Tango's Refinery v Salsa's Spiciness
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If painting Easter eggs, stuffing yourself with smoked ham, cooked eggs and horseradish is not your ideal way of spending the Easter holiday, lo and behold - you can do something much healthier! Organized by the Salsoteca Dance School Ljubljana, the 2nd International Salsa Festival is taking place from 6th to 11th April, 2007 in the 4-star Grand Media Hotel Domina in Ljubljana, celebrating a decade of salsa madness in Slovenia. Before you mutter the predictable, "But... I can't dance!" stop and take a deep breath - beginners can learn salsa in just one weekend! If your life seems a bit greyish at the moment, paint it in vibrant sexy colours with five days (three days for the festival proper) of salsa festival fun. More than twenty top international salsa instructors with years of experience in teaching salsa all over the world will be available to you. Aspiring and experienced "Salseras y Salseros" will have a chance to add new sexy and spicy moves to their dance repertoire and explore various styles of salsa, as well as some other hot and popular dances. The festival party kicks off on Friday 6th of April with a show programme of the instructors, accompanied by top international salsa DJs. The workshops start at 9.30 am, last four hours and are followed by a lunch break - you do need to eat some carbs to get you going whether you are losing pounds the salsa way or not. You will continue with four more salsa workshop hours, and again stop for a bite or two - don't skip dinner, the evening is not over yet! After that comes the Big Salsa Party with guest performances, which will squeeze the last drops of energy out of you until 2 am. Then you go home, enjoy a gloriously deep sleep and repeat the process for four consecutive days. We guarantee you will look and feel younger, slimmer, sexier and far happier than you are now! The simmering intensity of tango Learning the tango is a matter of learning about the Argentinean people, culture and music, which is traditionally played by a small orchestra including the obligatory "bandoneon". Tango is a social dance and is a lifestyle to many "tangeros y tangueras", who spend weekends on "milongas" far and near, speaking the universal language of tango in closed embraces of like-minded souls. As one cannot learn or practice tango with only one partner, it is important to challenge and complement the moves of as many dance partners as possible. This is how tango grows - it provokes and exchanges sensual tension between all the men and women in the dancehall. In this, tango is shamelessly provocative. However, it is important to remember that mutual respect is crucial, and that tango is all about "what if....?", and not about "let's do it". Every next move is a surprise, agreed on between the couple, and every dance is unique. The Argentine style involves intricate foot and leg actions, built out of grapevines, figure eights, and other interesting footwork patterns. It does not travel much, and is better suited for nightclub dancing than other varieties of tango. Age is not important - as long as you're willing to share your energy with others, you can dance the tango! The longer you dance it, the more skilled and elegant you become - tango is like life itself, it never stops growing and changing, since it is based on communication, improvisation and visual impression. Tango is not just the dance steps; it is everything that happens between. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to start learning the tango with a quality teacher and, not surprisingly, the best teachers come from its land of origin, Argentina. A section of Plesni Studio Jenko from Ljubljana, Tango Argentino Klub Ljubljana has been organising courses of Argentinean tango for eight years, connecting tango aficionados from all over Slovenia and its neighbouring countries at its milongas and tango festivals. This year's masters include Sebastian Misse with Andrea Reyero and Sebastian Arce with Mariana Montes, outstanding tango teachers of the highest level. They are clear, concise, humorous and always to the point. Pablo Villarraza and Dana Frigoli have developed their own method, "Tango Conceptual Technology", whereas Leandro Palou and Romina Godoy teach the basis of traditional Argentine Tango. Their classes are focused on understanding the technique and the aesthetics of tango in a fun and entertaining way. All workshops and the gala event Tango Y Amor, which will present the visiting couples in a spectacular tango performance, are taking place at Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana.