Tango Series in Newport with Mike Eblen

Spread the word: Mike Eblen is back in Newport Oregon later this month to teach a series of classes withhis new partner Jeanine VanSise.

Check out these Argentine Tango lessons that will be offered there July 26, 27th and 28:

• Class 1, Friday, July 26th 7:00pm -  Nice Beginnings and Memorable Resolutions. In this class we will find ways to expand our appreciation of when a dance begins and ends and how we can facilitate a more enjoyable experience for our partner. 

• Class 2, Saturday July 27th 1:00pm -  Finding My Axis, Your Axis and Our Axis. Start your Saturday with exercises help strengthen the awareness that you have of your balance as well as your partner's.  We will explore how to maintain stability as the dance becomes more challenging.

• Class 3, Saturday afternoon 2:30pm -  Making Sense of Musicality. It's no secret that tango music is rather complicated, with all the layers of sound, how can we begin to dance with the music?  Mike and Mari will help make sense of this challenging topic. 

• Class 4, Sunday 1:00pm -  Taking Turns to the Next Level. What would a weekend class series be without covering what is arguably the hardest part of tango, turns!  There will be wisdom and guidance for all regardless of skill level.

• Class 5, Sunday 2:30pm -  Deepening Connection. Finish off this weekend class series with Mike's favorite(and most popular) class.  We will be finding ways to make the steps we are familiar with feel exponentially better.

Classes are $10 a la carte, registering for the full weekend costs only $40.  All classes will be accessible for dancers of any experience level.

Classes are at Heather's house:

567 SE Vista Dr Newport
for more information or to schedule a private please contact Heather :
hjoyh at me dot com
541-272-2019

About Jeanine:

Jeanine VanSise began dancing tango, by accident, in 2007 and has not stopped since! She first studied Tango with Vicky Ayers and Elizabeth Wartluf at The University of Oregon, but has since taken advantage of the chance to study with teachers from all over the world. She feels most fortunate for the chances she has had to study extensively with Dominic Bridge, Rebecca Rorick-Smith, and Kara Wenham & Javier Antar. Most of the time you will find Jeanine DJing or dancing in Eugene or Portland, but she did have the chance to spend a Summer studying and dancing in Argentina.

In 2009 Jeanine took on an active role in the Eugene tango community when she took over both the Beginning and Intermediate tango classes at The University of Oregon. Jeanine also was the DJ and co-host of Eugene’s popular Milonga Entre Suenos with Carmela Hill-Burke for four years.

When teaching, Jeanine emphasizes the chance to connect both to a partner, and to music. While technique and strong fundamentals are emphasized in her classes she finds that her strength is helping students find both a love for the dance, and a love for connecting with a variety of partners. Jeanine is a teacher outside of tango, and because of that students comment that her classes are accessible, full of passion, and create a warm, comfortable, environment for learning.

Last Tango in Corvallis: A milonga for Wikus and Dedra by Catherine Liggett

When: Friday, June 14, 2013

Time: 8:00pm

Where: 1935 NW Menlo dr. Corvallis OR 97330

Come to this informal milonga to dance and celebrate the amazing work everyone at the OSU club have done this past year for tango in Corvallis!

Very shortly after this party, Dedra and I will be moving to Washington DC to begin our new life there.

The party is at the home of Catherine and Gretchen, and has a large hard wood floor to dance on. Heels are fine to wear, as long as they are non-scratching or marking.

It is, of course, totally free!

If you feel inspired, bring along some vegetarian goodies for everyone to snack on, and/or something to drink.
 
Please invite your tango-dancing friends!

DJs TBA- Message Catherine (cliggett at facebook dot com) if you would be interested in contributing to the music for the night.

The Future of Tango at OSU

For those who're behind on the plot - My wife Dedra Demaree and I started a Tango club at Oregon State University last year and, except for my trip back to South Africa, have been teaching there more or less ever since.


We've always been partial to helping beginners find their feet, and so the "nothing fancy, just good fundamentals" motto is what permeated our tenure here - but as things have worked out in 2013 - due to work and life circumstances we will moving to Washington DC at the end of June.

OSU Tango will keep going

Because we're going away (for now) that doesn't mean OSU is soon to dance its last tanda!

In fact, there are already 3 veterans from the community who have made commitments to carry on instruction at the class - Rafeal Miranda who more or less runs the Tango scene in Newport, Frank Davis who's well known all round and a regular at the Portland Tango (both of whom have taught at the club before), and Peter Gysegym who's had his own classes and milongas going in Corvallis for years - with one or two other experienced gentlemen waiting in the wings who want to help build Tango in Corvallis.

There is also an OSU faculty member ready to take the reigns on the club admin. So classes should continue without issue after we've left.
 
We hope that it'll remain free of charge - open to anyone with a good attitude that wants to get a start in Argentine Tango.
 
We largely started the club to help nurture the local community and expose OSU's ample ballroom, swing and blues fraternities to this art; which we're happy to have been successful at.

Our main concern at the moment is getting a few new students willing to stand up as committee members for the club at the turn of the new academic year. We trust that a few of you will raise your hands and help keep the doors open when the time comes. Please contact me directly should you feel motivated to contribute and...
 
Work together to help the club grow.

For now, classes will run as usual, every monday evening from 7 - 9pm, and will have one last milonga at our house some time in June.

Tango Flash Mob in Cape Town

This weekend myself and an elite unit of local Cape Town tangueros descended upon the Lifestyle shopping centre set in a trendy part of the city, for an Argentine Tango flash mob to celebrate my birthday. 

Despite a few hassles from secturiy, caused by a certain Tango neophyte "someone" (a.k.a Mister Let's-go-and-tell-security-about-the-mob-two-miniutes-before-we-start-and-have-Wikus-deal-with-the-fallout) we sprung the surprise on dozens of shoppers and passers by - much to the annoyance of the guards who dutifully but gently shooed us from the mall entrance to the amply-sized sidewalk.

Alas even without the beneft of good acoustics, with our punchy Bose sound system we had no shortage of volume to make our presence known.

Our playlist of the day consisted of "Amor te sigo queriendo", "Mariposita" and "Borges y Paraguay". A forth track -"A Media Luz" - was cut from the planned line-up to help ease a few bubbling frustration levels. 

The only misfortune was that the person who volunteered to film our exploits had to withdraw from attendance shorly before the event, so unless something by one of the camera-wielding onlookers pops up on youtube in due course, I sadly don't have any footage to share with you.

Here are a few snapshots from the mob: