Workshop with Shahrukh Merchant

Tangueros y Tangueras

We are happy to announce the next tango and milonga workshops later this week by Shahrukh Merchant of Buenos Aires on Tuesday March 9 & Thursday March 11, 2010. Shahrukh will also be here for Milonga on Saturday, March 13, 2010

Tuesday, March 9: WORKSHOPS IN TANGO

T1: 7:00-8:15 pm: Tango Fundamentals for ALL levels

T2: 8:30-9:45 pm: Milonguero-Style Tango Figures and Technique as danced in Buenos Aires

Location: R-136 Greater Kailash 1, New Delhi

Thursday, March 11: WORKSHOPS IN MILONGA

M1: 7:00-8:15 pm: Milonga Fundamentals for all levels including "Traspie" (syncopations)

M2: 8:30-9:45 pm: More Advanced Milonga figures with a focus on Traspie

Location: To be confirmed. Separate email will be sent shortly

Saturday, March 13: MILONGA (the party)

An evening of dancing, DJ Shahrukh Merchant

Location and Time: To be confirmed by separate email

Details of workshops

TANGO: All students regardless of prior experience should plan on attending the T1 Fundamentals class, as elements and vocabulary will be introduced there that will be used for both classes, and that you may not have been exposed to before if you have not been to Buenos Aires. Material will be appropriate for beginners but there will be enough supplemental material presented to keep intermediate or more experienced dancers challenged as well. The focus of the workshop will be traditional "milonguero-style" Tango as danced in Buenos Aires. Figures will be presented to illustrate the techniques, but the focus will be on connection, axis, navigation and proper execution technique.

MILONGA: This dance is the predecessor to Tango and almost 25% of songs played at a typical Tango event in Buenos Aires (also called a Milonga) will be Milongas, so it is essential that Tango dancers have at least a working knowledge of the Milonga. While some technique is shared between the Tango and Milonga, Milonga is NOT, as is sometimes supposed, simply Tango done faster, but has its own technique, figures and "feeling." A key element of classic Milonga is the traspie, or syncopations, which will be introduced in the first class (M1) and developed extensively in the second class (M2). As with the Tango workshops, it is imperative that all students attend M1 regardless of prior Milonga experience.

Prerequisites

T1: A previous introduction to basic Argentine Tango is recommended, or at least some experience in some other lead-follow partner dance.

T2: Attendance at T1, familiarity with salida, cruzada and ochos, and a minimum of 6 months of Tango dancing experience.

M1: No prior experience required, though previous partner dance experience would be helpful.

M2: Attendance at M1. Previous partner dance experience (Tango, Milonga or other) strongly recommended.

Contribution: Rs. 500 for each workshop

Partners

It is not necessary to sign up with a partner. There will be frequent partner changes throughout each workshop, more so if there is a gender imbalance. If you wish to dance primarily with a preferred or regular partner, we suggest that you change back to your preferred partner every other partner change (so you dance half the time with your preferred partner), but that you still respect each partner change announcement. Getting accustomed to different leading and following styles is an important part of Tango learning.

Dress / Shoes

Wear clothes comfortable for dancing--women in particular should make sure that their dress will not limit their movement, nor that of their partners. Men and women should wear leather-soled shoes that will not slip off their feet.

About the instructor

Shahrukh Merchant has been dancing Tango since 1995. In 1997 he founded the over 1000-member strong Tango Society of Boston (www.bostontango.org) and was a frequent visitor to Buenos Aires. He taught independently in the Boston area and elsewhere as well until 2004, when he began living full-time in Buenos Aires, and is well known in the Tango world there. As a result, his teaching emphasizes the traditional style of tango for the salons of Buenos Aires. He has partnered in exhibitions with various well-known Tango dancers, including Mariana Fresno, Mariana Dragone and Carino Losana of Buenos Aires, and Daniela Pucci of Brasil. While he no longer teaches on a regular basis owing to other commitments and priorities, he occasionally does special events and workshops upon request or when they coincide with his travels, such as his current trip to New Delhi.

Shahrukh is also the founder of the longest-running Tango discussion forum on the Internet (www.tango-L.com) and maintains the top-ranked on-line list of milongas in Buenos Aires (www.BuenosAiresMilongas.com).