Spin the bottle, wheel, pin, instructor

19 Thursday Jan 2012

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We’ve got a surprise for you tonight. In fact, we’ve got a surprise for us tonight. A surprise instructor.

Well, maybe not that much of a surprise. We’ve narrowed it down to two of the best instructors we could possibly have, Lesley Mitchell or Kelly Ray. Lesley and Kelly have been teaching tango in Philadelphia for 20 years, are hosts of Philadelphia’s original weekly milonga, and will be among the hosts for this Saturday’s Unity Milonga. If you know a good dancer from Philly, you can be sure they’ve taken lessons with Lesley and Kelly.

Both are clear and precise in their instruction. That’s a good thing because tonight’s topic is pinwheel turns from back ochos (that’s a molinete to you advanced tangueros) and rocking turns. You’ll be spinning before you know it, and doing it right.

Come be surprised and spin with us tonight – 8 pm at the Suzanne Patterson Center. Admission $12, $5 for students.

Think Philly has only one polymath?

16 Monday Jan 2012

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Think again. It’s not true that Benjamin Franklin is the only Philadelphian of myriad and diverse accomplishments. There’s also Lesley Mitchell, Philadelphia’s premier tanguera. We’ve got Lesley all to ourselves Thursday night. Well, OK, maybe not entirely to ourselves. We’re willing to share. You’ll have to come at 8 pm for Lesley’s tango lesson. It’s sure to be interesting and informative.

Spend the evening with Lesley, good dancers, tasty snacks, and we think you’ll walk away with a real understanding of the spirit of brotherly love.

The hottest thing in tango

12 Thursday Jan 2012

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The hottest, trendiest, most au courant  thing in tango these days is Villa Urquiza style. The hottest tangueros, of course, are Porteños. Wouldn’t you know, we’ve got both!

Vittoria and Guillermo return tonight straight from a Villa Urquiza infused tour of Buenos Aires to teach us just what we want to know – elegant Villa Urquiza style combination turns with sacadas.  You’ll learn how to blend those with pauses in the right place. Think of them as Villa Urquiza style pauses.

Please join us tonight for Vittoria and Guillermo’s special lesson at 8 pm. The practica begins at 9 pm, all at the Suzanne Patterson Center.  Admission is $12, $5 for students.

Oh, and feel free to think of us as hot! hot! hot!

You’ve got a date with a Porteño

05 Thursday Jan 2012

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That doesn’t happen very often, does it? Well, here’s your chance. Marcelo “Chulo” Manfredi is teaching at Viva Tango tonight. Come to meet him, to learn a little something about the Villa Urquiza style of tango (here are the current Tango World Champions, Diego and Natasha, dancing their Villa Urquiza style) and to have a good time with a lot of nice people.

Join us at 8 p.m. at the Suzanne Patterson Center in downtown Princeton. Admission is $12, $5 for students.

Start swooning now

02 Monday Jan 2012

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Villa Urquiza is a barrio of Buenos Aires, famed for its Sunderland Club and for the Villa Urquiza style of tango with its smooth, elegant, precise walk. This week our instructor is Marcelo “Chulo” Manfredi, a Villa Urquiza native. We’re thinking everyone is going to be a lot suaver when he’s done. You’ll have to come to  SPC Thursday at 8 p.m. so you don’t miss out. We will have smelling salts available if you’re overcome with it all or just that charmed by Chulo. It could definitely happen.

Thanks to everyone who turned out for our Holiday Milonga. It was a perfect evening with beautiful music, scrumptious food, festive decor and wonderful people. Yes, that means you! See for yourself in this week’s Picasa album. It went so well we’re going to see if we can do that milonga trick again soon.

2011 in review

01 Sunday Jan 2012

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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,000 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 33 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Break a Leg!

26 Monday Dec 2011

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Picture this: You. Your hot date. Some Champagne. Romantic Music. Flawless tandas. Now imagine it without the hot date and the Champagne (oh come on, you won’t miss them that much) and you’ve got our Holiday Milonga, Thursday at 8:00 pm. Think of it as a dress rehearsal for New Year’s Eve. After all, practice makes perfect.

While you’re thinking of it and planning your entrance, you can view last week’s Picasa album here (yeah, yeah, the good photographer was on hiatus.)

There will be no lesson, no announcements, no practica. We won’t even make you do that mixer dance. It’s all about you and the night and the music.

As they say in the theatre to convey good wishes for a successful performance – Break a leg, Daaahling!

Directions

The Answer to Your Christmas Prayers

22 Thursday Dec 2011

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You don’t have to spend tonight in the drugstore looking for those bath salt gifts. We’re going to solve all your problems so you can come to our last lesson of the year at 8:00 and the practica at 9:00 tonight at SPC. 

We have the perfect gift for you to give to your favorite dancer, to all the wannabees you know, or to yourself. It really doesn’t matter if you’ve been naughty or nice. Central Jersey Dance Society is offering a five week beginner tango series on Mondays, starting January 2nd. The first and last lessons will be taught by Judy Moore of CJDS. The middle three lessons will be taught by Robin Thomas, one of the best tango teachers around. Robin teaches at Princeton, Yale and Columbia. If you graduate from his class, you can consider that you’ve had an Ivy League education in tango. Not bad. All the particulars are here. If you want to give this as a gift, CJDS will make you a nice gift certificate. Email Judy for that or for the CJDS discount coupon she has for Viva readers who buy the beginner series.

Join us tonight at 8 to get in the holiday spirit. And mark your calendars now – our Holiday Milonga is next Thursday at 8.