Signup for July workshop with Clint and Shelley

We’ve got some more details on our workshop next month. More importantly, we’ve got a signup sheet (see below)!

Clint Rauscher and Shelley Brooks will be with us the weekend of July 20 and 21. Sessions include

  • “Tango Phrasing – The Structure of the Music”
  • “Alterations for Rhythmic Tango and Vals”
  • A Saturday evening milonga
  • “Basic and Advanced Giros (Turns)”
  • A guided practica with Clint and Shelley

The signup sheet has all the details. Return the completed sheet with your check to Connie Healy at the address provided.

Happy tango!

Signup form – July 2013 workshop with Clint & Shelley

 

KATS is taking a little vacation

Attendance has been down at our recent practicas, which many of our members enjoying well-deserved summer vacations. With this in mind the KATS Board has decided that for the next three practica KATS will be temporarily canceled.

This will include tomorrow’s practica at Absolute (June 5th). We look forward to meeting together soon.

Practicas cancelled

  • June 5, Wednesday
  • June 9, Sunday
  • June 12, Wednesday

We need YOU to guide the future of tango in Knoxville!

After a year, it’s time to elect new officers

Our annual meeting this year will be at 6 p.m. June 30 at Absolute Ballroom, immediately before our June Milonga. We’ve attached it to a dance in the hope that members will attend. That’s a hint.

During the meeting our members will choose the four officers of KATS’ Board: president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. Being on the Board is an excellent opportunity to influence changes, add enhancements, instill motivation, and promote growth in Knoxville’s tango community.

You might want to think about a position for yourself!

Although we have found our terms as vice president and secretary a pleasure, Dwight Pittman and I plan to travel often during the next year, and realized we will not be available to give the attention to KATS that the club deserves. With that said, we have decided not to be available as nominees for the next term.

That will leave the vice president and the secretary positions wide open for you to contribute your unique touches.

Any activity is more rewarding if there’s a positive connection between the people who share it. We can’t say enough about this Board, which has been a totally positive experience with a dash of smiles and fun. Dale and Ed are two of the most cooperative, inclusive, smart, and easygoing people you’d ever want to have on your committee. Board participation offered us the opportunity to know them better—as well as to serve our tango friends at KATS.

See you on the dance floor!

Workshop ahead! Clint and Shelley are coming to Knoxville

Thank you for your input regarding a summer workshop. Your responses were helpful, with many of you showing a strong interest in attending a workshop with Clint and Shelley.

So now you can kick up your heels and mark your calendars. Clint and Shelley will be teaching in Knoxville July 20 and 21!

The details will be finalized soon, and we will share them with you at that time. You know it’s gonna be fun when Clint and Shelley are here.

Summer milongas hop forward a half hour

 

Most of us don’t like change, but this one is aimed to please. Our monthly milongas will kick off a half hour later, at 7 p.m. instead of 6:30. They will still run until 10, or as long as folks are still dancing.

Now during the summer you can enjoy a bit more of the sunny Sunday afternoon, and then join us at 7 to complete the day.

Classes and Milonga this Sunday with Kimberly and Larry

Kimberly Giernacky and Larry Gant will be in town this Sunday, May 19, to teach beginners’ and intermediate classes and host a milonga.

The events will be at Knoxville’s Dance Dimensions. The beginner class will run from 4 to 5. It will build on the basic eight, introducing forward ochos. The focus will be on technique and musicality and on developing a connection with the music and your partner.

The intermediate class will follow, from 5 to 6. The focus will be to continue developing the skill set, focusing on men’s embellishments in the molinete such as pencil turns and sacadas. The classes will be followed by a milonga from 8 to 10:30. Cost is $12 for one class; $15 for both classes and $5 for the milonga.

Kimberly and Larry are also available for private lessons, but they ask you to contact them by today (May 16). (Sorry for the late notice! -Leo) You can reach Kimberly at 828-460-5857 if you have questions.

See the calendar for details.

Milongas scootch a skosh

KATS will now have our monthly milongas on the last Sunday of each month.

For the past couple of months they have been on the fourth Sunday. Since some months have five weeks, it will be easier to remember our schedule if milongas are on the last Sunday.

Now you can plan your schedule months in advance and still know if you will be able to join your tango friends for the monthly milonga.

Cost. Members will be asked to pay $5.00/person if they bring food/drink to a milonga, and $10.00/person or $15.00/couple for entry if they choose not to bring a snack.

Update on Wednesday practicas

 

We have a new agreement regarding our floor fee on Wednesday evenings.

Our only cost as a club will be the standard $5/person at the door. Also, good news—KATS will continue to have control of the music from 8:15 pm until 10:00 p.m.

With its huge mirror and open floor—no columns or obstructions—Absolute Ballroom is the perfect environment to practice. You can fine-tune your form as well as your embrace using the mirror while dancing. If you haven’t been coming to Wednesday evening practica, think about it.

A big thanks to Dale and Ed for their efforts!

A Family Says Their Final Goodbye

On Saturday evening, March 24th, Les Dole’s children, sister, brother-in-law, grandchildren, sister-in-law, and former wife, along with a handful of old friends, met for a simple, yet touching, private memorial service to remember their loved one and to celebrate his life.

The family traveled from New York, California, and Ohio to say their goodbyes and attempt a beginning of closure on their loss. His children, Lora and Bryn, shared some of their personal memories of what it meant to be Les’s son and daughter. Les’s “little sister”—as she referred to herself—shared a few childhood stories, recalling some of her experiences growing up with a mischievous, fun-seeking big brother she so admired. She brought laughter to those listening while offering a very personal profile of the boy Les.

Those of us who knew Les through our common interest in Argentine Tango are grateful to him and Jeanne Dole for being cofounders of the Knoxville Argentine Tango Society in 2006.

His friends would agree that he was certainly full of life, an adventurer, an explorer, a bright scientist, a lover of dance, and a person with a thirst for learning. Upon reflection, I wonder how much of the “boy Les” was still part of this complex man.

He will be missed.

Join us on the 24th for our March Milonga

Spring is peeking in a little each day now; it makes ya want to dance.

As the evening moves in, move to the music and dance a tango at Absolute Ballroom. Come join the fun.

Some of us will recall last March’s milonga. We ventured to the heart of Knoxville’s Old City for a unique dancing experience at “Old City Venue” club. Les Dole was our DJ that night. The dance floor was a bit challenging, but the experience was priceless.

This year we move back to one of our favorite dance floors, at Absolute Ballroom. Hope to see you there!

  • MARCH EASTER MILONGA
  • Sunday, 3/24/13
  • Absolute Ballroom
  • 6:30-9:30 p.m.

(See calendar for details.)