Tango Experiential - dance association

AUSTRIA

Ryszard Musial and Monika Wydrowska

Dancers and Dance Teachers

In 1992, after graduating with a Masters Degree in Engineering, from the Technical University of Szczecin (Poland), Ryszard, together with his dance partner Monika, already one of the top dancers in the Polish competitive Ballroom Dance scene, moved to London.

Soon they become a successful part of the very lively and competitive field of Latin American style dance in the UK. In 1995 they came across Argentine Tango for the first time through a workshop with Hector Mayoral and Elsa Maria – leading dancers of ‘Forever Tango’ – a very famous Argentine Tango show at that time being staged at the Strand Theatre in London. This meeting changed the way Ryszard and Monika looked at dance for good.

Inspired and fascinated by the improvisational approach of Argentine Tango dancers, they started studying and exploring different dance styles:

- Contemporary Dance at the London Contemporary Dance School - ‘The Place’, Laban School of Movement

- Flamenco (Zandra Escudero)

- Street Dancing, Jazz (Pineapple Studios)

All the time, they were searching for and exploring the core element of improvisation in these different styles. This journey led to the creation of their first dance drama – ‘Fascination’ for the ‘Festival of Cutting Edge Dance Theatre 1999’ organised by Sadler’s Wells in London.

In the years following, they continued their experiments, taking lessons from Argentine Tango masters like: Ana Maria Schapira, Horacio Godoy, Julio Balmaceda, Dana Frigoli, Pablo Veron, Maria Plazaola and the legendary Geraldine Rojas to mention just a few...

At the same time they were working on many dance-based projects, videos and short film productions, combining improvised music with different improvised dance forms. Six of their short films were televised by Polish TV and shown in festivals around the world, winning many Prizes and Awards.

Expressing their creativity in these different media was rewarding, and satisfying, but Ryszard and Monika also developed a hunger to teach Argentine Tango and took part as leading teachers in a series of workshops dedicated to Argentine Tango organised in Poland under the title:  ‘Tango Argentino – the Art of Improvisation’ (2008-2010).

In the beginning of year 2011 they were invited to take part in theatre production – ‘Midnight Tango’. During their record-breaking, four months long UK tour, they performed Argentine Tango in 120 spectacles and sold more than 200,000 tickets (today this figure reached 1 million). Huge success of this show led to subsequent live cinema screening and DVD release in UK.

In October 2011 Ryszard and Monika performed Argentine Tango show in Gran Hotel in Tenerife together with tango legend – Milena Plebs.

In February 2012 and again in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 they were invited to perform tango exhibition in the popular and respected milonga – ‘La Baldosa’ in Buenos Aires. Additionally in 2018 they performed at Milonga Parakultural in Salon Canning and in the Milonga de Los Domingos at El Beso. This way Ryszard and Monika became one of the very first Polish tango couples to have the honour of dancing an Argentine Tango exhibitions in the most famous Tango places of Buenos Aires. 

AUSTRIA

Betka Fislová - dancer, choreographer, personal trainer, singer, composer - studied contemporary dance and dance pedagogics at the Conservatory of Vienna and "Accademia Isola Danza" of Carolyn Carlson in Venice. Since 1999 she has been working with various dance companies ("Homunculus" in Vienna, "Border Line Danza" in Salerno, Italy, etc) and participated as dancer, choreographer, performer and singer in numerous dance productions, theatre performances, multimedia productions and musicals. She has received several choreographic awards in Austria, Italy and Czech Republic. Since 2006 she has been working as personal trainer of yoga & pilates.In 2004 Betka released her solo album "More Than Black And White", featuring her as singer, pianist and composer and since then she performs her repertory with Germano (drums) in a duo formation.She is teacher of "TangoGermano" since 2007 and in her teaching she enriches this method with the transformative qualities of contemporary dance techniques, yoga and mental imaging work. 

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Germano, tango teacher, musician, visual artist, illustrator, started his tango formation in 1997. He learnt from numerous internationally renowned teachers such as Gustavo Naveira, Yazir metin, Alessandra Mantinan etc. He has been teaching since 2002 in Italy, Austria, Germany and Turkey. In the course of his teaching he has developed his own teaching method called "TangoGermano".TangoGermano is an analytical didactic system that teaches how to use the elements of movement in order to control and guide the movement in tango argentino. Focusing on the developement and refinement of the perception of one´'s own body and the partner´s body it creates an organic form of nonverbal communication within the dance couple. This makes it possible to achieve the state of pure improvisation and the freedom of translating the music into the movement in unisono. 
 

CROATIA

Rebeka has been dancing for as far as she can remember.
Her formal dance education started when she was 8, at a social dance school. Very soon she started competing and winning awards with her partner at various dance competitions. Her new dance adventure started when she enrolled the Contemporary Dance School Ana Maletić in Zagreb.
In the next 5 years she was growing as a dancer and dance pedagogue through various workshops of contemporary dance techniques, ballet, dance methodics...
After finishing her secondary school of contemporary dance she studied psychology, and led dance and rhythmics classes for children, danced for the Youth ensemble of the Contemporary Dance Studio, danced khatak (traditional Indian dance), riverdance and salsa.
Somewhere in that period she started flirting with the Argentine tango, which grew into a true love affair 4 years ago, in the Zagreb Libertango dance club. Being an experienced contemporary dancer, she was immediately attracted to neo/contemporary tango. Today she is running tango classes at the Tango Experiential Club, organizing neolongas and Tango Experiential Festival. Her desire is to connect her two great loves - dance and psychology.

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Hrvoje started dancing in 2004, with Latin and standard dances. Many years of competing in these sport dances created the basis in which he incorporated elements of salsa, jazz dance, ballet... and tango.
He started dancing tango in Italy in 2009. His dancing style was most strongly developed in Great Britain where he was influenced by contemporary/neo tango and Argentinian teachers. In his dancing style you can see all the dances he got in touch with.
Together with his friends, he started Tango Experiential Club in 2014 in Zagreb, within which he has been running dance courses, organizing dance evenings and Tango Experiential Festival.
Of all of his teachers, he has greatest appreciation for his dancing partners who had enough patience for his novel ideas and mistakes.
Apart from dance, as of 1999 Hrvoje has been engaged in various self-development disciplines, which you can taste at the Tango Experiential Festival.

UK

Jet comes from Wales in the UK and has been dancing since a child, with her first training in ballet to a Professional/Teaching level. With extensive training in other genres, Jet travelled the world working as a Dancer and Showgirl in both TV and Theatre. She owns her own International Company employing dancers and placing Production Shows all over the Globe. She currently teaches tango in the UK. We are delighted to have her at our festival to share her innovative, elegant and intriguing moves with us :). 

ITALY

Dancer and teacher, his artistic path was born in the world of theatre, grew in contemporary dance, in contact improvisation and in dance theatre, reaching consolidation in Sensitive Dance and Argentine Tango, transforming into Tangosensibile® (which he will be teaching at the Tango Experiential Festival) through personal research. Tangosensibile® is a laboratory on communication in pairs dancing, on the quality of contact and the relationship, on improvisation in music. The capacity to feel is stimulated through the analysis of body movement: ourselves, the other and the space that surrounds us.
Tangosensibile® allows anyone who dances tango, at any level, as well as all the others with not tango experience, to acquire a new awareness in communication with the partner, in music.
Furthermore, Tangosensibile®, which explores and stimulates creative and expressive possibilities, favours personal development and offers everyone the possibility to develop a new body awareness.
No "steps" or sequences are taught: just put yourself to the test! 
For further info: www.tangosensibile.it

Tangosensibile video

FRANCE

Thierry and Isabelle are both dancers with large dancing background, mainly in swing dances (lindy hop, balboa, charleston, shag) and blues - both traditionnal and alternative (fusion music, ...) , Tango (both traditionnal and neo), but also salsa...

When dancing neo tango, they like above all enriching their dance with whatever body move or dancing steps, coming from other dance universe - especially from blues dancing, each time the music calls for it.

At Tango Experiential Festival they will lead a blues workshop. The objective for this taster is to open neotango dancers' minds to blues moves and make them understand how the blues connection works so that they can start using it in their tango dance.

Lesz has been taught by various Argentine tango maestros during his 15 years in  development. He helped establish Tango de la Rosa in Bristol, Bradford on Avon and Bath UK.

 Assisting the teaching of classes gave a deeper understanding of the art of tango.

 Opening Leszes Tango school was the natural progression, opened in Bath UK in 2015.

He organizes a regular Monthly Milonga in Bath UK  with occasional live bands.

Lesz’s aim is to simplify the the learning path for students perfecting in technique and musicality. To introduce fun in learning Argentine tango for leaders and followers with no added pressure, individual attention whenever possible.

Lesz has been dancing Argentine tango since 2003, takes the lead role in the class. He has danced in Buenos Aires, Italy, France Poland & Canada.