This class will run every morning from 10am-11am. It is an invitation to look into the various aspects of the music that shape our dancing. The classes will be open to all levels, no partner is needed. Some of the classes may include some moving/dancing, but not all. The focus is on listening.
Cost: £6, drop in. A minimum of 10 people is required to run the class.

Saturday Feb 13th, 10am - Michael Lavocah
Tango is poetry
Tango lyrics matter because they convey us directly to the emotional heart of the dance.
Tango's most famous lyricists were referred to as the poets of tango. This will not be a workshop so much as a musical an lyrical journey through the characters and emotions of the Buenos Aires of yesteryear

Sunday Feb 14th, 10am - Ruth v. Zimmermann
How many ways can you count to 3 in Vals?
Exploring double tempo and cross rhythms in Vals.
This class will focus on listening to the various rhythms and working on getting them into our body. There is a cross rhythm hiding in many valses that, once you hear it, you will be surprised how you could have missed it until now!

Monday Feb 15th, 10am - Steve Morrall
Getting inside the bandoneon (literally)
A hands-on investigation of the instrument that gives tango music its plaintive voice
Let's play! Steve guides participants to take apart a bandoneon to reveal its inner workings, and invites participants to 'feel the embrace of a bandoneon' and play a note or two. Along the way, he describes similarities of playing bandoneon to movements in this beautiful dance. He will have a 142 Alfred Arnold and a 152 Klaus Gutjahr bandoneon.

Tuesday Feb 16th, 10am - Michael Lavocah
Yum-ba
Osvaldo Pugliese (1905-1995) developed a new style of playing tango. In order to explain it to his orchestra, he wrote a tango that has become one of the most famous and most beloved of all tangos: La Yumba. As well as sharing with you what Pugliese shared with his orchestra, we'll follow Pugliese's career through musical examples, ending up with his triumphant concert in the Colon Opera House in 1985

Wednesday Feb 17th, 10am - Ruth v. Zimmermann
Conversations Amongst the Instruments
Identifying melody & countermelody, harmony and rhythm; spotting introduction, verse (and chorus, when it's there)
In this class, we will look at the different parts that make the musical whole and at how those are put together to create a harmonious shape. We will move from the more obvious (such as the structure of 8) to the more subtle (eg. how the countermelody flavours a particular piece).

Thursday Feb 18th, 10am - Steve Morrall
No way! I don't believe that is the same tango
Same tango, five different orchestral takes
During this hour we investigate how five different orchestras put their stamp on the same tango. The hour is split into listening and discussion, (bring a coffee - mine's a mocha) and dance movement and expression. We brainstorm how we could express the same movement in five different ways inspired by the lead of the orchestras. You do not need a partner.

Friday Feb 19th, 10am - Michael Lavocah
Shh!! They changed the entire band!!
Every band leaders' worst nightmare: the entire orchestra walks out on you. Of the "big four" tango orchestras, it happened to three of them. Can you hear and feel the difference? We'll teach you as we follow the musical careers of Juan D'Arienzo, the King of the Beat, and Carlos Di Sarli, listening to how they evolved their styles and what that means to dancers, both then and now.

Saturday Feb 20th, 10am - Steve Morrall
Who knows, people could be dancing to this 100 years from now
We made that! A group brainstorm to create a piece of tango music
Steve will have his piano and bandoneon on hand to transfer your thoughts and ideas into a piece of music. As it's early in the morning, we listen to some of maestro Carlos Di Sarli's melodies for inspiration and then, using Steve's "music by numbers" game, we put together our own tango. Can we do it? There is only one way to find out.