Friday 24 September 2010

local or international connection..

Busy busy busy..even our "local" tango scene has revved up over the last year or so. Now it's difficult to plan bigger events such as workshops and milongas for fear of clashing with another group nearby (when I say "local" I mean probably within an hour's drive )...
However.....our last really special tango splurge was a few weeks ago now, with our much awaited for and greatly appreciated Korey Ireland and his partner Adeline Schieferstein, (it took a year of planning to arrange..) and yet its taken me till now to sit down a minute and reflect.
I accept no one wants to read endless waffle, but still I need to remind ourselves of a few points of the weekend we so much enjoyed and benefitted from here in the wilds of Worcestershire, England, not Buenos Aires that is..!!
We read a lot of conflicting comments on the web from tango purists, tango "fascists" ..and then those who really want to be in the spotlight literally- on the stage, legs flashing everywhere, epitomised by TV's "Strictly..."

Our mission here in gentle Worcestershire is to promote salon tango, or social tango, the non aggressive, elegant, subtle form of tango danced more typically in the milongas of Buenos Aires. From the outside this may not look so dramatic as some styles, but then, the feeling runs deeper, so nerve-tinglingly deep in close embrace but perhaps "just walking" that I know which style I prefer to share with someone else..
So looking back on that weekend of workshops we shared with Korey and Adeline, it's the memory of that gentle presence that prevails, discreet, moving and intense...
the focus on the connection, the relationship between each other, and the MUSIC, said it all.
We were treated on the Saturday night to a live and spontaneous musical set with Korey on his bandoneon, Cliff on guitar, Xenia violin and Peter Okell-Walker also guitar...
"Brilliant. "...The floor was filled with joyful dancers..a dream indeed.
We will carry on this mission here in Malvern, to try to develop tango for all people, for enjoyment, spiritually and emotionally, it has to be salon (or social) tango...
Incidentally, our "local do, although primarily intended for the tango regulars from here and nearby, in fact brought visitors from far and wide including, Huddersfield, Southampton, Wales, Bristol, and New Zealand! Great to make these lovely warm tango connections ...


looking forward to continuing with this ..more similar workshops and weekends hopefully coming up ....


Tango Malvern web site is http://www.tangomalvern.com

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