Sidewalk Tango Performances and Workshops

Stop Press!! Welcome… Sidewalk Tango!!

Welcome to our first of a series of performances and workshops. It is said that without our national teachers who stoke the tango fires for guests international teachers, there cannot and will not be a tango stage for the latter….So it is a great pleasure to have David Backler and Dianne Heywood-Smith who are among Australia’s very best tango dancers and teachers. So don’t miss this chance….

Gala Milonga - Friday 27th July 2012

We welcome everyone to join us for a BIG NIGHT OF TANGO in the warm ambiance of our milonga on Friday 27th July.

Sidewalk Tango will be performing for the very first time in Perth at our milonga. Be early for the performances.

The Alexandra Hall

St Luke Parish

20 Monument Street

Mosman Park WA 6012

TIME - 8PM TO LATE

ENTRY - $15

DRESS CODE - Elegant

DJ FOR THE NIGHT - Patrick Spanoghe

MUSIC - Traditional Golden Age of Tango

AMBIENCE - Champagne cocktail on arrival

Large Wooden Floor

Door Prizes

REFRESHMENTS - Fresh Coffee / Tea and homemade desserts

Finger Food & our signature dish - our tango dancing Chef’s homemade empanadas (so be early!) plus many more delicacies

BYO

Check out directions on the GOOGLE MAP

Workshops & Practica - Saturday July 28th - Sunday 29th July

Sidewalk Tango will also be offering private lessons.

You can pre-book for the workshops/private lessons by direct debit. You may also pay by cash or cheque on our milonga night on Friday 27th July.

Payment Details:

Bank: St George
BSB No: 116 879
Account No: 485 608 101
Account Name: Champagne Tango Perth

Venue for Workshops: Cottesloe Civic Centre, The Lesser Hall, 109 Broome Street (corner of Broome and Napier streets) Cottesloe WA 6011

Cost Workshops: All workshops $25 each, 2 for $45, 3 or 4 @$20 each.

Cost Practica: Practica is complimentary for workshop participants and $10 for non workshop participants.

Make a Booking / Enquiry

Workshop Schedule

WORKSHOP 1 – Saturday 28th July 12.00pm-1.30pm

Fundamental Techniques, “Seeking the pleasure” in Tango

Open level. Suitable for complete beginners and for anyone wishing to improve their basic technique

• Tango Walking and Rhythm
• Estampa, The Axis and the “free leg”
• Embrace, the “frame” and “equilibrium”
• “Projection of Energy” and breathing
• Forward and Back Ochos
• Cruzada or Cross Step

WORKSHOP 2 – Saturday 28th July 2.00pm-3.30pm

“Nuevo Milonguero” or contemporary tango de salon

Suitable for Intermediate to advanced levels

• The Axis, and the “Flexible embrace”
• Changes of Direction in forward and back ochos
• Sacadas and boleo

WORKSHOP 3 – Sunday 29th July 12.00pm-1.30pm

Fundamental Techniques “Finding the Pleasure” in tango

Open level. Suitable for complete beginners and for anyone wishing to improve their basic technique

• Listening and walking to Tango, Vals and Milonga Music
• Embrace, Breathing, Projection
• Giros in Close embrace
• Embellishments

WORKSHOP 4– Sunday 29th July 2.00pm-3.30pm

“Nuevo Milonguero” or contemporary tango de salon

Suitable for Intermediate to advanced levels

• More complex combinations in giros

PRACTICA – Sunday 29th July 4.00pm-5.30pm

Open level. Suitable for complete beginners and for anyone wishing to put into practice what was learnt in the workshops plus a little more….

Make a Booking / Enquiry

Sidewalk Tango Biography

David Backler

David was originally trained as a performer in Perth, Western Australia and worked for Deckchair Theatre for two years before touring with theatre and circus companies in Europe. Following a change in career, he toured in Barcelona, Paris, Copenhagen and London with an Argentinean Tango show from 1988-1990. In 1990 he moved to New Zealand where he was the first teacher of Tango Argentino. Two milongas that David started in NZ in 1994 are still running to this day.

Dianne Heywood-Smith

Diane is trained to an advanced level in Classical Ballet (Checchetti) and worked in S.A. Ballet. She has been a performer all her life and has made many appearances on TV shows and commercials, and has worked in Cabaret and theatre. Her main teachers and influences in tango have been Graciela Gonzalez, Zoraida Fontclara, Pilar Alvarez, Juan Bruno, “Pupy” Castello, Pocho Pizzarro Gustavo Naveira and Aurora Lubiz.

International performances and teaching

David and Dianne have performed in theatres, clubs, for private and corporate entertainment and at festivals around Australia, and overseas including Korea, Singapore, Spain, France, UK, Argentina, China, and New Zealand. They pioneered the Australian Tango Festival between 2002-2006.

From their first performances in 1998 up to the present day they have toured their show to Buenos Aires, including performing at the famous Sunderland, “La Milonga del Mundo”, and at “Sabor de Tango”, “Tango en Balcarce”, “Club de Golf”, “Confiteria Ideal”, with appearances on the B.A. Solo Tango TV channel.

Official Tango Accreditation

In 2010, they were officially acknowledged as “Tango Ambassadors” by the Argentinean Embassy

To read more about them visit Sidewalk Tango or see them dancing socially at El Abrazo in Confiteria Ideal, Buenos Aires, and on YouTube:

“Tango is a dance you create in the moment with another person. It isn’t about memorized steps that go together the same way every time. This is one of the beautiful aspects of tango and one that makes the dance endlessly interesting. Argentine Tango is an improvisational and intimate social dance. It is an aesthetic, cultural and instinctive world of mystery, beauty and energy.”

- Sidewalk Tango’s Philosophy