header

2nd Annual Michigan Tango Festival

"For the Dancers by the Dancers"

featuring workshops by Brigitta Winkler and Tom Stermitz
and guest DJ Robin Thomas


January 16-18, 2004
Ann Arbor, MI

Pictures


About | Schedule | Workshop Selection | Enrollment | Pricing | Accomodations | Directions | Flying | Questions?

Please join us, the Michigan Argentine Tango Club and the Metro Detroit area tango dancers, for our Second Annual Tango Festival at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Enjoy the charm of downtown Ann Arbor, State Street and the University Campus.

The focus of this festival is:
  • Social dancing: Milongas on both Friday and Saturday and Die-Hard Practica on Sunday! Over 13 hours of dancing!
  • Workshops emphasizing close-embrace tango.
  • Bring dancers from, but not exclusive to, the mid-west region and Ontario together for an intense and fun weekend.
Tom Stermitz from Denver, Colorado and Brigitta Winkler from Berlin, Germany will be the leading the workshops. In addition, Robin Thomas of New York, New York, will return to Ann Arbor to DJ Saturday night's milonga.

We hope you can take advantage of the low cost and join us in the festivities for the weekend. Let us share the energy, the dance, and the connection with dancers from Michigan and around.

About Brigitta Winkler

Brigitta is one of the world's most praised teachers and innovative dancers of tango. Her exquisite creativity, clarity and understanding of the dance and music have inspired dancers around the world. Brigitta co-founded the highly respected Tanzart studio in Berlin in 1987, and also the internationally acclaimed Tango Mujer, a pioneer dance company exploring the boundaries between tango and contemporary dance.

In her classes Brigitta integrates her knowledge from over 20 years of international experience in tango dance, instruction and performance with techniques of Body Mind Centering. She is an equally gifted resource for both close embrace and open style tango. Her classes are insightful, creative, and fun!

More info about Brigitta can be found at
members.aol.com/btango5.

About Tom Stermitz

Tom's classes are designed to have you up and dancing social-style Argentine Tango as quickly as possible. He is especially effective at getting men to be confident, to feel the beat, and how to lead the intricate steps of tango.

His approach to teaching tango is from the inside out, emphasizing improvisation, fundamentals, heart & soul, rhythm & music and especially the connection between the leader and follower.

Teaching in Boulder & Denver for the past 7 years, Tom is a specialist in the rhythmic, close-embrace social style of tango typical of many clubs in Buenos Aires. He is increasingly in demand for workshops and Tango Festivals around the US and abroad, including Berlin, Moscow, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Portland, Hawaii.

More info about Tom can be found at www.tango.org.

About Robin Thomas

Robin grew up in Belfast in the north of Ireland and moved to New York to go to film school. He worked as a professional photographer for 13 years before turning pro as a tango teacher and DJ. Strangely enough he came to tango from rock and ice climbing rather than a background in other dance forms. But he contends that nothing he ever did in ice climbing was as scary as asking a woman to dance when he was a beginner.

Robin Thomas is one of the top tango DJ's in North America. He dj's many regular milongas in New York City as well as travels around the country to provide music at festivals.

More info about Robin can be found at www.close-embrace.com.

Festival Schedule

Friday, January 16
9:00pm-1:30am Welcome Milonga DJ: Ramu Pyreddy Ballroom, Michigan Union

Saturday, January 17
11:30pm-12:00pm Check in and warm up
12:00pm-1:30pm Track A:
The Way is Created by Walking
Improve and create your walk new.
Brigitta Winkler Pendleton Room, Michigan Union
Track B:
Rhythms and Cross-System: Salida del 40
Counter-point and subtleties of lead & follow
Tom Stermitz Ballroom, Michigan Union
1:30pm-1:45pm Mini practica
1:45pm-3:15pm Track A:
Ochos, Pivots, Axis & Cruzada
The ocho as a navigational element.
Tom Stermitz Pendleton Room, Michigan Union
Track B:
Principles of Improvisation
Creativity call.
Brigitta Winkler Ballroom, Michigan Union
3:15pm-3:30pm Mini practica
3:30pm-5:00pm Tracks A & B:
Chasing the Tango Trance
Brigitta Winkler and Tom Stermitz Pendleton Room, Michigan Union
5:00pm-9:00pm Dinner break
9:00pm-1:30am Milonga Picante DJ: Robin Thomas Pendleton Room, Michigan Union

Sunday, January 18
1:30pm-2:00pm Check in and warm up
2:00pm-3:30pm Track A:
Rock it Baby - The World of Cunitas
Explore the musicality and the many variations of rocking steps.
Brigitta Winkler Pendleton Room, Michigan Union
Track B:
Boleos and Spirals
Technique for boleos and finding places to use them.
Tom Stermitz Ballroom, Michigan Union
3:30pm-3:45pm Mini practica
3:45pm-5:15pm Track A:
Vals & Musicality
Romance of the vals.
Tom Stermitz Pendleton Room, Michigan Union
Track B:
New Ideas for Close Embrace
A rich mix of newer tango moves with the traditional close dance.
Brigitta Winkler Ballroom, Michigan Union
5:15pm-?? Die-Hard Practica DJs: Tom Stermitz and Ramu Pyreddy Ballroom, Michigan Union


Which workshop should I take?

To help you choose the workshops which will be the most beneficial for you, we have listed recommended experience for the different workshop tracks in the table below.

Recommended Minimum ExperienceAppropriate Workshop Track
Completed only our Beginner Series
or less than 6 months of close-embrace tango.
Track A
Completed our Advanced Beginner Series
or more than 6 months of close-embrace tango.
Track A or B
Completed our Intermediate Series
and more than 6 months of close-embrace tango.
Track A or B


Enrollment

Please register online for the workshops. We will not accept email reservations!

Due to the capacity of the rooms, enrollment in each workshop will be LIMITED. As we process registrants on a first-come-first-serve basis, enrolling well in advance will assure you a spot in the workshops and save you money as well (see prices below). It will also give the organizers ample time to handle your requests (we appreciate your early enrollment greatly!).

Note that you do not have to register in advance if you only wish to attend the milongas, in which case we welcome you to simply show up and pay at the door.


Pricing

Please note that student rates are available only to FULL-TIME students with a valid student ID.

Workshop Prices

Early registration prices (postmarked on or before January 14)

  • One workshop day: $20 (students) / $40 (non-students)
  • Two workshop days: $30 (students) / $60 (non-students)

Late OR at-the-door registration (postmarked after January 14)

  • One workshop day: $35 (students) / $65 (non-students)
  • Two workshop days: $45 (students) / $85 (non-students)

Milonga Prices

You must either be a semester
milonga pass holder which will allow you entry to both milongas and the die-hard practica ($10 students / $20 non-students) or pay the drop-in price at the door for each milonga ($5 students / $10 non-students).


Accomodations

Housing with local dancers may be available for those out-of-towners who register prior to January 14. If you are interested, please email tangohousing@yahoo.com. The sooner you register, the more likely it is that we will be able to find you housing.

Local dancers who house out-of-towners will receive a 25% discount on the workshop cost for each individual they host. If you are a local dancer interested in providing housing, please sign up here.

See the accomodations page for more information on local accomodations.

Directions/Locations

Michigan Union (Map)
530 S. State
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Free covered parking at specified times on weekends and evenings (please see signage on structure) is available in Thompson Street Parking structure which is right behind the Michigan Union. Thompson street is parallel to and one block west of State St.

Flying to Ann Arbor

The closest major airport to Ann Arbor is Detroit Metro Airport (DTW).

The airport is about 35 miles east of Ann Arbor. From the airport, take I-94 West and follow it all the way to the State Street Exit in Ann Arbor. Take a right on State St. and continue for about 3 miles until you reach the University of Michigan campus.


Questions? Concerns?

The most time consuming thing for us as organizers is when people ask us questions (email, personal, or telephone). We definitely do not mind answering your questions but many of the answers to your questions are available on this website.

If you still have questions, please do not hesitate to email us at
umtango@umich.edu. You may also call Ramu Pyreddy at 734-327-0642 or Avik Basu at 734-262-5800.