Great Flora Tango Shoes

Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 7! 

9:00 pm -1:00 am

Wine/Beer Bar on Site
Snacks Provided
Cost $10

Metropolitan Ballroom
      2935 Providence Rd. Suite 200
Charlotte, NC 28211
(704) 364-1871

As usual, Stepping In Style will be there  selling shoes – come early so you can check out the great selection of Greta Flora, Tangotacion, Taconeando styles and more and try some on!  Ask about our Ballo dance sneaker collection – for style and comfort.

FULL weekend pass includes 5 hours of classes, 5 hours of practica, 2 social dances, a fabulous Sun brunch, with live Golden Age Tango from the Asheville Tango Orchestra! Snacks and beverages provided, performances Sat night, tango shoes (www.diva-boutique.com) and clothes for sale! Special guests DJ all weekend!…and more!

For those who have never danced tango and just want to watch, they have spectator passis available.

For full details & registration info contact Karen Jaffe (kjsummit@hotmail.com)   www.tangogypsies.com

Go to www.madhottangomarathon.com for details

SUSANA MILLER is the most prominent teacher in the world of the “milonguero” style of tango.
This style is danced in the crowded clubs of central Buenos Aires. It is strictly a social style that emphasizes musicality and the connection between partners. Susana has researched and studied the dancing of the older milongueros, has been able to decipher their distinct vocablularies and choreographic combinations, and is gifted in her ability to convey these to students. SUSANA encourages students to employ more rhythm in their dance, to discover their own dance vocabularies, and to learn how to shape and shrink these in space. For women, she encourages active following, in which the woman interprets the messages that the leader’s body and the spirit are sending. Clarin, the major Buenos Aires daily paper, called her one of the four most important influences on contemporary tango, along with Miguel Angel Zotto, Gustavo Naveira and Gerardo Portalea.

May 11, 2012 6:30 pm in Charlotte go to http://charlottetango.com for details.

Just click on the CATALOG link above or select from the left menu “Women’s Shoes” –> and your size to view and purchase.

Contact marcia@stepping-in-style.com with any questions.

Monthly (4 week) course on the “Fundamentals of Tango Argentino”, suitable for Beginners & Intermediates. Content of classes is specially designed to develop and improve your skills on the dance floor  so you can enjoy social dancing at your best.Since each week will build on the previous week’s lesson, it is important to attend classes starting at the beginning of the month.

Passion For Tango’s Friday night class series on the “Fundamentals of Tango Argentino” is going to be held at the Metropolitan Ballroom. Metropolitan Ballroom, located in the heart of Charlotte, North Carolina, offers an elegant yet relaxed social atmosphere on a 3,000 square foot Danish maple dance floor.

Monthly Cycle Syllabus:

In the First class of the month cover the concepts around walking, embrace, and connection which are the essential elements of Argentine Tango.

In  the Second class of the month introduces the pivot which will be an important building block for changes of front and the famous ocho figure. Ocho in Spanish means “eight” and this figure takes that name because the movements of the feet resemble the drawing of an 8 on the floor.

The Third class covers concepts used in previous classes to introduce simple turns or giros which will use the basic elements learned in previous classes. Simple turns are fundamental elements for a good navigation on a dance floor, especially when it is crowded. Giros are generally performed by the follower stepping around the leader, who pivots or walks in the center.

Subsequent weeks will review all the concepts covered during the month, alternate ways to perform them, and put them together to play with them in different combinations.

Preregistration is encouraged since we want to maintain gender balance as much as possible.
For preregistration you may call 704-575-4278 or email us at PassionForTango@yahoo.com

Registration is also welcome at the door.

Time:   6:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Cost:
• $15.00 for drop-ins
• $50.00for whole month

No partner needed!

Metropolitan Ballroom
2935Providence Road – Suite 200
Charlotte, NC 28211
(704)364-1871
Parking is FREE!

Local artist pursued passion for the dance, now reflected in his artwork

Upon meeting William Temples, you may think he is from Latin America.

He is fluent in Spanish and calls himself Guillermo. He shops at the Spanish grocery store on South Boulevard and listens almost exclusively to Spanish music. His home is covered with paintings and photos from Buenos Aires and he often wears a wooden necklace resembling a rosary around his neck. To a non-Spanish speaking person, even his accent seems to hint at a foreign birth.

Temples, 42, is from southern Georgia. But he might not admit it.

Twelve years ago Temples was just coming out of a divorce when he decided to learn Spanish. To make himself more fluent, he visited Buenos Aires, Argentina, because he was told it was beautiful.

Before he reached the hotel there, Temples was stopped by a sight that would forever change his life.

All around him an accordion’s bittersweet melody filled the air. Couple’s torsos and cheeks pressed together as they floated to the music in a dance he had never seen before, and never forget.

That dance was the Argentine tango.

For the next two weeks, Temples forgot his pursuit of Spanish and learned to tango. He visited a different tango school every day. His instructors taught him as much as one can learn in two weeks.

Upon returning to his south Charlotte home, Temples went to dance studios seeking to continue his education. But he kept running into the same problem – the only tango taught in Charlotte was ballroom tango – an entirely different dance.

One day he met a man also looking for an Argentine tango class. Originally from Argentina, Daniel Arredondo knew significantly more tango than Temples. Temples begged Arredondo to start a beginner’s class in Charlotte and Temples, who worked at the former Tower Club in uptown, was able to borrow studio space.

Arredondo came up with the name Passion for Tango for his newfound school, and Temples, who had a degree from Savannah College of Art and Design, drew the logo, a couple dancing, inspired by what he saw in Argentina.

Having been put online by a friend, the logo started showing up at the top of Google image searches and Temples was contacted by people from all over the world, wanting to know if they could use his image for their tango school or music artwork.

Temples found that he couldn’t stop drawing tango dancers and scenes from Argentina. The dance that was becoming more and more a part of his life was spilling onto his canvases.

It also was spilling into the Charlotte community. Soon the class moved to various sites, including Bistro 100, RiRa’s, Patou Bistro, Morehead Street Tavern and now, Lynn’s Dance Club.

“We basically go where we can practice without having to pay a large fee,” Temples said. “Tango is an art and unfortunately, Charlotte isn’t really known for being an art town.”

Arredondo, who went to Argentina every year, made friends with Facundo Posadas, one of the most revered tango instructors in the world. Posadas came to Charlotte several times where he gave workshops and made a big impact on the novice tango community.

Arredondo and Temples also visited Atlanta and New York to learn as many new steps and techniques as possible.

After a few years, Temples also started instructing in Charlotte. Now, Passion for Tango offers classes at various locations four days a week and usually at least one milonga (tango dance) per week.

“It’s become a very diverse group,” Temples said. “It’s all nationalities and ages, from grandfathers to teenagers.”

Temples has frequently visited Argentina where he met his current wife Mariana. Thanks to her, he says his connection to Argentina is stronger than ever and he is becoming more inspired with his art.

“I can’t imagine a life without tango,” Temples said as he swept a piece of charcoal down canvas to outline a woman’s leg in the midst of dancing.

With tango music filling his studio, tango paintings all around him and tango shoes on his feet, it would be hard for anyone to imagine Temples without tango.

Lauren Bailey is a freelance writer. Email her at lbailey.charlotteobserver@gmail.com.

A journey down the Leheigh river and into the world of tango.

Love tango?     You may be interested in reading ‘River Tango’.

“River Tango” is a short novel by Perri Iezzoni: a tango dancer in the Charlotte tango community, and whitewater river guide. Here ‘Deliverance’ meets ‘Dancing with the Stars’.

Perri Iezzoni’s novel takes us down the Lehigh River on an unforgettable trip and into the world of Argentine Tango. For some it is a trip of no return. For Odie Larson, the lead character, it is a story of awakening. Iezzoni combines his knowledge of the natural world and the world of tango, revealing an original sensibility.

“ His writing is often beautiful; sometimes surprising, in what he is able to “pull off,” and always engaging in the twists and turns of this adventurous tale. A ‘River Tango’ is thought provoking and evocative.”

If you are interested in purchasing the book, you can find it on Amazon.