Debbie and Richard Love: Tango Workshop Weekend

               Two great days of tango instruction this weekend! Night one: Pagosa Springs for a milonga workshop with Debbie and Richard Love, dance instructors from Colorado Springs who teach tango. Night two: Durango with the same duo for a very comprehensive three-hour tango lesson for beginners and intermediate.

               Eight of us carpooled to Pagosa Springs to find Les Linton and Rhonda Stroup, our resident tango instructors, already there. We arrived a half hour late but managed to ‘hold our own’ as we were taught about the basic milonga box step and traveling. Afterwards, Debbie covered ‘traspie’, a movement I always have difficulty with and appreciate being reintroduced to. Richard worked with absolute beginners in another room.

               On the drive there, I was promised many encounters with Elk but we saw none. However I did manage to learn a lot more about this area from our driver, Adrian, a tanguero from Durango, and from Harold, another Durango tanguero hailing from Mancos. Of great interest to me was the talk of hot springs that are a five mile hike into the wilderness. Pagosa Springs has hot springs that are available to tourists for a small fee but I am always looking for great outdoor adventures far from the maddening crowd.

               Day One was good but Day Two was great! I was very impressed with the teaching skills of these two dedicated dancers. Debbie’s form was perfect as she ran through a series of exercises that easily conveyed the basic skills needed to perform tango. She offered a wealth of information to the tangueras on technique: collecting the feet, moving around the partner, adornos, etc. She took great care not to overload her students and any movement she felt was important was presented in the form of a simple and fun exercise.

               Richard was mostly silent, allowing Debbie plenty of time to elaborate on the finer aspects of the dance. When he did chime in it was with incredibly insightful demonstrations for the leaders on the inner dynamics of the lead. His exhibition of contra-body movement during back ochos was the best I’ve ever seen.

               I’m sure I could rave all day about what a terrific job this couple did but you really should experience them for yourself.  They targeted mostly the beginner/intermediate level and I felt that anyone who attended their class would have a good idea on how to conduct themselves at a milonga. You can find out more about them on their meetup page at: http://www.meetup.com/Learn-to-Dance-Ballroom-Swing-Tango-Salsa-More/members/8441210/