Posts in category: classes

It is an honour and pleasure for Patamango to have David Sasha Tonn and Tatiana Smirnova, professional tango teachers, beautiful tango dancers, and a whole lot more, share an evening with us out of their short visit to Kenya. With the inevitable generosity that results from a passion for tango, they are offering to bring over to our own Sala Michelangelo all their international teaching experience and performing flair, and that at a modest cost participation (and, having graciously accepted almost unchanged the cost-covering participation policy that we use for our Patamango tango activities, this is even lower than what you normally might get locally in Nairobi).

6:30-7:00 WELCOME, REGISTER FOR CLASS, WARM-UP MUSIC
Please give yourself ample time to make sure you will arrive before class starts, after which time you may be refused joining the class.

7:00-8:15 MIXED LEVEL CLASS: “Spiral Movements and Dissociation in Traditional and Nuevo Tango”
A class with plenty to take away from for everyone, while still offering real challenges to even the most advanced dancers. From a basic review of how to move from your true centre to how to get to very “advanced” movements from the core basic movements for those who want to try them or at least get a sense of how to safely (and elegantly) get there.
Cost participation for the class is 1000Ksh (students 400Ksh)–allows you free entrance to the milonga and demo that will follow. Please note no guests to watch the class are allowed.

8:30-11:30 MiILONGA + DEMO by the maestros
The class will be followed by a 3 hour milonga, that will include a tango demo–early on during the milonga–by the maestros! May well be a first demo of its kind in Nairobi, and all tangueros and any non-dancing friends are all welcome! Milonga+demo cost participation for everyone is 500Ksh (students 200Ksh). If you feel so inclined, please remember our usual refreshments table.

Short biographies:

David Sasha Tonn
David has taught and performed tango around the world for more than ten years. He studied under numerous Traditional and Nuevo masters and has performed at festivals with some of the most respected followers. He believes in the seamless integration of Traditional and Nuevo technique coupled with imagination and musicality. He incorporates his expertise as a yoga instructor and martial artist in helping you discover the deep connections possible between a leader and follower through understanding both the individual and shared axes required of tango.

Tatiana Smirnova
Tatiana’s creativity developed from her childhood in Moscow. Enrolled in an Olympic gymnastics program she studied with a master of Russian rhythmic gymnastics and ballet. In parallel, she began her study of piano and musicality. She continues her studies of music, ballet, ballroom and modern dance basics to this day. She furthered her knowledge of the human body with intense study of the art of Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, and yoga. When she arrived to New York to pursue her graduate studies in biomedical research, she discovered her passion for Argentine tango. She has studied with such masters as Mariela Sametband, Moira Castellano, Gaston Torelli, Dana Frigoli, Ezequiel Farfaro, Murat and Michelle Erdemsel.

Here’s a couple samples of their dancing, first a nuevo sample in Tango Fix, NYC in 2010, and then an altogether more traditional clip of David and Tatiana dancing to a Hugo Diaz milonga in La Nacional, NYC, in 2009 (this latter is lower resolution, will download quicker). You may access still more videos of their dancing from the facebook event for the evening. They will be with us on the evening of Wednesday 29 June, and here’s the planned schedule (all at the Sala Michelangelo, Italian Institute of Culture):

There is possibility of private classes around the 8th of July depending on their availability.

Patamango Association for Argentine Tango – bringing Tango to Nairobi !
web: http://www.patamango.com/
email: nairobi.tango@patamango.com
join/leave: request by email