Ariadna Naveira and Fernando Sanchez at Villa La Rogaia

The first time we saw Ariadna and Fernando was at the “ChocoTango Festival” in Perugia.

Until then the only thing we knew about them was that Ariadna is the daughter of Olga Besio, a world famous tango dancer and ballet director, and Gustavo Naveira, the probably best known living tango dancer, tango choreographer and co-founder of the Tango Nuevo movement. And we knew that Ariadna had been dancing with her brother Federico at tango shows and festivals for many years. About Fernando we knew almost nothing, except the fact that he and Ariadna are also a couple in real life.

It is always somewhat unfair to measure children against their famous parents. But of course we asked ourselves how both would do in comparison to Ariadna´s father Gustavo Naveira which we have known for many years already.

Long story short: We weren´t disappointed. Quite the contrary, we were stoked by their show: Sparkling, funny and yet absolutely virtuoso. On highest technical level but so relaxed you almost wouldn´t realise how difficult their dancing really was. Their humorous style of dancing is unique, completely unmistakeable. They don´t need to fear the comparison with anybody else! No wonder the audience in Perugia didn´t let them go before doing several encores.

 

 

Ariadna Naveira & Fernando Sanchez
Ariadna Naveira & Fernando Sanchez

What people feel after seeing Ariadna and Fernando dancing has been described nicely by a tango blogger :

“You can get hooked by this”

Here is another short to the point description of Ariadna and Fernando in a review from the Erfurt Tango Festival:

“Their classes are outstanding due to their profound knowledge of the dance and its movements. They have a deep understanding of the structures of the classical tango and a humouros and friendly way of teaching. There is a reason why they have firmly established themselves in the international tango scene. In their shows their elegance and grace accompanied by a witty sense of musicality will take your breath away…”

There is nothing we could add to this apart from “That´s right !”

If you are an advanced level tango dancer, the workshop with Ariadna and Fernando certainly is something you don´t want to miss !

Ariadna Naveira & Fernando Sanchez. And here two videos…

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Tango lessons at La Rogaia. The things we value

A few of the students who participated at our tango lessons at La Rogaia, some of them making their first tango steps here, became tango teachers, running their own tangoschools.

La Rogaia Tango travel, Tango travel, tango workshop, tango lessons, tango classes, tango musicality workshop steve and Debbie
Steve and Debbie Morrall, two excellent tango dancers and teachers who will reveal to you the secrets of beautifully dancing with the music

A few of them became professional dancers, dancing in tango shows.

We admit gladly, that we´re happy and even a little proud about this.

But we know well that most of the participants of our tango lessons do not intend to make a living as tango dancers performing on stage every evening. Most of you simply want to have fun dancing tango as a nice hobby (Okay, maybe a little more than a hobby:-).

 

Tangokurs La Rogaia 2014, Tangourlaub
Dance Tango, relax and have fun. LikeMetin Jazir,  internationally renowned tango teacher and living Tango legend, and our legendary chef Ornella Carletti. 2014 Metin returns to La Rogaia.

 

Therefore we place particular value on offering courses  where you learn everything you need to move beautifully, relaxed and safe on the dance floor together with all the other dancers.

This applies specially for the classes for beginners, improvers and the classes to refresh the basics of the dance.

But also at the intermediate classes we place value on choosing tango teachers who don´t bombard you with tons of figures and sequences of steps, you will never have a chance to dance in the reality of a busy dance floor, and will  therefore forget as fast as you learned them.

Instead we try to offer you tango teachers who place value on the basics of dancing tango, the quality of the movement, musicality and safe dancing in the round of all the dancers on the dance floor – and who have the ability to impart this to you.

 

 

 

At the classes for advanced dancers we assume that participants are able to master all this (though experience shows that it is always good to refresh the basics)

Therefore the advanced and master classes focus much stronger on extending the participants repertoire beyond what you need normally on the dance floor. This might be help for choreographies as well as giving valuable impulses and suggestions for tango teachers who want to improve their own teaching.

 

One thing we attach great importance to, and what is another of the advantages of the tango classes at La Rogaia: The small groups (An opinion that is shared and appreciated by the participants of our tango holidays)

We restrict the number of participants consequently to a maximum of 9 couples.

We want you to profit from the tango classes at La Rogaia more than anywhere else. And we are profoundly convinced that for a teacher it is impossible to care for each participant individually in a big group.

Not least we try to invite teachers who are enjoying to stay in touch with you even when there are no classes.

A tango workshop, beyond learning steps, always is a personal encounter with the tango teacher you have chosen.Many things you will learn or consolidate outside the classes at the “practicas” or simply chatting with your tango teacher at the dinner table.

Many questions will come to your mind only after the class has finished. Often the answers to these questions are to be found beetween the lines. Sometimes a little hint is sufficient to understand:

Queries for a better understanding, practical corrections of the things you have learned or questions about the personal careers of your tango teachers can help you to develop your own style.

Big advantage if the tango teacher is available for these questions and is willing and enjoying to talk with you.

In the relaxing atmosphere of an intensive tango week (relaxing for participants and teachers) this is very likely to happen.

 

 

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Tango Travel La Rogaia, Tango holidays 2014, New Program

La Rogaia Tango travel, tango holidays 2014

Michael Lavocah and Siobhan Richards performing a funny tango in the garden of La Rogaia

Already dreaming of your next tango holidays? Here you can see La Rogaia´s new program for tango holidays 2014. If you want to be sure to secure your spot in one of La Rogaia´s tango classes, you can make your booking now.

Booking now you still get this year´s prices.

 

If you are one of the many tango dancers, who have been one or several times at La Rogaia you know why La Rogaia is considered the first choice for tango holidays in Europe.

If you have not been at La Rogaia yet, here a short description what you can expect from tango holidays at La Rogaia

  • Familiar, relaxed atmosphere
  • Beautiful ambience
  • First class tango teachers
  • Delicious, original Italian food  prepared by “Mamma” Ornella
  • Small, intimate groups, that permit teachers to take their time to help you individually

Curious what our guests say , about La Rogaia?

Find all information about Tango holidays, Tango lessons and Tango workshops 2014 at La Rogaia here

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A little Christmas story about Tango and…

A little Christmas story about Tango and…

Dear Tango friends

I am sure you will like this little Christmas movie

Probably from your own Tango life you are familiar with some of the situations in the movie.

At this point however I am not going to give away more.

Be in for a surprise…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSI8docYcfA

 

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Wolfgang

 

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Which Tango shoes should I wear? About the “right” Tango shoes

About the “right” Tango shoes

Every now and then I am asked for my opinion about the right Tango shoes.

Actually Tango shoes are one of the most discussed things among Tango dancers.

Tango shoes, About the right Tango shoes

About the "right" choice of Tango shoes. Tango shoes are one of the most discussed things among Tango dancers. Some dancers can spend days talking about all aspects of Tango shoes.

Specially women (YES!:-) can be seen at every bigger milonga,  looking through sortiments of Tango shoes talking about design, colours, comfort and all thinkable aspects of the Tango shoes displayed.

Okay, the choice of Tango shoes for women is bigger by far and with the choice comes the embarrassment of riches.

The choice of Tango shoes for men is small in comparison.

I have to admit that I like to take a look at shoes as well and I like nicely crafted, elegant shoes. Not only Tango shoes. Actually I like to spend a lot of time in shoe shops.

I spite of this I do not buy lots of Tango shoes, for two reasons.

Reason number one: I don´t know why but the Tango shoes I like always seem to have the highest price tags.

Reason number two: I have big feet and many Tango shoes I like are not available in my seize (Which probably is a good thing in the end, thinking about the price tags).

Anyway, for me a Tango shoe in first line should be comfortable and support your foot.

Elegance of course is nice but doesn´t help if Tango shoes are not comfortable andTango shoes which are too small can be hell.

I like it, when the leather of my Tango shoes is soft because it gives me the feeling of having a better contact with the floor and makes it easier for me to perform elegant steps (As I am not elegant by nature, I have to use every trick:-).

About the soles of Tango shoes.

Also the soles of Tango shoes are something strongly discussed. I know dancers who can talk for hours which sole of which Tango shoe fits which floor. Glazed leather, suede, polished leather…

So, which sole is right for your Tango shoes?

My answer to this is, I really don´t care so much.

When I go to an open air milonga with rough stone pavement or a dance floor made of wooden planks I tend to wear some older Tango shoes to avoid spoiling my new ones.

On a VERY slippery floor it may happen that I take off my Tango shoes and get back to my normal street shoes with rubber soles if they are sufficiently elegant.

I found that normally I get along well with whatever shoes I wear.

I think, in most cases choosing the “right” Tango shoes is rather a question of your attitude than a real necessity.

Look, in the beginnings of Tango there were not to be found many high class parquet dance floors in the quarters where Tango was born.

People danced in the streets, in backyards, in inns with rough wooden floors.

There were dancers who had no shoes at all, let alone elegantly crafted Tango shoes for the only purpose of dancing.

Tango in those days was pretty much down to earth, many of the elegant, sophisticated movements we connect today with Tango didn´t exist back then.

Turns and pivots for example you can dance only on smooth floors, came much later when Tango had conquered all parts of Argentine society and became a mass movement, with big dance halls.

So maybe we shouldn´t think so much about the right choice of our Tango shoes but more how we can adapt our way of dancing to the reality of the dance floor we find.

To master this challenge not only makes us more indipendent from dance floors and whatever soles our Tango shoes might or might not have but helps us to make our dancing richer as well.

 

 

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Tango workshop with Siobhan Richards and Michael Lavocah at Villa La Rogaia, May 2012

Tango workshop with Siobhan Richards and Michael Lavocah at Villa La Rogaia, May 2012

From May 5 to May 12, 2012 one of the best Tango teacher couples from the United Kingdom, Siobhan Richards and Michael Lavocah will hold a Tango workshop at Villa La Rogaia.

Tango workshop with Shiobhan Richards and Michael Lavocah at Villa La Rogaia

Enjoy a Tango workshop and Tango holiday with Siobhan Richards and Michael Lavocah at Villa La Rogaia

If you have been dancing Tango for a while you certainly have realised one important thing.
Taking your tango dancing to the next level is not a matter of which or how many figures you dance than rather how you dance.
In this Tango workshop with Siobhan and Michael you will discover how you can improve your quality of movement and expression.
You will deepen and refine your connection with your partner and with the music. You will increase your pleasure in dancing Tango.

Siobhan and Michael have prepared for their Tango workshop  a special Tango training program which consists of two parts.
During the morning lessons of the Tango workshop they will focus on the fundamentals of dancing Tango together:
Body awareness, balance, grounding, posture, the embrace, and the ‘how’ of creating elegant and fluid movements without stiffness or tension.
During the afternoon lessons of the Tango workshop Siobhan and Michael will help you to get a profound understanding of an often neglected but very interesting genre of Argentine Tango – the Milonga.
They will build up each lesson step by step from the absolute basics to more complex traspie combinations in an effective, self-contained course.
Dancing Milonga is real fun and after this workshop you will never again feel insecure dancing Milonga let alone feeling you have to leave the dance floor cause you don´t know how to dance it.
Siobhan and Michael give regularly Tango workshops at Argentine Tango events across the UK and Europe. They’re known for their gentle, humorous, patient approach to their students and they are at their best with this type of concentrated, intimate teaching in a small group.

Their aim at their Tango workshop at Villa La Rogaia, is to help you to develop your dancing in a relaxing, supportive environment.
They both firmly believe that the more you can relax and enjoy your dancing the better it gets.
Last not least Michael is also a Tango DJ.
He knows Tango music inside out and brings this depth of knowledge with humour, passion and clarity into his Tango lessons. For you this means you will receive a deeper understanding of Tango music in this Tango workshop.

P.S. From the United Kingdom there are several convenient flights to Perugia, Umbria. not far from Villa La Rogaia. So it is very easy and affordable to attend the Tango workshop if you come from the UK.

P.P.S. Here you can watch a video with Siobhan and Michael dancing at a Tango workshop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7wjB7hour0

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Why you should laugh, or at least smile when dancing Tango

Why you should laugh, or at least smile when dancing Tango

Tango lessons, dancing Tango is much easier when we are laughing

One of the important Tango lessons. Dancing Tango is much easier when we are laughing while we are dancing.

I noticed that I am dancing Tango much better when I laugh or at least have a smile on my lips.

I´m a curious guy.

So of course I asked myself, why does this happen, why do I dance Tango better when I laugh?

Well, and I found the answer isn´t really difficult.

Laughing is good and relaxing. And when we are relaxed and in a good mood of course we also move with ease.

Everything gets easier.

This is true also for dancing Tango.

But there is another reason why laughing helps us to improve when we are dancing Tango.

This has to do with the posture we need for dancing Tango.

Want to know more? Okay, then just make this little experiment.

Plant yourself firmly on the floor,  head beetween your shoulders.

Hunch your shoulders and duck your head as if to protect it from a blow. Do all this nicely tense.

If you prefer to do so you can also droop your head, like someone who is exhausted or deeply depressed.

Okay, and now try to laugh, while keeping this position.  Not just a tired chucle, but a roaring laughter, loud, cheerful, happy…

I don’t know about you, but I can’t do it.

After few moments I think it´s so absurd, so ridiculous, I start to laugh about myself.

But not with my head ducked between my shoulders.

I can´t help, I have to straighten up for laughing, head high, taking a deep breath, throwing my arms up.

When I finally stop laughing, gasping for breath, relaxed but with my body still upright, I notice I´m standing there with a good relaxed posture, ready for dancing Tango.

Head and body drawn up to full height, shoulders relaxed, still laughing internally and ready for the embrace.

Since I have found out this I use the “trick” with the laughing actively while I am dancing Tango.

Of course it happens also to me that my head and body start to sink down, when I´m dancing Tango with a lady smaller than me (or with an exciting perfume:-) or when I am concentrating strongly on the music.

When I find myself doing this I switch on deliberately my internal laugh.

And behold!

My head moves up. My body moves up. I am in a good posture for dancing Tango again.

Try it! Most likely, it will help you dance better.

At least when you do it, you are not one of those (too many) people who are making grumpy faces while dancing Tango.

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Argentine Tango Intensive Workshop with FabIàn Salas and Lola Díaz, June 9 to June 16, 2012

Argentine Tango  Intensive Workshop with FabIàn Salas and Lola Díaz, June 9 to June 16, 2012

Tango lessons, Tango workshop with Fabiàn Salas and Lola Díaz at La Rogaia, Tango holidays

La Rogaia Tango lessons. Join the Tango workshop with Fabiàn Salas and Lola Díaz at La Rogaia

How you will improve your understanding of Argentine Tango and bring your dancing and teaching  to a superior level within one week.

For a long time Fabiàn Salas didn´t  make any teaching tours  outside of Argentina and has been missed badly by his fans and students in Europe

 

Finally he´s back again, together with his new dance partner Lola Diaz.

La Rogaia is one of the few places in Europe, where he will give a workshop in 2012.

About Fabiàn Salas:

Sometimes when you speak about one of the great masters of Argentine Tango, you take it for granted, that everybody already knows everything about them.

Maybe though it does make sense to tell alittle about Fabiàn Salas.

During the Golden Age of Tango, Tango had been danced everywhere in Buenos Aires und you learned to dance Tango watching your parents or other dancers from your town quarter.

This happened completely naturally. Everybody watched and imitated the good dancers …and practiced. Oppurtunities to do so you found everywhere. Nobody had to think about teaching methods or didactics.

Fast forward to the 80ies. After the end of military dictatorship in Argentina the Tango scene has changed completely. Only a few dancers remain who have lived in the Golden Age and can pass on their knowledge. Most of them are excellent dancers, but have never wasted a thought on how to teach Tango efficiently.

A group of young dancers around Fabiàn Salas and Gustavo Naveira now tries to figure out, how the old milongueros danced.  They try to get a profound understanding how the movements and dynamics of the dance work and develop for the first time a didactically based teaching method. This method until today has a big impact on all Tango dancers, no matter whether they dance traditional Tango or Tango Nuevo.

But they do not stop at that point. With their profound knowledge of the dynamics of Tango they break with old, sometimes rigid conventions and develop a new way of dancing Tango, more open, more fluent. And they start to dance to music, which hasn´t been considered danceable until then, for example the music of Astor Piazzola.

Fabiàn Salas becomes world famous as one of the main characters of Sally Potter´s world famous Tango movie “The Tango Lesson”  , together with Gustavo Naveira and Pablo Veron.

To learn from Fabiàn Salas and Lola Diaz in a small, intimate group with a maximum of eight couples is more than simply taking Tango lessons. It is a unique opportunity you are not offered very often.

Do you want to take your Tango dancing to a superior level?

Do you want to improve your teaching methods to give your students the best teaching  and so become a really sought after Tango teacher yourself?

Do you want to learn Tango almost like in a private class, but paying only a fraction of the price.

Do you want to work close up with Fabiàn Salas and Lola Díaz almost one on one, instead of merely seeing them from afar in one of the big festivals

Then this workshop for advanced dancers with Fabián and Lola is a must for you.

 

This is a unique opportunity to learn Tango Nuevo from Fabiàn Salas one of its founders.  Places are limited to only nine couples. Do not hesitate with your reservation.

 

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Ricky Barrios and Laura Melo dance Milonga at Firenze Tango Festival

Here a video with Ricky and Laura from Firenze Tango Festival.

It is always an experience, when Ricky and Laura dance Milonga. Everybody can see the fun they are having.  But to see them dance  live, from close up is really unforgettable.

Watch the video with Ricky and Laura now.

You have the chance to see Ricky and Laura at Villa La Rogaia from May 12 to May 19  holding their Tango class.

 

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Tango with fun. Do you want to become a better Tango dancer? Well, then…

Tango with fun. Do you want to become a better Tango dancer?  Well, then…

Tango with Ricky Barrios and Laura Melo. Dance Tango with a laugh.  photo: rogaia

Tango with Ricky Barrios and Laura Melo. Dance Tango with fun and a laugh. photo: rogaia

Tango, a “sad thought you can dance”?

Maybe, but not all the time…

It has been a while now that I saw Ricky Barrios and Laura Melo dance Tango for the first time.

That was in a restaurant in the country side a little bit outside of Perugia at the fairwell milonga of a Tango workshop.

Many Perugian Tango dancers had told me already, that Ricky and Laura were very spezial Tango dancers and Tango teachers.

So of course I was curious to see them dance.

I have to admit though that I didn´t have to big expectations, given that I had seen already a lot of Tango shows with excellent dancers.

What I was allowed to experience then however really blew me away and changed drastically my way to see and dance Tango.

It was clear from the very first moment. Ricky and Laura had incredible fun dancing doing their little Tango show.

Both stepped on the dance floor, started dancing, laughing, literally beaming with joy.

That laugh, that joy was intoxicating, infectious and it was real not played, no professional laugh just for the show. Pure pristine happiness. “Tango, a sad thought…” By no means.

Already after the first Tango the complete audience was excited. Me too.

What happened to me then? I don´t know how to say it.

Even before that day I hadn´t been a particularly sad or melancholic person.

But Ricky´s and Laura´s laughter, their happiness while dancing, their ease changed something inside of me, had something incredibly liberating.

The quality of my Tango dancing was catapulted at least one level higher

That same night I started to dance tango better than ever. Only by watching, by feeling the positive energy that emanated from Ricky and Laura.

And no, that was not simply my subjective feeling, no conceit.

All the ladies I danced with that night and most of them I knew for a while, were pleasantly surprised noticing that I danced all at a sudden even more laid back and with more ease.

I´ve been often thinking about what happened to me that night watching Ricky and Laura.

Today I´d say I got a decent push by their positive energy and perceived with more clarity the importance of dancing Tango in a playful way and of making happiness and laughing very conscientously a part of my dance.

As I said before I have never been one of those do-or-die, melancholic Tango dancers.

But what I experienced that night was a completely new dimension of joy in Tango.

 

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