D'Angelo & Amanda Wins Live To Dance

For the past two Thursday evenings, I stayed home to watch the finale of Live To Dance 2011, an American dance reality show on 8TV. Six finalists performed in the finale and the winner was chosen by telephone votes plus the decision of the judges. The angelic-looking couple of D'Angelo Castro, 10, and Amanda Carbajales, 11, was adjudged champions. D'Angelo and Amanda who danced an Argentine Tango in the first round and a Conga in the second round were in their element, and their performance was mesmerizing.

The pair walked home with the cash prize of $500,000. That's a lot of money for two kids who are still in elementary school. D'Angelo told the audience he wanted to go to Disneyland for a holiday. On a more serious note, D'Angelo said that he and Amanda practiced dancing 4 or 5 hours a day, six days a week! Amanda exclaimed that she intends to use the prize money to open a dance studio when she grows up. With their drive and passion, these adorable kids look set to become future world ballroom dance champions.

I do not know about the ratings of Live To Dance on 8TV but I know that another American TV show, American Idol is very popular here in Malaysia. Past winners of the show like Kris Allen (Season 8) and Lee Dewyze (Season 9) have even come to this country to give showcase concerts. It would be great if 8TV can bring in D'Angelo and Amanda to perform in Malaysia, either as guest artistes at a dance competition or maybe at a shopping mall. Hopefully, this will encourage more of our kids to take up ballroom dancing.

Apps To Make You Dance

Dancing With The Stars has helped spur interest in ballroom dancing, but for many who would like to follow in the footsteps of the stars, lessons are often too expensive, too far away and socially awkward in the extreme. But if your partner is a mobile device, none of these obstacles apply. Mobile apps could be the best thing to hit ballroom dancing since the hurdler's stretch. The better ones like LDF Hot Salsa (up to US$3 for iOS), Pocket Salsa (US$3 for iOS or US$2 for Android) and Learn Argentine Tango (up to US$13 for iOS) - offer solid, inexpensive tutorials. And thanks to the mobile format, you can see them when no one's watching or brush up on your steps immediately before you try to impress a date in public.

After a few swings around my living room, I found the Hot Salsa series especially effective. There are three levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced), with each anchored by a set of instructional videos featuring Christian Gutierrez and sometimes his partner, Liem Pham. The videos are adequate, if slightly less than professional quality. The audio is passable, the lighting is fair and the set is a living room, complete with fireplace. The video is framed from a point that was slightly too far at times for me to see Gutierrez's footwork clearly, although that problem was less bothersome when I tested the app on an iPad.

Aesthetics aside, the quality of the instruction was quite good. The 30 lessons featured in each app average roughly one minute each - just enough to cover one distinct movement. Gutierrez typically introduces a move by demonstrating and explaining it at full speed. He then offers a slower demonstration along with a more technically oriented discussion. The videos are bolstered by text explanations of each move, which I found helpful, if occasionally in dire need of proofreading. You can also add notes of your own to each lesson, which is a nice touch...... NYT

Project Dance Penang

Project Dance is a movement of dancers seeking to positively impact culture through artistic integrity. Its desire is to see every dancer nurtured to their fullest human potential for their own well being and their contribution to the world. It offers training, education and performance opportunities for dancers worldwide who desire to dance with integrity to inspire. Project dance was born 11 years ago out of a desire to serve the people of New York City directly after the events of September 11.

Each year, thousands of New Yorkers stop to watch the concert held on a temporary stage on the corner of 44th Street and Broadway. This event has also been replicated in other cities around the USA and internationally in Toronto, London, Hong Kong, Manila, Sydney and Brisbane. Project Dance is not a convention or competition but rather a life changing experience for dancers who desire to perform with integrity to inspire.

This year, Project Dance will be held in Malaysia for the first time. The event which will be hosted in Penang from December 9 to 11 is open to all dancers and dance enthusiasts. Master classes, workshops, motivational forums and a free all-day dance concert at Queensbay Mall are among the many exciting activities to be staged. Choreographers and dancers from the USA, South Korea, Nigeria, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia will be taking part in this event.

Dance genres that will be showcased in Project Dance Penang include Argentine tango, ballet, street dance, lyrical jazz, worship dance and Korean traditional dance. There will also be master classes on hip hop, popping, locking, bboy, krump, girlstyle, soul, lyrical jazz, contemporary, tap and theatre dance (Broadway style). For more information, call 012-4129272 or 012-4853272 or check out projectdancepenang.blogspot.com.

World Tango Championships 2011

A Colombian couple was named winners of the salon tango category at the World Tango Championships 2011 held recently in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Staving off the challenge from 39 other couples in the finals, Diego Benavidez Hernandez and Natasha Agudelo Arboleda (pic) became the first Colombians to win the category at the tango competition. A jury of seven experts picked them over John Erban and Clarissa Sanchez from Venezuela after a dance-off between the two pairs. The third placing went to Brian Nguyen and Yuliana Basmajyan from the United States of America.

Twenty couples took part in the finals of the stage tango category. Argentina managed to salvage some pride when it's pair of Max Van de Voorde and Solange Acosta was crowned champions, and three other Argentinian couples took the second, third and fourth placings. "In the salon tango category, one grades the elegance, the timing, the form in which the motions and characteristic steps of salon tango are carried out," says Oscar Velazquez, a dancer who served as a judge in the semifinals. "In stage tango, one pays attention to the wardrobe, the choreography, the movement. One looks that the essence of tango in the contemporary dance isn't lost."

Some 500 couples from around the globe participated in this year's competition which was the ninth edition of the annual event. The Argentine tango was developed by the lower urban classes in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, Uruguay in the Rio de Plata basin during the early 19th century. It slowly spread through all social classes of the region and then all over the world and became popular in Europe, the United States and Japan. In 2009, the Argentine tango was granted 'intangible cultural heritage' status by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

South Korea Hosts Argentine Tango Festival

The sultry South American tango is winning a big following in South Korea, and Seoul's third festival celebrating the passionate dance drew an international cast of enthusiasts. Dancers from Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Canada and Argentina got into the swing with scores of Koreans for the Seoul Tango festival from May 5-9.

"I didn't know so many dancers would come from so many places.... it's surprising to see such a huge tango festival here in Korea", said businesswoman Lee Chae -Won, 27, who has just begun learning the dance. But she is already under the sway of the tango and understands the attraction. "I think there's some sort of emotional interaction with the partner, and it soothes my heart when I dance the tango," she said.

"It's the indescribable interaction with the partner," said another local dancer, Ma Sang-Heun, 31, a Seoul elementary school teacher. "It feels as if I am whispering secret words." Tango took off in South Korea only about a decade ago but has grown rapidly in popularity, expanding from Seoul to other cities including Daegu and Busan which have studios dedicated to the dance. - AFP

Passion Of Buenos Aires

Experience Argentine tango when the Passion of Buenos Aires comes to Kuala Lumpur. The festival aims to let this beautiful dance of the heart foster goodwill, happiness and harmony among the participants. For many, dance has become a passion. It lifts the spirit, exercises the body and mind and allows one to enjoy the company of others in a genial way.

The festival will be held in the Annexe Gallery in Central Market. Supported by the Embassy of Argentina, the festival continues to attract more tango enthusiasts in its fourth year. The tango maestros attending the festival are Marcelo Gutierez and Johana Cessiecq, Pablo Nievas and Valerie Zunino, and Stefano Fava. The pace of the festival will be relaxed with emphasis on instruction and fun. 

Workshops will be conducted from April 22 to 24, from 2.00 pm to 5.30 pm with two sessions daily. Every night there will be milongas (social tango dance parties) and Saturday night will be  'Tango Tradisi' the Gala Dinner and Dance, where the three pairs of instructors will delight the crowd with their performances. The milongas and 'Tango Tradisi', held at the ballroom of the Raintree Club are open to the public.  (The Star)

Golden Palm Tree International Dance Championship 2010

Some 160 dancers from 18 countries in Europe, USA and Asia competed in Ballroom, Latin American, Salsa and Argentine Tango events in the inaugural Golden Palm Tree International Dance Championship 2010 held at Golden Palm Tree Resort & Spa in Sepang Goldcoast, Selangor on October 29. Among those who took part in this competition were British Professional Ballroom Champions and Blackpool Grand Finalists Warren & Kristi Boyce (pic) of England.

The guest-of-honour at this function was Heng Seai Kie, the Deputy Women, Family & Community Development Minister. Heng said that her ministry recognizes the potential of ballroom dancing in enhancing family relationships. She also congratulated Golden Palm Tree's efforts in promoting dance as a sport for the family and community development.

The winners of the major categories are as follows:-

Professional Standard - Warren & Kristi Boyce (England)

Professional Latin - Alessandro Carmerotto & Nancy Berti (Italy)

Amateur Standard - Mikhail and Olesya Eremeeva (Russia)

Amateur Latin - Massimo Acrolin & Luba Mustuck (Italy)

Pro-Am Latin - Michael Badong & Soleil Mahani Kamil (Philippines)

Junior Latin - Sam Hunter & Charlotte Plant (England)

Dancesport In A Tight Spot?

The International DanceSport Federation, IDSF refers to dancesport as - "Dancesport is a team sport. It is generally defined as partner dancing between a man and a woman combining as a couple (or group of couples combining as a team) and using the required technique or floor craft and artistic interpretation to produce a highly disciplined dance performance. Dancesport developed out of the narrow confines of competition ballroom dancing but today includes any dance style which has achieved an internationally recognized competitive structure and has adopted a sports based culture. The currently recognized sections or disciplines in international style dancesport are: 1) Standard, 2) Latin American, 3) Ten Dance and 4) Rock 'n' Roll".

Recently while browsing through the website dancesport.info.net, I happened to read an interesting forum topic titled "What Is Happening To English Dancesport?" The discussion at this forum which started in June 2007 is on-going. Basically this forum discusses the 'declining' popularity of dancesport in England vis-a-vis the other popular dances like Salsa, Hip Hop, Argentine Tango and Swing. The contributors to this forum aired their disappointments over this issue and gave their views on how this problem can be resolved. All this while I had thought that dancesport is still going strong in England. The forum debate certainly was an eye opener for me. Which kept me pondering. What about the dancesport scene here in Malaysia?

Ballroom and Latin American dances were popular in Malaysia during the 1960s and 1970s when the first few dance schools were opened. When Salsa was introduced here in the late 1970s it caught on quickly. The dance became a hit and many Salsa dance schools and clubs were soon in business. Other popular dances like Hip Hop, Belly and Line Dance also made their way here and their novelty plus the fact that they could be danced without a partner helped to supplant the popularity of Ballroom and Latin American. As was and is now, ladies often complain about the dearth of male partners. Presently, Ballroom is danced mainly by the more matured crowd while Latin American still manages to attract a sizeable following among the youngsters.

Tango Granted "Intangible Cultural Heritage" Status By UNESCO

The Tango of Argentina and Uruguay has been granted 'intangible cultural heritage' status by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) at a meeting in Abu Dhabi on September 30 2009. Both these Latin American countries which had laid claim to be the birthplace of the Tango, had earlier set aside their differences and jointly submitted an application for the dance and music to be considered a world cultural treasure. The Argentinean and Uruguayan tradition of the Tango, now familiar around the world was developed by the urban lower classes in Buenos Aires and Montevideo in the Rio De La Plata Basin during the early 19th century. The Tango was among the 76 elements inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity this year.

Malaysia's cultural heritage did not made it to the list this year. However in 2005, the Mak Yong theatre from Malaysia was granted 'intangible cultural heritage' status by UNESCO. Mak Yong is a traditional Malay art form incorporating elements of dance, acting, opera, vocals, instrumental music and elaborate costumes. All the characters in a Mak Yong are played by women and it is performed mainly for entertainment or for ritual purposes related to healing practices. Mak Yong, which requires years of training, has traditionally been performed in the northern states of Kelantan and Trengganu in Peninsular Malaysia and in the province of Patani in Southern Thailand. Sadly, interest in the Mak Yong is waning and if there are no serious efforts to promote or revive this art form, the Mak Yong may go the way of the dodo soon.

While many folk or traditional dances from various countries have been included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, this is the first time a popular social dance that is, the Tango has been included in the list. Is there a likelihood for the other popular social dances like the Ballroom, Latin American, Salsa, Hip Hop, Line Dance, Belly Dance, etc to follow suit? In order to be considered for inclusion in the list, the dance should have a fairly long and interesting history and 'cultural value'. Most of the popular social dances have a history of less than one hundred years, with the exception of the Waltz and Belly Dance. I believe these are the two dances that could be accorded world cultural heritage status if there are concerted efforts by the countries concerned to have them inscribed in the World Cultural Heritage List.

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Tango With Eva & Patricio In Kuala Lumpur

The Tango Club of Kuala Lumpur is organizing an "Extended Weekend Tango With Patricio & Eva" workshop from June 19 - 21 and a "Stars of ZAIA" Grand Milonga on June 20. Both these events will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Dancers' Association (KLDA) at Wisma OCM in Jalan Hang Jebat. Private tango lessons with either Patricio or Eva will also be held at Piso Tango on June 22 and 23. Patricio Touceda and Eva Lucero from Argentina have been dancing and teaching together for several years and had been performing the Argentine Tango in the Cirque du Soleil Show at the Venetian Hotel in Macau. The married couple are now holidaying their way home and KL will be one of their stops where they will be teaching and performing.

The Argentine Tango was first "introduced" to Malaysia 6 years ago by Marguerite Brodie, an accomplished social dancer, performer and teacher. It was through her efforts and dedication that the Tango Club of Kuala Lumpur was formed in 2003. The nascent group of tangueros and tangueras initially danced and practised at Little Havana in Bukit Ceylon. In the years gone by, the Tango setting in KL has developed from an easy beginner's class to weekly Practicas, spontaneous Sundays potluck Milonguitas, and monthly Milongas held at various locations in KL. The Tango Club of Kuala Lumpur also organized the First International Kuala Lumpur Tango Festival in 2008 followed by the second one in 2009.

Little Havana is presently undergoing renovations but the Wednesday class and Practilonga will continue at The Magnificent Fish & Chips Bar at 28 (Upstairs), Cangkat Bukit Bintang. Tango lessons are also being conducted at Frangipani Restaurant & Bar at 25 Cangkat Bukit Bintang and at the Kuala Lumpur Dancers' Association (KLDA) in Wisma OCM, Jalan Hang Jebat. Guided practicas conducted by Andreas Lehrke are also held almost every Saturday afternoons from 4.00 to 6.00 pm at Piso Tango in 10-6 Menara Bukit Ceylon, 2 Jalan Ceylon. For more information regarding the schedules and events, check out www.tangomalaysia.com.


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All The Festivities At The 2nd International Kuala Lumpur Tango Festival 2009

The 2nd International Kuala Lumpur Tango Festival 2009, organized recently by the Kuala Lumpur Tango Club was a runaway success judging by the accolades dished out by the participants who came from far and wide. Held over 4 days from April 9 to 12, there were milongas, workshops, private classes, guided practices, and performances at various venues namely; Little Havana, Piso Tango, (both in the fine dining enclave of Bukit Ceylon), the Annexe Gallery at Central Market and the Kuala Lumpur Dancers' Association (KLDA) at Wisma OCM.

The finale to the 2nd International Kuala Lumpur Tango Festival 2009 was the Argentine Tango showdance performance by three renowned couples from Argentina at the "Tango Tradisi" Gala Dinner & Dance held at the Royal Selangor Club, Dataran Merdeka on April 11. The 3 couples who were specially invited to teach and perform at this festival were acclaimed tangueros and tangueras, Guillermo Merlo & Fernanda Ghi, Adrian Veredice & Alejendra Hobert and Enrique & Guillermo De Fazio, otherwise known as the Macana Brothers (picture).

The Argentine Tango is one dance where it is perfectly alright for a man to dance with a man. How this came about could be traced to historical events. During the 19th century, many young men from Europe emigrated to Argentina to seek a better life there. Due to a shortage of women then, the men started to dance the Argentine Tango with each other. Stevedores who were working in the ports also practised dancing with each other in their free time while waiting for the ships to dock. Hence was born a tradition in which men danced with each other.

The Kuala Lumpur Tango Club has been instrumental in promoting Argentine Tango in Malaysia. It was formed in 2003 by Marguerite Brodie, who by the way is also an accomplished Ballroom and Latin American dancer. Marguerite and her partner, Andreas Lehrke presently teach Argentine Tango at some of the clubs in Bukit Ceylon and also at the Kuala Lumpur Dancers' Association (KLDA) in Wisma OCM at Jalan Hang Jebat. For more information regarding their classes, please check out www.tangomalaysia.com or call 012-3151008/012-6628022.

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Antimo Russo Of Italy To Conduct Latin American Dance Workshop In Malaysia

SBW Dancesport Centre of Muar, Johor will be organizing a dance workshop which will be be conducted by Antimo Russo of Italy. The details are as follows:-

Date: November 15 2008 (Saturday)

Time: 8.00 pm to 10.00 pm

Venue: SBW Dancesport Centre
48-39A, Jalan Taman Sakeh Baru 1/2
Taman Sakeh Baru
Muar, Johor

Malaysia

Tel. No: 019-7745871 (Mr Siow Boon Wah)

Fax. No: 06-9511069

Email: sbw_dance@hotmail.com

Fees: RM80 for a 2 hours workshop

The dances and the topics that will be touched upon and discussed by Antimo Russo at the workshop are:-

Cha Cha Cha - development of rhythm, balance and changes of body weight, check position in the New York action and split Cuban break, differences.

Rumba - appropriate technique in the walks (forward & backward), application of a rotation to a walk, lead & follow, change of the rules.

Besides teaching Latin American dances in Hong Kong, China where he is currently based, Antimo Russo also teaches Argentine tango and salsa. Russo, 27, has taken part in many world dancesport competitions including the Blackpool Professional Latin American Dance championship. He is presently dancing with Ee Phei San of Hong Kong. For more information on Antimo Russo, please check out http://www.arthurmurrayhk.com/.

Best Wishes As Usual,

Dance Aficionado
Dancesport Malaysia

Argentine Tango Dance Classes For Beginners

Marguerite Brodie-Eu & Andreas Lehrke, renowned tango dancers, teachers and performers will be conducting Agentine Tango dance classes for beginners in Kuala Lumpur. The details are as follows:-

Venue: Hall of Fame,
Level 2, Indoor Sport Complex
Wisma OCM, Jalan Hang Jebat
50150 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Date: Commencing Thursday July 31, for 8 consecutive Thursdays

Time: 8.30 - 9.30 pm

Fees: RM200 for all 8 classes, RM30 for drop-in

Marguerite Brodie-Eu has been instrumental in helping to promote Argentine Tango in Malaysia. It was through her efforts that the Kuala Lumpur Tango Club was born in 2003. The Kuala Lumpur Tango Club organized the 1st International Kuala Lumpur Tango Festival 2008 in July; an event which saw the participation of more than 100 tangueros and tangueras from 22 countries.

Brodie-Eu and Lehrke also conduct Argentine Tango classes for groups and individuals at a couple of clubs in the fine-dining enclave of Bukit Ceylon. In addition they regularly host dance workshops and milongas. For more information and bookings, please call +60(12)315-1008 or +60(12)662-8022. Alternatively you can check out their web site at www.tangomalaysia.com.

Best Wishes,

Dance Aficionado

Dancesport Malaysia