Denver Close Encounters.
A Tango weekend blending an Encuentro, a Marathon and the excitement of the Milongas of Buenos Aires. Four days of tango with one group of fellow tango fanatics. The emphasis is on Close-embrace dancing and traditional social codes. Top DJs are selected for their sensitivity to the passion and energy of the dancers and their love of the famous Golden Era orchestras.
This festival is for you if you love traditional Buenos Aires style social dancing, and are good at navigating in a close embrace.
The theme this year is "Bridge to the Milonguero Generation". Many of us experienced tango in Buenos Aires in the 1990s and 2000s when the 1940s Milongueros were still active. Encuentros harken back to that milonguero style of dancing, and Encuentro fans are a bridge between that older generation to the younger generations. The Denver Close Encounters has a goal of building diversity across generations and geography.
Important change: the Cheesman Outdoor Milonga has been moved to MONDAY Evening. Also, we've dropped the Thursday early arrival milonga in favor of Workshops with Brigitta Winkler, and we've added a Friday afternoon milonga.
We will begin sending out invitations to register in November, 2025
Attendance limited to 180 Role Balanced: This event WILL sell out quickly.
This festival is for you if you love Buenos Aires style social dancing, and are good at navigating in a close embrace.
Please note that we'll have a weekend of whimsy and exploration the weekend prior to the Close Encounters. Be sure to indicate your intentions for the Brigitta Workshops.
2025 Dates May 23 - 25: "Close Encounters for the Third Time"
- May 23 - 25, 2025
- Friday, Saturday & Sunday - 5 Milongas
- Denver Turnverein, 1570 N Clarkson
- Monday, May 26. Cheesman Park Outdoor Milonga
Like a Marathon - Dancing afternoon and evening; With “early” 12:00am endings for recuperation.
Like an Encuentro - Limited to 190 role-balanced participants; single ticket for the weekend.
Traditional Milongas like Buenos Aires - Dance floor with seating for all, Close-embrace, floor craft & lanes, mirada & cabeceo.
Many people are coming in for Brigitta Winkler's workshops the previous weekend or else mid-week to enjoy Denver in the Springtime. The early arrival classes and Milonga were well-attended last year. The Tuesday Tango Colorado Practice/Milonga will offer you the opportunity to mix with a wide variety of local tango dancers.
Codes, Cabeceo & Assigned Seating
One contribution from the Encuentro tradition is to follow traditional Buenos Aires milonga codes and provide seating for every participant. Many traditional milongas separate the Leaders and Followers into different sections. We prefer groupings of two-three Follower tables alternating with two-three Leader tables. This helps immensely with the cabeceo, ingress and egress to the floor, and minimizes clogs of dancers.
Your Hosts
Tom & Analii Stermitz. Tom organized about 35 Tango Festivals from 2000 through 2015. Analii has been a movement professional all her life, and offers her elegant Tango Fashions.
Milongas - May 23, 24, 25 & 26 - Denver Turnverein
- Friday Afternoon 1:00pm - 5:00pm: "Milonga Aparecida" - Paul Akmajian, Albuquerque, NM
- Friday Evening 8:00pm - 12:00am: "Milonga Quilombo" - Avik Basu, Ann Arbor, MI
- Saturday Afternoon 12:30pm - 4:30pm "Milonga El Yeite" - Céline Deveze, France/Germany
- Saturday Evening 8:00pm - 12:00am "Milonga Elegante" - Sohrab Soltani, San Francisco, CA
- Sunday Afternoon 12:00pm - 4:00pm "Milonga Romantica" - Tom Stermitz, Denver, CO
- NOTE: MONDAY EVENING "Tango Colorado's Cheesman Park Milonga" - Andy Stein, Newport News, VA
Early Arrival Events - May 20, 21 & 22
- Tuesday Evening 7:30pm - 10:30pm: "Tango Colorado Practica" (Very well attended Milonga).
- Wednesday Evening 6:30pm - 8:30pm: "Milonguero Topics" (Tom & Analii)
- Thursday Evening 7:00pm - 9:30pm: "Brigitta Workshop" (Brigitta Winkler) Denver Dancesport NORTH.
Early-Early Arrival Events - May 17 & 18.
Brigitta Winkler Workshops & Milongas in Boulder
A number of people are coming in for Brigitta Winkler's workshops the previous weekend, and to enjoy other Colorado activities in the Springtime. The early arrival classes and Milonga were well-attended last year. The Tuesday Tango Colorado Practice/Milonga will offer you the opportunity to mix with a wide variety of local tango dancers.
- Saturday Afternoon, May 17: Workshops - Avalon Boulder Tango Studio
- Saturday Evening, May 17 Milonga - Avalon Boulder Tango Studio
- Sunday Afternoon, May 18: Workshops - Avalon Boulder Tango Studio
- Sunday Evening, May 18: "Loco Tango Milonga Live Orchestra" - Avalon Ballroom
Details
Light snacks will be provided at the milongas, and medium snacks for Saturday night. The Denver Turnverein has bar service for the evenings, and you cannot bring your own alcohol.
Locations
All Festival events except Cheesman Park milonga will take place at the Denver Turnverein, 1570 N Clarkson St, our dance facility East of Downtown Denver. There is plenty of parking at the venue. For those staying downtown, you could leave your car in the Turnverein parking lot.
Early arrival events on Tuesday & Wednesday are also at the Denver Turnverein.
Brigitta Weekend of Whimsy events are at the Avalon Ballroom, 6185 Arapahoe Rd, Boulder, CO. The drive to the Avalon is about 30-40 minutes from Denver.
Downtown Hotels: Convenient, Nice & Inexpensive
Motels close to the Turnverein are not recommended based on previous reports. (They can be a bit seedy).
As this is a holiday weekend, there are usually a LOT of excess hotel rooms downtown. In years past it has been easy to find hotels at $139 from the resellers like Expedia, Travelocity or searching on Google, especially if you wait.
We can recommend the Sonesta. It is a 3+ star hotel about a mile from the Denver Turnverein. It is pretty close to downtown restaurants and museums, and only two blocks from Novo Coffee, the best coffee in Downtown Denver. One advantage of the Sonesta: there is always a parking place on the street in front of the Sonesta. Other downtown hotels are decent in the 3+ to 4 star range as you wish.
The Warwick Hotel is a fairly short walk to the Turnverein. It is more of a 4+ star hotel.
Arrival from the Airport.
Downtown Denver is extremely convenient for anyone arriving by airplane. For example to get to the Sonesta: Take the train to downtown Denver, hop on the free “mall” shuttle to Glenarm Place. Walk two blocks South-ish down Glenarm Place to the hotel, pausing to pick up a coffee at Novo Coffee.
Parking and Getting to and from the Venues.
Parking is free at the Denver Turnverein. Weekday and Saturday street parking is claimed to be only two hours but I’ve never seen a ticket on the street by the Turnverein. If there is NO concert next door at the Fillmore, there is additional parking in that lot. If there IS a concert at the Fillmore, the street parking becomes very tight, however the Turnverein has an over-flow lot.
Uber/Lyft are reasonable during the day. We’ll have a ride board to find ride-share partners, and we’ll run shuttles late night back to downtown.
Parking at the hotels can be very expensive, but you can leave your car at the Turnverein or park in front of the hotel at meters. In the past, meters have been free after 10:00pm or even earlier, and they are completely free on Sundays and holidays. Last year they were not checking meters on Saturday, either. Parking rules can vary depending on the neighborhood or block. Check with the hotel concierge for more information.
