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2009 Memorial Day Weekend Denver Tango Festival

9th Memorial Day Denver Tango Festival May 21 - 25, 2009

A Tango festival "By Dancers; For Dancers"

Cheeseman Park Pavilion, Denver

T he Denver Tango Festivals are a special treat for all tango dancers who love the social tango popular in the milongas of Buenos Aires: close, subtle & romantic. We hire some of the top DJs in the US, and the dance floors are arranged for social dancing with a quality, smooth floor, seating for cabaceo, and a respect for the dance floor. This is the 9th annual Memorial Day Weekend tango festival. Denver has a friendly, welcoming tango community, and you will see many of your friends from past festivals.

The Denver Tango Festivals never fail to attract a high level of dancer. Classes are not for beginners, and usually have gender ratios close to 50/50. Milongas include the Friday night Mercury Cafe milonga, with live music, and the amazing outdoor milonga and BBQ sponsored by Tango Colorado at the pavilion in Cheesman park.

Early arrival classes with Daniel Trenner

The special, kickoff teacher on Thursday, May 21 will be Daniel Trenner of Northampton, MA, a tango legend and extraordinary teacher. Daniel was instrumental in the explosion of Argentine Tango throughout the US in the mid 1990s. Sometimes referred to as the "pied piper of tango", Daniel contributed three essential things: (1) Widespread travels throughout the US spreading the love of tango to numerous cities. (2) A concept of Argentine Tango as an improvisational social dance, (3) Learning tango as an improvisational experience, as opposed to using more structured choreographies.

We will not be offering Beginner classes at this festival. All classes are Intermediate or above, which assume you already know the basics of tango, i.e. ochos, ocho-cortados, improvisation, and navigation. Adv-Intermediate & Advanced classes don't present much vocabulary; instead they focus on concepts, musicality, technique, and dance skills.

Denver Tango Festival Featured Instructors:

Featured DJs & Musicians:

  • Robin Thomas, New York, NY
  • Ramu Pyreddy, Ann Arbor, MI & Washington, DC
  • Sabah Chammas, San Diego, CA
  • Lampis Zalavras, San Diego, CA
  • Martin Rybczynski, Boulder, CO
  • Tara Fortier, Boulder, CO
  • John Miller, Boulder, CO
  • Extasis, Denver's own Tango Orchestra

Early Arrival Milonga:

Denver Tango Festival Milongas:

  • Thu, 9:30p - 01:00a, DJ John Miller, Boulder, "Doubletree Early Milonga"
  • Fri, 3:00p - 06:30p, DJ Tara Fortier, "Welcome Milonga"
  • Fri, 9:30p - 02:00a, Band Extasis, DJ Martin Rybczynski, "Mercury Milonga, with Live Music"
  • Sat, 3:00p - 06:30p, DJ Sabah Chammas, "Alternative Music Milonga"
  • Sat, 9:30p - 02:00a, DJ Ramu Pyreddy, "Traditional, Elegant Milonga"
  • Sun, 5:00p - 10:00p, DJ Lampis Zalavras, "Tango Colorado Outdoor Milonga and BBQ
  • Sun, 11:00p - 06:00a, DJ Robin Thomas, "All Night Hardcore Milonga"