Festival Registration. All events are at the Byron Community Centre, found in Jonson Street, Byron Bay. The registration desk will be open from 5pm on Friday 24th August.

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Immersion Class. Please note that the immersion class is for experienced dancers. As a rule of thumb, at least 3 years of regular weekly dancing and attending classes, workshops and practicas.

The festival is centred on a group of 30 dance couples who commit to a weekend of intense learning with master instructors. This year Leonel Di Cocco and Carolina Giannini will lead the immersion classes, consisting of 2x2.5hr “seminars”. The structure of each seminar will be fluid and interactive to maximise learning and retention. The following brief descriptions are given by Carolina & Leo:

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Seminar 1: Theme is “Connection and perception”.
We will work with the techniques of the leader and follower roles -connection and perception-. We will work on the different systems in the tango structure and how to lead the most important tango structures.
At the end of the seminar we will be able to: Understand the tango systems and its importance in developing the creativity necessary for improvisation. Understand the principles of correct leading and following.

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Seminar 2: Theme is “The creativity of sacadas and boleos”.
We will do an intensive investigation of Boleos and Sacadas . We will experiment with them to create new possibilities.
At the end of this seminar we will be able to: Execute effortlessly different types of sacadas. Lead and recognise the different ways of executing a boleo. Begin to improvise smoothly using Sacadas and Boleos .

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Tango Workshops. Leo & Carolina will take these workshops, which are designed to extend and deepen the skill of dancers in a specific subject matter. Require at least 18 months of tango; not suitable for those with basic skills only.

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Workshop 1: “Structure of Giros”.
We will investigate the structure of the leader’s and follower's role and how to create figures from what has been learned.
At the end of the seminar we will be able to: Create giros with different elements during the improvisation. Recognize which are the best musical moments to take the maximum of your figures.

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Workshop 2: “Introduction to Vals and Milonga”.
We will focus on the musical forms and the moves that suit the rhythms.
At the end of the seminar we will be able to: know how to prepare the body to lead and follow the moves and rhythms in vals and milonga. Begin to improvise to vals and milonga.

 

Practicas and Milongas. Each day two x 2hr practicas are held in the Balcony Room and each evening there is a formal milonga. Casual entry to these events is available at the cost shown in the summary table above.

Each evening Milonga will feature guest DJs. On Friday night’s Welcome Milonga there will be live music by the inimitable Mendoza Tango Quartet with Solange (singer) and guest bandoneon and violin. On Saturday’s Festival Milonga, we have the popular Alex Nodelman from Sydney to prepare us for the dance performances by Leo and Carolina. We will celebrate the closure of the festival with Sunday’s Farewell Milonga with guest DJ Chris Han (Brisbane). Each of the 4 daytime practicas will feature a different DJ.