Group classes are an excellent way to progress your tango and learn new techniques, but when you want to focus on something specific or just need a bit more time with the teacher to understand something or iron out bad habits there is nothing better than a private one-to-one session. Until now we have only been able to offer these at a local village hall on Monday afternoons, but now with the opening of Graham's studio we are a lot more flexible. The studio is in Biggin Hill, and one-to-one sessions are available throughout the week. The cost is £35 per hour, and is the same whether you come on your own or with a partner (assuming you dance together). Bookings now available from the 28th May onwards. Please visit the Private Classes page for more information, and the Hawthorn Studios page for where to find us. [read more...]
Seven years ago today I taught my first ever tango class. I was supposed to be teaching a LeRoc modern jive class in Sevenoaks, but somehow it morphed into tango and... well, the rest is history. Since then we have moved venues a few times, ran our own X/Tango neolongas, watched dancing be made illegal for a year, came back, found our style, and are still going strong. Teaching can be tough sometimes, with lesson preparation, looking for inspiration, wondering if enough people will come to the class, and still having to find something to keep people interested week on week without making things more and more difficult until everyone gets put off. But seeing people having a great time at my classes makes it all worthwhile. It is particularly rewarding when you find something you love doing, and then not only do you get to do it but [read more...]
It is often described as “a dance of passion” or “the sexy dance”, but when it comes to everyday social tango this is very misleading. Tango is not inherently any more passionate or sexier than any other dance style. So… what is it? Tango is mindfulness. It is musical meditation. When you dance tango it is as if you are the only two people on the dance floor, and the rest of the world goes away for a few minutes. Tango is improvised, with the leader and follower obeying certain rules and principles; there is no choreography to learn and no sequences to memorise, so every dance is different. If you have been avoiding tango because of its “sexy” or “passionate” reputation then think again. Tango is for everyone, so give it a go. [read more...]
For many people, tango is not just a dance. It is defined by the music, the clothes, and the environment in which it is danced as much as by the dance itself. Old musical recordings from the Golden Age of Tango set down by famous tango musicians set the tone and atmosphere, and everyone attending the venues is expected to dress in a way that at least gives a passing nod to the styles of 1950s Buenos Aires. But this approach is not universally appreciated, and for a lot of people new to tango this orthodox traditional atmosphere is what keeps them away. If tango is to survive and grow it needs to learn how to cater to these new people as well as the existing dancers. I talk to a lot of people about tango and encourage them to come along to one of our classes [read more...]
It is a few days after Christmas and nobody has any idea what day of the week it is. We’ve unwrapped all the presents, eaten too much food, and drunk all of the mulled wine, and yet the kitchen still seems unusually full of ‘stuff’. There is an impossibly large pile of turkey leftovers in the fridge, and we are all wondering if there’s anything more creative we can do with them than make a curry. Your body is yelling at you to step away from the mince pies, switch off the Harry Potter marathon, and go do something physical instead, but you have no idea what as everything is closed. In rare moments of lucidity you‘ve had flashbacks to when we used to do something called ‘tango’ once a week, but it’s all a bit of a blur and didn’t that have something to do with tea [read more...]