A Little About Tango…

Instructors- Carmen & Andy

Carmen & Andy Teachers

Carmen Maret began dancing tango and performing tango with the Kansas City, MO based group, Tango Lorca in 2001. Later, she studied tango as an ethnomusicology Master’s student at Michigan State University, and produced a Master’s thesis in 2005 that looked at tango in the Michigan Argentine Tango club based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Carmen Maret is a co-founder of the Grand Rapids Tango Community where she works as a tango teacher and tango musician. She co-founded a tango quartet called Tango Folias that performs danceable Golden Era arrangements for dancers at the Mezze’s Cafe’s weekly milonga in Grand Rapids. Carmen Maret’s main pedagogical influences as a dancer include Tom Stermitz, Brigitta Winkler, and Christopher Nassopoulos & Caroline Peattie.

She has been performing live tango music for dancers since 2003 when she joined with her husband guitarist Andrew Bergeron to form their duo called Folias.

Andrew has taught tango in the Grand Rapids tango community since co-founding it in 2005. His classes focus on finding an ease and flow in Argentine tango through a deep connection to the music. Originally from Holland, Michigan, Andrew Bergeron splits his musical efforts between composition and performance, specializing in tango arranging. During his Master’s degree in composition at Michigan State University, Andrew Bergeron composed music for a variety of ensembles including, solo guitar, guitar and flute, electro-acoustic music, chamber music, and tango.

Andrew has performed tango music for dancers since 2003 when he joined with Carmen Maret to form their duo called Folias.

Instructors- Dave & Dawn

Dawn & Dave Teachers

Dawn and Dave Kasper have been dancing tango for 4 years and teaching beginners for 2 years. They have taken workshops with Marika Landry, Luciana Valle, and Jaimes Fiedgen, Maximiliano Gluzman, Fernanda Ghi and Guillermo Merlo, and the famous milonguero Tete Rusconi.

Dave’s engineering background gives him a keen eye for the mechanics of the lead and follow and Dawn’s physical therapy background gives her insight in to the “anatomy of the dance”. Dawn and Dave believe that dancing the tango is about the joy of connecting with your partner and the music. As the beloved Tete said, “when you dance tango you feel like you are flying above the clouds.”

Instructors- Xavier & Bethany

Bethany & Xavier Teachers

Xavier Marchena has danced tango for 5 years. He fell in love with the dance on accident through a tango music listening assignment. Xavier participated in a tango lesson and has been dancing ever since.

Bethany Marshall has danced tango for 3 years. A student of the Russian language she was lured to a tango weekend by the promise of a native Russian speaking instructor, and became hooked on the dance.

Bethany and Xavier have studied under Carmen Maret and Andrew Bergeron and James Freed and Joni Lipson and started teaching lessons with the GR Tango Community two years ago. They have attended weekend workshops taught by Avik Basu and Yelena Sinelnikova, Evan Griffiths, Christopher Nassopoulos and Caroline Peattie, Ney Melo and Jennifer Bratt, Nick Jones and Tara Fortier, and Jennifer Olson and Damian Lobato. Bethany and Xavier bring a playful attitude towards tango and excel in improvisation. Xavier’s strength lies in his strong rhythmic connection and outgoing demeanor. Both Bethany and Xavier are up beat instructors and can lead and follow, enabling them better understanding of the dance as a whole.

Tango Outside

History & FAQs

Where is Tango From?
Tango emerged during the 1890s in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was originally a social dance that blended choreography and music from many different cultures such as European waltz and polka, the Habanera from Cuba, the African candomble, and a Argentine country dance called Milonga. The original instrumentation used in tango groups was flute, guitar, and violin. It wasn’t until the 1920s-1950s that tango was played in tango orchestras. The Argentine tango orchestra, usually 3 violins, 3 bandoneóns (an accordion-like instrument that gives tango its typical sound), piano, and bass is the typical ensemble used in recorded DJ music for tango dances.
What Style of Tango is Taught in the Grand Rapids Tango Community?
There are many different approaches to tango dancing and they are all valid. What really matters is that the approach a dancer uses is appropriate for the environment. For example, dancers move differently if they are performing on a stage, dancing in a wide open practice space, or dancing on a crowded milonga floor. In Grand Rapids we focus our lessons and milongas on social dancing, especially in a close embrace with 2-3 step sequences that are based on improvisation. The goal of GR Tango teachers is to maximize social energy through building good navigation skills, comfortable embraces, and musical dancing.
What are some of the formalities in tango?
At tango dances, called milongas, dancers generally dance 3-4 dances with one partner. This is called a tanda or round of dances. In between the dances is a cortina, or curtain, that serves as a musical cue for the partners to switch.
What type of shoes should I wear?
Shoes with leather or suede soles are needed in tango because you must be able to pivot freely without sticking to the floor which could hurt your knee or ankle. Other than that, the more comfortable the shoes, the better.
Do I need a partner?
No. Argentine social tango thrives on social interaction. Not only will frequent partner switching help make you a better dancer, it will facilitate good social energy.
My significant other doesn’t dance, should I still come?
Of course! Remember, that you don’t need to bring a partner to dance Argentine tango, and since the first tango rule is, “if you can walk you can tango,” then you might be able to convince your supposedly-non-dancing partner to get up and try it anyway.