Joaquin Amenabar

Joaquin Amenabar's Musicality Workshops for Tango Dancers

12 - 15 September 2019

W1 – ESSENTIAL UNITS OF TANGO RHYTHM
Simple, double and half-time steps and when do we use them.

W2 – DANCING THE MELODY (Level 1)
Understanding the melody as a key rhythmical factor in Argentine Tango. The important element in dancing social tango. Where melody can drastically influence and change the rhythm.

W3 – VALS vs TANGO
Rhythmical units of the Argentinian Vals in comparison to Tango rhythm. Similarities and differences. Simple and double time in vals.

W4 – MILONGA (Level 1)
The difference between double-time and traspie. Placing single time and double time in milonga. Rhythmical units of the Mionga versus rhythmical units of Argentine Tango. Dancing the melody in the Milonga.

W5 – SYNCOPATION (Int/ Adv level)
The ability to improvise - Advance in improvising to the melody and rhythm with tangos that have syncopation, 3-3-2 syncopation and off beat. Equal number of leaders & followers are required for this class.

COST PER WORKSHOP
1x Workshop - $45.00 per class
2 – 3 Workshops - $40 per class
4 – 5 Workshops - $35.00 each class
5x Workshops - $170.00
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VENUES:
W1 – 6.00pm to 7.30pm
Thursday, 12th September 2019
@ Sacred Heart Church Hall,
24 Vermont Street, Ponsonby, Auckland City
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W2,W3,W4,W5 – Various times
Friday, 13th - 15th September 2019
@ Viva Dance Studio,
10 Newton Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland
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Map for venues

• Appropriate for All Levels of dancers.
By design, the Workshops are fully accessible to beginners + newcomers ... while at the same time, they are challenging + informative to more experienced dancers.

• Aimed at dancers.
The Workshops are not "lectures" on music theory or history — we will be on our feet and moving most of the time.

• No partner required.
The primary emphasis will be on individual work — moving in time with particular sounds, aspects, elements, and features of the music.

• No special training or background in music is necessary.
The Workshops are Hands-on or rather Legs-on ….. "non-theoretical" — Joaquín uses common everyday language, clear metaphors, and unique visual aids to enhance our investigations.

• Both "live" and recorded Tango music.
In addition to narrating our guided listening + movement to "Golden Age" classics, Joaquín will play live on his bandoneón to help illustrate + highlight key features of the music.

• No "steps" or patterns.
The concepts, processes + examples explored are universally applicable in all Tango situations that we encounter as both Leaders + Followers — useful for everything from "simple" walking + turns ... to the most intricate + complex combinations that we might create on the improvised social dance floor.

W1 – Thursday @ 6.00pm - 7.30pm

W2 – Friday @ 7.30pm - 9.00pm

W3 – Saturday @ 11.30am - 1.00pm

W4 – Saturday @ 2.00pm - 3.30pm

W5 – Sunday @ 11.30am - 1.00pm

Joaquin Amenabar

Joaquin Amenabar
Widely celebrated as a "modern master of the bandoneón," Joaquín Amenábar is a multi-faceted and supremely talented "Renaissance Man of Tango" — performer, orquesta leader (Orquesta Tipica dela Guardia), composer, arranger, music professor, writer, historian, lecturer, instrument tuner + technician. Even more significantly, Joaquín is an active social tango dancer.

It was the social dancing part blended with his own deep knowledge of musical performance, history and composition, that led him to investigate a number of challenges that many of us tango dancers face daily:

• How to learn the music If we do not have the benefit of formal music training then ...
• How can we as tango dancers take in, process + respond to the many layers, subtleties + nuances of tango music ...
• In ways that help us create, discover + explore our own unique dance more effectively ...
• And then share it with each other as we improvise together on the social dance floor ...?

The result is Joaquín's book ‘Tango: Let’s dance to the music’ but also unique and highly innovative program on Musicality for Tango Dancers that took more than 10 years to develop to it’s current perfection. Joaquin has been teaching and travelling back in early 2000s in Europe, Asia, USA and Australia and New Zealand.

In addition to music and tango, Joaquin is very fluent in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German & Portuguese, which allows him to communicate more directly with more dancers around the world.

“Anybody can teach you a step, but it takes a different kind of teacher to help you find your musicality”

For more information

Contact: Cecile

info@tangoenz.co.nz

Tango dancer testimonials:

Reviews of JOAQUIN AMENABARS’ WORKSHOPS from other parts of the world and some of our own Kiwi dancers – here’s what they say:

"Joaquin’s information underpins my musicality. The material he presents is really very good. He has thought carefully about how to present his information to make it intuitive for dancers as to opposed to musicians. Anyone who hasn’t been to his series of classes should seriously consider it in my opinion, regardless of their level."

Martyn Atack
Auckland

"I highly recommend going to Joaquin’s workshops, it’s rare to have such expertise and high level of detail from his experience here in NZ."

Alex White – Viva Latina Dance
Wellington

"I’d been playing music professionally for many decades but was a beginner/ improver level tango dancer when I attended a series of Joaquin Amenabar’s musicality workshops for dancers. His musicianship, his understanding of tango music, his ability to communicate about tango music in non-technical language, and his success in improving the musicality of me and my fellow workshop attendees, were all hugely impressive to me. Joaquin is one of only a very few first-class teachers of tango musicality whose workshops I wish every tango dancer would attend. "

Stu Johnstone
Auckland

"Joaquin Amenabar has spent years perfecting the teaching of musicality to tango dancers. Over that time, he has developed a systematic and applied way of teaching a myriad of musical aspects used by Golden Age Orchestras. He brings together snippets of music, visual representations and physical exercises, which open up a rich world of tango music and expression to the dancer and their partner

I highly recommend tango dancers of all levels to attend his workshops."

Grant Fromont
Auckland

"Joaquín Amenaba has been coming to New Zealand for over 15 years. I have been lucky enough to host him on his first two trips in Wellington and I can tell you that this is a man that you want to have practicing his bandoneon in your living room. He is, after all, a professor of bandoneon in Buenos Aires. He is also a tango dancer and teacher and he specialises in teaching musicality for dances. He has taught at the NZ Tango Festival on two occasions and is very popular at festivals all over the world. He has developed well structured workshops with excellent teaching aids to help people get musicality into their dancing. And he can chose to illustrate things immediately with his bandoneon. It is a unique learning experience and one I would recommend to all."

Mathew Civil
Auckland

Joaquin's Auckland workshops are being held in parallel and in conjunction with the Tango Rendezvous Festivalito