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

tango our passion..

So much has been going on I haven't been able to sit down and blog for weeks! I can't stop thinking about tango yet sometimes the actual writing down all the points that filter through my head can seem like a monumental task..there is just so much to say- as tango has to be the subject I talk most about, conversations at parties always seem to come round to tango, even studying the enneagram with a local group (The Enneagram-understanding the 9 personality types ) inevitably appears to subdivide people into tango types or non-tango types! A fascinating debate, perhaps do a workshop sometime on that too..?
Where to start though? Tango Malvern the young tango club in Worcestershire, carries on quietly growing and developing...we near the end of our what would we call it, term perhaps? We need a few weeks to regenerate and refresh ourselves and while a lot of our tangueros are away on their family holidays, doing their gardens, attending Harley Davidson rallies, dressage events, weddings, or whatever....we will be busy refining all our plans and details for our first ever Tango Fiesta in Great Malvern, scheduled for the weekend of August Bank holiday.
But what a wonderful few weeks we've been having here in the heart of the England, or the "New Three Counties Tango society?" perhaps? Another point to discuss?
Last weekend we hosted an impromptu tango event with Aisha and Victor, the charmingly passionate couple from Buenos Aires, at a wonderful venue nearby to Malvern, an "ecoCafe"in a beautiful converted barn, complete with tapas and a bar. The atmosphere was similar to a private party. The numbers seemed about right, almost perfect balance, and even my first shot at "Tango dj" got the thumbs-up, which I was extremely grateful for, thank you! We were delighted to the positive response about Asha and Victor's teaching during the workshops we arranged, they were clear and direct, while reminding both men and women of their vital roles to ensure the essence of tango is not forgotten. We had some laughs which illuminated the serious looks of concentration, "Ladies! choose your favourite chest! and " Men! choose your favourite cleavage!" summed it all up...only someone with such a charming accent as Aisha could say such a thing perhaps, yet really it is so appropriate, so refreshingly non-PC, alarmingly sexist perhaps, so perfectly Tango! We love tango.






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