Tango holidays La Rogaia 2012, Don´t be afraid of the music. Learning to tango the right way

Jan. 28, 2012 - PRLog -- From many dancers who have tried hard to get over a dance lesson you can here this or a similar saying. “Dancing is nice. The only thing bothering me is the music.”  

Regrettably many dance instructors seem to share that opinion. At least one hears time and again from some of them that it would be far to difficult to listen to the music and to dance to it in the beginning
Instead as an assumed way out they teach pre-assembled sequences of steps or figures, dancers shall learn by rote.

Therefore music very often gets the short end of the stick
No wonder, given the fact that it is difficult to memorize new, complex sequences of steps, especially for beginners.
If somebody has to concentrate on the music as well things easily can become difficult..

Of course looking at this way of teaching you can ask yourself how reasonable it is to learn steps by rote, dancers cannot use on a (mostly) crowded dance floor, with lots of other couples standing in their way permanently.

It is much better to learn to listen to the music in the very beginning like dancers do in authentic Argentine Tango and to refrain to intricate memorized figures.
In the real Argentine Tango music is the most important. Second comes the connection with the dance partner and the other couples  on the dance floor. Figures are nice but considered to  be least important and are ranked only on the very last place

One question Tango beginners inevitably will ask themselves is how they can dance without established sequences of steps.
Yet in Argentine Tango this is nothing to be really afraid of.

Even in Argentine Tango there are single elements one wants to learn  to make the dance more interesting.
These elements however can be learned comparatively easy and can be combined individually like building blocks dancers can play with.
Possibilities for Tango dancers are virtually endless. They can dance to the music without problems as well as they can adapt to the permanently changing situation on the dance floor.
Learning to dance Tango this way will them leave hardly ever stuck on the dance floor in contrast to dancing prefabricated steps they cannot perform when the dannce floor is crowded (Very often it is)
It is important therefore to learn to listen to the music from the very beginning, to dance with the music to really perceive the dance partner and the other couples on the dance floor and to respect them.
This seems difficult at first sight but it really is not if dancers refrain to pre-established steps learned by rote.
In fact this makes Tango very interesting and is so much fun that many Tango dancers almost get addicted to Tango.

Choosing the Tango teachers for its Tango holidays La Rogaia gives big importance to this aspect of learning how to tango.
As in the years before the organizers of La Rogaia succeeded even in 2012 to bring many internationally renowned Tango instructors to Italy.
Among them are Filippo Avignonesi and Yulia Yukhina (March 31 to April 7, 2012, Easter Holidays 2012), and Tango legend Brigitta Winkler (April 7 to 14, 2012, Easter Holidays 2012).
From May 5 to May 12, 2012 one of the best Tango teacher couples from the United Kingdom, Shiobhan Richards and Michael Lavocah will teach at La Rogaia.

In May with Ricky Barrios and Laura Melo from Buenos Aires another world famous couple will teach a Tango workshop at Villa La Rogaia.

A special highlight will be the workshop for advanced Tango dancers with Fabiàn Salas one of the worlds absolute best and most famous Tango dancers and teachers and his congenial partner Lola Díaz from Buenos Aires (June 6 to June16, 2011).

Last not least the beginners and improvers classes with Wolfgang Sandt enjoy ever growing popularity. His approach of “Forget the basic step, and dance” has brought relief to many dancers who have been frustrated by trying to memorize useless sequences of steps, which they could never apply on a full dance floor May 26 to June 2, 2012 and June 2 to June 9, 2012).

What makes tango holidays in La Rogaia really special are the familiar atmosphere and the lessons in small groups where the students really profit.
The big number of regular guests who come back to La Rogaia every year gives proove that the special atmosphere La Rogaia offers is well appreciated by those who love to combine Tango Argentino and relaxing holidays in Italy.
Coming from the United Kingdom there are many convenient flights to Perugia. not far from Villa La Rogaia.
La Rogaia supports “Doctors without Borders” and donates 5 % of the money received of every booking made for a Tango class until January 31.
Who wants to combine a Tango holiday with helping “Doctors without Borders” can do this booking a Tango holiday and Tango workshop at La Rogaia until the end of January.
More information about Tango holidays in La Rogaia at www.tango-holidays.com

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Villa La Rogaia is an agriturismo and organic farm situated near Lago Trasimeno in Umbria, Italy. It offers holiday apartments and a variety of creative and art classes, such as painting, dancing, cooking, italian language, olive harvest and many others.