on line of tango are of tango for the stage, with lots of lifts, dips, and dramatic movements that are virtually impossible for normal people to do, even if they could find the space on a dance floor. They are pretty flashy but impractical.

This video is of the 2007 World Salon Tango Tournament (2007 Campeonato Mundial de Tango -Salon Final Round (1)). There are a second and third clip that you can see, if you want to go to the original site where the video can be found here: the second round and the third round.

As the video submitter explains: ‘First of three dances of the 12 couples who made it to the final round of the Finals in the category “Tango Salon” at Tango World Championships in Buenos Aires, on 26 August 2007.’

Although the competition format can make the dancing a bit different, these videos give a very good sense of what salon tango can be. And because the dancers are so spread out so that the judges can see them, it’s actually easier to tell what’s going on than it would be if they were on a crowded dance floor.

Tango & Latin dance coming to Berry

Dear all, this site will be a place where we can post information about dance opportunities on the South Coast in New South Wales.

Lessons will soon be organized and publicized. Look back here soon for more information. And don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have questions: greg.downey@mq.edu.au