Review: Ardingly Tango Festival 2012: Introduction
4th June 2012
Introduction | Workshop Notes: Part One | Workshop Notes: Part Two | Dancing and Conclusion
Introduction
This was a combined 4-day festival, over the extra-long Jubilee weekend, combining:
- Live music from Sexteto Milonguero and Otros Aires
- 30 (!) workshops from a variety of teachers
- A "Tango Boot Camp" (intensive tango learning sessions)
- Multiple milongas, cream teas, massages and other good things
The festival was held in Ardingly, near Haywards Heath (basically between London and Brighton).
I'll do a set of separate reviews for this - for the classes, the music, and the dancing. This is just the introduction... :)
Getting there
The event is held as Ardingly College, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH17 6SQ (map)
It's about an hour and a quarter from North London - most of which time involves navigating around London. Compared to the 5-hour schleps to get to the average Devon Tango weekender, it's a welcome relief to have somewhere close.
The venue
The venue itself is a boarding school, set in lovely grounds; it's a lovely set of big buildings. There's plenty of parking on site, also - 400 spaces, so more than enough.
Accommodation there is basic - some single rooms, some doubles, some dormitories. But compared to the "sleep on the floor" level of accommodation at (say) Tango Mango, it's luxury. There are also plenty of B&Bs / hotels in the area, I stayed in one of those as I like my creature comforts.
The Classes
The class schedule includes 30 workshops over four days..
I attended 8 (!) workshps, over the course of Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday:
- Tango Bootcamp - ochos
- Combinations for Close Embrace in Tight Spaces
On Sunday:
- Leaders Technique + Styling
- Tango Music and Musicality
On Monday:
- Two Bodies, Four Legs, One Heart
- Ritmica Compleja
On Tuesday:
- The Art of Embrace
- Milonga Traspie with Zen practice
I'll review the individual classes later.
The teachers
The teachers are:
- Alexandra Wood
- Joel and Alina (from Tango Manchester)
- Dario and Claire Da Silva of Corazon De Tango
- Pablo Nievas and Valeria Zunino
- Chan Park of Tango Zen
- Mike, Sue, Warren and Kerenza of Tango Bootcamp
I attended classes by almost all of them over the weekend.
~ David Bailey, 4th June 2012