Happy New Year to all of you who read our newsletters. This newsletter is dedicated to the memories of 2021 and looking forward to 2022.

This being New Year’s Eve, my memories go back to VivaTango’s last New Year’s Eve Milonga in 2019 with 102 dancers.

Thursday Tango in Princeton started in 1998 and ran un interrupted for over a 1000 Thursdays until closing for Covid in February 2020. Thursday Tango tradition restarted in July of this year, 2021. All events this year required proof of vaccination. Face masks were optional in July and August, but VivaTango was required to have all dancers wear masks for the remainder of the year. The Highlight of 2021 was the December Holiday Milonga attended by 55 dancers. Passionate live music was played by Maurizio Najt on piano, and Juan Carlos Arias on bandoneon. The ever-musical DimOn the Tango DJ played wonderful Tangos, Waltzes and Milongas between sets of live music.

Another Highlight was hosting Pedro Giraudo’s Grammy Award winning quartet in July. This milonga was proceeded by phones blasting weather alerts of possible tornados and flooding. The winds rose and the rain poured down just before the milonga started. Forty three dedicated dancers braved the warnings, and Pedro and his quartet arrived as did Kerry Kay who DJed between live sets. The music and dancing were spectacular. We also had live music on another Thursday with Maurizio Najt and Shinjoo Cho performing. 

Tango lessons preceded those milongas that did not have live music. Lessons featured instructors: Pablo Garcia Gomez andIwona who are the artists in residence here in Princeton, Meredith Klein and Andres Amarilla who run the Philadelphia Tango School and host the annual Philadelphia Tango Festival, Helen Wang from NYC where she hosts the La Milonga Misteriosa and Candle Light Milongas, and the world renown Eleonora Kalganova.

Our DJs artful selection of tangos, waltzes, milongas and cortinas created an atmosphere of passion and beauty for the dancers to enjoy. Those DJing this year include: DimOn the Tango DJ, Kerry Kay, Helen Wang, Andres Amarilla, and joining us from her world DJing travels was MahoK, aka Urszula Abolik.

This year’s events were made possible by the volunteers that make VivaTango run. Sylvie Brien is the amazing coordinator of the volunteers. She recognized the volunteers at the Holiday Party in the photo below. The volunteers in the photo are, from left to right: Mike Littwin, Virginia Hedges, Warren Wilson, Ken Berard, Sylvie Brien, Daniel Rolon, Joel Mack, missing from the photo are Lynn McGuire, Victor Bec, Santosh, Ranchu Mathew and Dennis

We are optimistic that 2022 will turn out to be a good year for Tango, however it is off to a difficult start. Given that Covid infections at the start of 2022 are at a all time high in NJ, there are no VivaTango events planned. We are optimistic that this surge will end as quickly as it stated. Events will begin again when the weekly count of new infections drops to safer numbers. Read our newsletters for updates. Go to the VivaTango web page at www.VivaTango.org and click on follow to get news. On the web page you can also look at some of the memories from the past by clicking on the tab at the top titled Tango Festival and remember the world and national tango champions and Grammy Award wining musicians that came to VivaTango’s two summer Festival Series. You can also go to Viva Tango Princeton on Facebook for information. Friend us if you are not already a friend. Send us photos and videos of your favorite times at VivaTango events.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

HUGS TO ALL

VivaTango wishes all our Family Happy Holidays and a Healthy New Year! There will not be a VivaTango event this Thursday, or on December 30^th.

The Holiday Milonga Party was greatly enjoyed by the 55 dancers who attended. Passionate live music was played by Maurizio Najt playing the piano, and Juan Carlos Arias playing the bandoneon. The ever-musical DimOn the Tango DJ played wonderful Tangos, Waltzes and Milongas between sets of live music. Click on the video link at the end of this newsletter to see and hear a sample of the Holiday Party.

MAP  Off street parking at venue

Connect Yourself to the world wide Tango community with this Free App

The free Tango Partner app helps you get more of the tango you love. As a user you can connect easily with nearby social tango dancers by sending them a cabeceo (a friend request in the context of the app). This allows you to ask for local information if you are travelling, share a ride, book accommodation or register to an event together, stay in touch with your favorite tango dancers, or even find other tango dancers at the airport. Moreover, you can connect with tango professionals in your country and abroad, and you can find festivals, marathons, milongas, practicas, classes, etc. Finally, you can find tango books, clothes, online tango classes and more. You can download the Tango Partner app on Google Play or App Store.

November 25^th – Happy Thanksgiving – No Event

Home and Family are at the heart of Thanksgiving. Thursday Tango has been home to a Tango community in Princeton for 23 years. When you enter the doors here on Thursday nights you transition into a home with a welcoming family of fellow dancers, instructors, performers, musicians and DJs. There is a harmony amongst a great diversity of skill levels, religions, race, ethnicity, education and other characteristics. All embrace and provide physical and emotional connections, that are important to us as individuals, and hard to find elsewhere. So, if you are new to VivaTango, or have done Thursday Tango in Princeton for 20+

years we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving with your traditional home and family. Your Tango home and family will be here for you each Thursday the rest of the year. VivaTango is thankful for each of the dancers, volunteers, instructors, musicians and DJs that unite in the Princeton Tango Family.

Pablo Garcia Gomez and Iwona Ionescu return to VivaTango. They will teach a festive lesson on “Sustained flow with longer sequences”. This is an important dance skill for filling the 3-minute Tango with interesting and varied dance sequences. Challenging? Yes! Fun? Absolutely! Lesson starts at 7:00. When the lesson is over, the milonga will start. During the milonga, Pablo and Iwona will have part of the dance floor blocked off to work with individual dancers. They call this area the Guided Practica Space (GPS). Step right in and take advantage of their help to further polish your technique.

Pablo, who is originally from the suburbs of Buenos Aires, has studied tango with various master teachers in his home country and in the United States.

Iwona explored a few other forms of dance before taking up tango, which she has studied in depth. Pablo and Iwona teach the Argentine tango classes at Princeton Adult School and they teach regularly at Viva Tango in Princeton, where they are artists in residence.

Kerry Kay will DJ the milonga this week at 8:15. Kerry has DJed at VivaTango for many years, and also in many venues in NJ and PA. Kerry plays a lovely mix of tandas. You will also see her on the dance floor.

$15, Milonga $15, Both $20

EVENT LINK

Eleonora Kalganova Returns to VivaTango. The woman with the most amazing tango feet will teach a lesson at VivaTango. Combine her amazing foot work with her international performance experience and ability to teach; and you know that we are lucky to have her teach a lesson at VivaTango. Her lesson this week is titled “Playful Conversation” and will be taught together with Jan Ben. Do not miss this.

DimOn the TangoDJ will DJ at the milonga. Two of the great composers and musicians from the golden era of Tango, Julio De Caro and Carlos Gardel, have birthdays on December 11^th.  The Secretary of Culture of the City of Buenos Aires declared December 11th National Tango Day 60 years ago. DimOn will honor these great men and celebrate the National Tango Day by telling us a little about these two artists, and playing a few tandas of both artists. He will also have a slide show running related to the occasion. Lesson $15, Milonga $15, Both $20

EVENT LINK

VivaTango will have its annual Holiday Milonga this year on Thursday December 16^th. The stars are aligning for a fantastic event.  Pablo Estigarribia one of the greatest tango pianists alive, will be in attendance, performing a short concert and then live music for dancing.  Meredith Klein will be teaching the pre-milonga class, accompanied by a very special surprise guest; Meredith will also be our DJ.  There will be door prizes and surprises.  Dress to impress and come out to end the tango year on a very high note! Admission only $20.

EVENT LINK

Connect Yourself to the world wide Tango community with this Free App

The free Tango Partner app helps you get more of the tango you love. As a user you can connect easily with nearby social tango dancers by sending them a cabeceo (a friend request in the context of the app). This allows you to ask for local information if you are travelling, share a ride, book accommodation or register to an event together, stay in touch with your favorite tango dancers, or even find other tango dancers at the airport. Moreover, you can connect with tango professionals in your country and abroad, and you can find festivals, marathons, milongas, practicas, classes, etc. Finally, you can find tango books, clothes, online tango classes and more. 

You can download the Tango Partner app on Google Play or App Store.

For Your Safety

All dancers must have been vaccinated with their final shot at least two weeks before the event and are required to wear a mask covering the mouth and nose. Sanitation stations are provided, the dance floor is large, the ceiling is high, and the ventilation has been upgraded with high efficiency filters for your safety. Dancers are urged to bring their own water bottle. Dancers should not come if they are not feeling well, have been exposed to a person with Covid in the past 2 weeks, or are awaiting results for a Covid test.

See you on Thursday!

VivaTango

45 Stockton Street

Princeton, NJ

MAP  Off street parking at venue.

November 25^th

Happy Thanksgiving. There will be no VivaTango event this Thursday. VivaTango is thankful for all the volunteers, dancers, instructors, musicians and DJs that unite in the Princeton Tango Family.

December 4^th

Pablo and Iwona with Lesson and Milonga

December 11^th

Eleonora with DimOn the Tango DJ with Lesson and Milonga

SAVE THE DATE December 16^th For Holiday Milonga

VivaTango will have its annual Holiday Party this year on Thursday December 16^th. The stars are uniting for a memorable event. Some of the World’s best will be there with live music and a fabulous lesson. Put December 16^th on your calendar now!

For Your Safety

All dancers must have been vaccinated with their final shot at least two weeks before the event and are required to wear a mask covering the mouth and nose. Sanitation stations are provided, the dance floor is large, the ceiling is high, and the ventilation has been upgraded with high efficiency filters for your safety. Dancers are urged to bring their own water bottle. Dancers should not come if they are not feeling well, have been exposed to a person with Covid in the past 2 weeks, or are awaiting results for a Covid test.

VivaTango

45 Stockton Street

Princeton, NJ

MAP  Off street parking at venue.

Are you ready for another great event?

November 18^th

Meredith Klein and Andres Amarilla

Meredith Klein and Andres Amarilla return to Princeton. Meredith and Andres are Instructors, performers and event organizers. They provide a wide scope of Argentine Tango dance and music events in the Philadelphia area, including the Philadelphia Tango Festival. They are well known in the international Tango community. They are looking forward to seeing all their friends at VivaTango Thursday.

November 25^th

Happy Thanksgiving. There will be no VivaTango event this Thursday. VivaTango is thankful for all the volunteers, dancers, instructors, musicians and DJs that unite in the Princeton Tango Family.

SAVE THE DATE December 16^th For Holiday Milonga

VivaTango will have its annual Holiday Party this year. Great plans are in the works. Announcements to be made in a few weeks – Save the date!

For Your Safety

All dancers must have been vaccinated with their final shot at least two weeks before the event and are required to wear a mask covering the mouth and nose. Sanitation stations are provided, the dance floor is large, the ceiling is high, and the ventilation has been upgraded with high efficiency filters for your safety. Dancers are urged to bring their own water bottle. Dancers should not come if they are not feeling well, have been exposed to a person with Covid in the past 2 weeks, or are awaiting results for a Covid test.

See you on Thursday!

VivaTango

45 Stockton Street

Princeton, NJ

MAP  Off street parking at venue.

The dancing continues next week with Helen Wang providing a great evening of lessons and a milonga.

November 11^th

Helen Wang and James Archambault will lead a lesson titled “Rebote with Surprises!” following the lesson, the lights will be turned down and the music volume up and Helen will DJ the Milonga starting at 8:15 PM. On their last appearance at VivaTango Helen and James danced with many of you. They look forward to getting back on the dance floor with you again.

7:00 PM Lesson

8:15 PM Milonga

Lesson $15, Milonga $15, Both $20

For Your Safety

All dancers must have been vaccinated with their final shot at least two weeks before the event and are required to wear a mask covering the mouth and nose. Sanitation stations are provided, the dance floor is large, the ceiling is high, and the ventilation has been upgraded with high efficiency filters for your safety. Dancers are urged to bring their own water bottle. Dancers should not come if they are not feeling well, have been exposed to a person with Covid in the past 2 weeks, or are awaiting results for a Covid test.

See you on Thursday!

VivaTango

45 Stockton Street

Princeton, NJ

MAP  Off street parking at venue.

Last Thursday 65 dancers enjoyed the “Unbelievable, incredible, hallucinatory music for dancing by Emiliano Messiez and Leandro Ragusa, here at VivaTango Princeton. So amazing and so good for the soul.” Thanks to Emiliano and Leandro for the music and thanks to Meredith Klein for arranging the performance and taking the video. If you were there check out the video to see if you are in it. If you were not there check out the video to see a sample of the music and the dancers that you missed.   VIDEO

The good times continue. Our traveling DJ, MayoK aka Urszula, has recently returned to the US, this time from Marrakesh Morocco.  The cortinas will include an urban mix with Moroccan Spice and Marrakesh Magic.

November 4^th

Lesson with Iwona and Pablo  +   Milonga with DJ MayoK aka Urszula

Iwona and Pablo’s lesson title is “It Takes Three to Tango”. What is that third member of this threesome? They will show you that you, your partner, and … the floor are the important elements for maximizing the connection to the floor for beautiful tango figures and rhythmic milonga movements.

The milonga that follows the lesson at 8:15 will be DJed by the incomparable MayoK, also known as Urszula. She is just returning from Morocco. She will bring some of the mystic magic she experienced in Marrakesh. Thursday’s milonga will be the Marrakesh Milonga.

7:00 PM Lesson

8:15 PM Milonga

Lesson $15, Milonga $15, Both $20

EVENT LINK

For Your Safety

All dancers must have been vaccinated with their final shot at least two weeks before the event and are required to wear a mask covering the mouth and nose. Sanitation stations are provided, the dance floor is large, the ceiling is high, and the ventilation has been upgraded with high efficiency filters for your safety. Dancers are urged to bring their own water bottle. Dancers should not come if they are not feeling well, have been exposed to a person with Covid in the past 2 weeks, or are awaiting results for a Covid test.

See you on Thursday!

VivaTango

45 Stockton Street

Princeton, NJ

MAP  Off street parking at venue.

We send two emails each week to inform you of what is happening at VivaTango and the tango community. If you are getting too many emails, and would like to unsubscribe to these two just email me at PrincetonTiger74@gmail.com We appreciate your support at our events.

VivaTango Newsletter October 28

Get ready for a Special four-hour milonga. October’s grand finale features Live music by Emiliano Messiez and Leandro Ragusa. These two musicians are the pianist and bandoneonist of a quartet that that just released a new album in a performance in NYC. They are both master musicians – read about their accomplishments below. In addition, Meredith Klein and Andres Amarilla will DJ between the sets of live music. AND to make the event even more memorable come dressed to impress. Wear your best Tango outfit, or, in the spirit of Halloween wear a costume. Everyone will be wearing a covid grade mask, so use your imagination to use this to enhance your outfit. This will be another VivaTango Evening to Remember

October 28^th

Emiliano is the pianist for the hit Broadway and London show “Forever Tango”, a show that has been seen by more than 8 million people around the world. He has also served as the music director and pianist for the successful shows “Impact” and “Tango Buenos Aires”, and he is the creator of “Barolo Tango,” a live tango show based in Argentina.

Leandro, bandoneonist, is on tour from Buenos Aires. He performs at major tango festivals. Emiliano and Leandro will be presenting a new album release (as part of the quartet) in NYC on Wednesday, and will join us in Princeton on Thursday.

Milonga starts at 7 PM

Live music Starts at 8 PM

$20

EVENT LINK

October 21st 7 PM to 11 PM

Meredith Klein and Andres Amarilla

Meredith and Andres are Instructors, performers and event organizers. They provide a wide scope of Argentine Tango dance and music events in the Philadelphia area, including the Philadelphia Tango Festival. They are well known in the international Tango community. They are looking forward to seeing all their friends at VivaTango Thursday.

EVENT LINK

October 28^th 7 PM to 11 PM

music by Emiliano Messiez and Leandro Ragusa

October’s grand finale features Live music by Emiliano Messiez and Leandro Ragusa.

Emiliano is the pianist for the hit Broadway and London show “Forever Tango”, a show that has been seen by more than 8 million people around the world. He has also served as the music director and pianist for the successful shows “Impact” and “Tango Buenos Aires”, and he is the creator of “Barolo Tango,” a live tango show based in Argentina.

Leandro, bandoneonist, is on tour from Buenos Aires. He performs at major tango festivals. Emiliano and Leandro will be presenting a new album release (as part of the quartet) in NYC on Wednesday, and will join us in Princeton on Thursday.

EVENT LINK

For Your Safety

All dancers must have been vaccinated with their final shot at least two weeks before the event and are required to wear a mask covering the mouth and nose. Sanitation stations are provided, the dance floor is large, the ceiling is high, and the ventilation has been upgraded with high efficiency filters for your safety. Dancers are urged to bring their own water bottle. Dancers should not come if they are not feeling well, have been exposed to a person with Covid in the past 2 weeks, or are awaiting results for a Covid test. Attendance records are kept for each event so that contact tracing can be done if there.

See you on Thursday!

VivaTango

45 Stockton Street

Princeton, NJ

MAP  Off street parking at venue.