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Tango Porteño: Argentine Tango in the Heights - Beginner Classes with Ann Dobyns and Chuck Scillia What is tango? The word brings to minds many images: legs intertwined, bodies clutched in close and sensual embrace, steamy music, the haunting sounds of an instrument that breaths. Tango is a social dance that has been danced in parts of Argentina and Uruguay for at least 150 years. It is a dance born in the streets and poorer neighborhoods of the ports found on both sides of the mouth of the Rio de Plato. It is a dance of contradictions: a paradox, an enigma, a puzzle. It can be a lively street dance or an art dance of the finest theaters. It is ethereal and grounded in the earth. Its steps can be intricate and subtle while remaining a dance that relies upon the human walk. It is, in short, complicated. And yet, tango is, at its most basic level, a walking dance. In its most fundamental form, the leader walks forward while the follower walks backward. The dance depends upon three basic steps: a front, a back, and a sidestep. Retired professors, Ann Dobyns and Charles Scillia have been dancing Tango for 12 years and teaching beginners for over 8 years. They have been to Buenos Aires a number of times and have studied with many renowned teachers. They teach social tango as it is danced in the clubs and salons of that port city. They emphasize quality of movement, elegance, musicality, and connection, elements that form an enjoyable and solid foundation for those new to Tango. This dance evening will be a place for beginning tango dancers to practice what they have learned in our classes--to dance together!
