Soledad – from Buenos Aires to Austin Texas
The International Queer Tango Teacher . . . for Everyone!
WHEN: Friday-Sunday March 3-5 2017
WHERE: Balance Dance Studios, 4544 South Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78745. Building 200 (Just past BRAVO), Studio #3
Located across Hwy 290/71W from the Westgate Shopping Center, where there is Central Market, Hyde Park Bar & Grill, and shopping.
Registration now open.
SAVE by pre-registering!
Soledad is a gifted tango dancer, leader and follower, from Buenos Aires, known internationally for her musicality and creativity on the dance floor. A playful and intuitive teacher, Soledad is beloved in tango communities across the globe, where she performs, shares her tango knowledge, and spreads joy.
Videos
Yes, we like to see the videos of the pros. Do they look good when they dance? Does their dancing include musical, interesting, and creative movements that I would enjoy? Check this out . . .
https://goo.gl/KSO40t LOTS of Soledad videos on YouTube!
For example . . .
Buenos Aires
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmxchwcbrbI
San Francisco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x6fkBuTRsc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uHT4ApLnyo
Paris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3KMAVQElrE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQN19rLqdWk
Berlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zls6rc5uuRQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5MCMol9WlA
Registration
$25/session for pre-registered
1 Session
https://www.paypal.me/TangoTribe/25
2 Session
https://www.paypal.me/TangoTribe/50
3 Session
https://www.paypal.me/TangoTribe/75
4 Session
https://www.paypal.me/TangoTribe/100
5 Session
https://www.paypal.me/TangoTribe/125
BEST Buy – only $110 for full 5-session workshop pre-registered (Save $15)
https://www.paypal.me/TangoTribe/110
$30/session ON-SITE (or Pre-register and save $5 a session!)
Student Pricing for FULL-TIME students with ID: $15 a workshop.
Student registration in person only, with your student ID.
Or, if you see David at a milonga, practica, or class, you can pre-register with cash or check.
Schedule
Session 1
FRIDAY 6:30-8:00
Essentials of Tango Walking and Embrace with Soledad. One of Soledad’s most popular workshops. In Berlin it fills up every year. This is real-deal tango from the ground up for dancers at every level who want to master a fluid, grounded walk. Walk like a lion!
(All-levels)
Session 2
SATURDAY 3:00-4:30
Social Tango and circulation on the dance floor. We dance not only with our partners, but with a moving floor of dancers. Come learn creative, musical steps to create space and circulation on a crowded floor.
(Beginner-Intermediate)
Session 3
SATURDAY 5:00-6:30
Improvisation. Reach for fluidity and freedom to dance in a state of playfulness and creativity with your partner. In this session we will explore improvised tango. The session will include exercises and ideas to prime the tango imagination.
(Intermediate/Advanced)
Session 4
SUNDAY 3:30-5:00
Communication. At its core, tango is a dance of expression and communication. In this session, Soledad teaches students how to integrate clarity and creativity into our dance while being in full communication with our partners.
(Beginner/Intermediate)
Session 5
SUNDAY 5:30-7:00
Queer tango sensibilities for . . .
EVERY dancer. How both partners can contribute musical ideas to a dance without stepping on the partner’s responsibilities. Ideas for expanding your dancing abilities to include the other role. Playful intercambio.
(Intermediate/Advanced)
Private Lessons
Private lessons for 1-2 people: $90 an hour plus floor fee. Booking is limited and first come first serve. Contact
david@tangotribe.com to reserve your spot.
Come dance into happy with us.
Soledad — the dancer, the teacher
Soledad began dancing tango at 21 and, from the beginning, learned to dance both roles. She graduated from the Educational Tango Center of Buenos Aires (the Tango University) and among her early influential teachers were Rodolfo Dinzel, Olga Besio, and Juan Miguel Expósito.
Since 2004, Soledad has taught in various cultural centers and State community programs, teaching tango at public schools and public heath centers for seniors, young people, children, and women in situations of gender violence and domestic abuse. “Tango by and for Women,” a rare concept at the time, was one of her early collaborations.
She became an adjunct teacher at Espacio Tango Queer in Buenos Aires in 2008 and now teaches regularly at the Queer Tango Festival in Buenos Aires and the weekly milonga Tango Queer de Buenos Aires. She has performed at a variety of milongas in Buenos Aires such as Confiteria Ideal, Tango Queer, La Marshall, and Salon Canning. She has also participated in events sponsored by the Argentine National Congress and at other cultural venues.
Soledad is recognized throughout Buenos Aires, in traditional as well as queer settings, as a musical, creative dancer, one of the stunning female leaders of her generation.
In 2012, Soledad began teaching and performing internationally and quickly became a special guest teacher in cities all around the globe: San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Boston, Berlin and throughout Germany, Paris, St. Petersburg, and Zurich.
Her perspective of tango is that it is a paired dance with both partners contributing equally to the ensemble. This approach encourages the dancers to produce a balanced and more intense collaboration.
Why Queer Tango?
But that wouldn’t be for
ME, would it? . . .
I invited Soledad to visit Austin because she is a great teacher. Period! Last March I attended the Abrazo Queer Tango festivalito in San Francisco. I enjoy Queer Tango festivals because it gives me an opportunity to both lead and follow, both men and women, at nice levels of dancing. I got to both lead and follow Soledad, attend all of her workshops, and take a private lesson with her. It was a blast, all of it.
Her dancing is musical and inventive.
Her teaching is clear and effective, with lots of different imagery and exercises to help students really connect to the material and to each other.
Here are things that I see as Queer Tango sensibilities:
1. Even when dancers have a preferred role, they are more likely to be able to dance either role.
2. There is a sense of greater equality in the roles. Followers more actively contribute to the dance. In some respects the dance seems more fun, and less hierarchical as a result.
3. There seems to be less emotional turmoil over who asks who for what.
4. There is an attitude of playful creativity.
Now doesn’t that seems like something that anybody could appreciate?
Finally
Thank you to the Austin area tango community for supporting and making these events possible. We strive to make our events affordable, accessible, and welcoming to all. Contact
david@tangotribe.com or Facebook message
https://www.facebook.com/tangotribe/ for special needs.
Tango Tribe is honored to welcome Soledad, in collaboration with
Abrazo Queer Tango of the San Francisco Bay Area,
Queer Tango Montréal,
Philly Queer Tango, and
Queer Tango Club of New York City.