Entering 2019
Frosty Forests
Dear all,
It’s been a while since my last post. Life hasn’t stopped however, it’s just taken a turn that invited me to spend some time on a ‘retreat’ from sharing our lives with you all.
In case you were worried by the long silence, Frank and I are still on our extended honeymoon, now in its 5th winter, we’re still madly in love with each other and travelling in Emma, our lovely home on wheels.
This winter, we went to the South of France where I’ve been taking a series of Bandoneon lessons with Fernando Maguna, an extraordinary teacher of this fiendishly difficult instrument. It is a gift to myself to immerse myself in practice and lessons, and it may well be the reason why I have gone quiet – by the time I have finished my three hours practice every day, I really don’t feel like touching another keyboard. My mind is scrambled by the intricacies of music, perched on the rocky foundations of navigating the four ever-shifting keyboards (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, ask a bandoneonist next time you meet one!). I’m making great progress in building up practice stamina, however actual progress on the instrument is painfully slow. I know, I have a strange notion of what constitutes a gift 
We’ve mainly spent time in the region between Marseille and Avignon, an easy train ride away from my weekly lesson. Frank went away to India in December (in search of healing for his wheezing lungs which have not got better since July!) to subject himself to an Ayurvedic cure from which he returned somewhat stronger but unfortunately not fully healed. After his return, we took off to explore the French Pyrenees west of Toulouse and down to the coast. We shivered in sub zero temperatures and boiled ourselves in wild hot springs, we saw beautifully frosty forests and met people and communities with Living Projects ranging from Amazing to Downright Crazy.
Throughout our journey this winter, we’ve been on the lookout for a place where we might like to establish a foothold in Europe, to dock onto a community for the winter months in years to come, but nothing yet has come even close to the treasures we know we have at home!
The Tango Music and Dance calendar for 2019 is filling up and I’ve spent some time doing online work for it, although I know I’m pitifully behind. The computer keyboard has truly been neglected this winter… but below is a first schedule and I promise to try and update relevant pages on the website etc., in the near future.
So before I disappear back into my musical retreat, I wish you all a very good start into the year. Let’s hope it will turn out to be an amazingly positive one. Crisis is an opportunity for positive change!
Over and out…. (back to Bando)
Ruth xxxx
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February 9th: Teaching a day of workshops (various levels) in the region of Avignon in Sorgues, at Adelaide’s Tango Studio called Media Luna
February 17th: Teaching a two hour beginners workshop in the region of Avignon, in Chateauneuf de Gadagne at a Cultural centre called Akwaba (link to follow)
March 29th-April 7th: Teaching at the TangoLab in Proitze
May 9th-12th: Hosting the 3rd International Bandoneon Days in Staufen, South Germany
Spring 2019 (dates to come!): Workshops and / or classes & private lessons in Totnes and possibly other places in the UK
June 29th-July 7th: A week of Tango teaching with Ines Moussavi on Vis, a beautiful Island in Croatia.
July 19th-27th: Teaching at the TangoLab in Proitze
August 5th: Teaching a workshop in Plymouth to the French visitors from Bretagne ( I will check if this is open to others too)
August 14th-16th: Orquesta Tipica Workshop in Devon
August 16th-25th: Tango Mango (already fully booked!)
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