Two weeks after the camp I finally have got the time to search through 700 photos I made in the tango camp and in Athens, to make a selection and to upload them on the net… to find the peace of mind to tell some words about it…
It was the biggest tango festival I have ever been, with the biggest milongas, the greatest live tango concert, with sooooo many tango teachers, the best teachers and the best dancers and … the biggest Romanian group participating in such an event! We were over 30 people from Romania and yes, I am proud of it, even if I have no merit for that ☺
I’m sure that organizing such a marvelous event was not an easy thing and Pino and Natalie did a great job in Greece!
I left Romania with no expectations, as a matter of fact I didn’t want to go anymore to the tango camp, as I was in a “tango” breakdown, but the plane tickets were already bought, the registration to the camp was already made, the roommate already set, the tango partner for the classes already found by the tangocamp, so… I had to go!… but everything changed all the way… so unexpectedly!
The first day was one of the best day of this year: first of all it was the flight - oh how I love to fly! I simply adore the take-off!!! – then was the Eretria Village, then the workshop (that I didn’t want to go, but I knew there was an equal number of ladies and gentlemen, an if I didn’t go there a guy might be with no partner… so I drag myself out of the room and went to the class) that turned to be quite useful with good partners and lovely and dedicated teachers, then the swimming in the salty sea at sun set, then a goooood meal, then the milonga with live crazy tango concert with Sexteto Milonguero, I’m telling you they were crazy, and they are were explosive and made a whole crazy atmosphere; and not to forget, the maestros performances! What a day!!! I’m still wondering if that was for real ☺ What could I ask for more?...
For those who have never been to the tango camp before, the things were like this: you register applying for a certain level (intermediate, advanced, classic or nuevo, etc.) and then you are set in a class with people at the same level as you (the evaluation is made by every participant, and that can be a very sensitive subject) and you have classes with several teachers set by the tangocamp. This is a very good way to know more teachers and if you don’t like one couple’s teaching at least you have the opportunity to find that by yourself and not from others and to make better options in the future. Of course everyone/teacher can have a bad day, and one failed workshop will not make you want to take classes with that teacher again…
Anyway, I had classes with my favorite teachers Adrian and Alejandra and that was a great joy for me, I had classes with Nancy and Damian and I enjoyed very much their workshops, then I discovered Sigrid Van Tilbeurgh and Marcel and I simply loved them and wanted to take more more classes with them, and there were some other classes with very renown dancers that deceived me as teachers, but that is another story I do not want to remember. I discovered Dana Frigoli and she is an amazing teacher with a great dedication for her students, a surprising energy and astonishing dancing technique that she shared with us, her demo at the end of the lesson was so touching… brought tears into my eyes!... I whish I had classes with Mazen and Maria that I love so much, I wished I had classes with Ozhan and Serkan (but they are coming in July in Romania, and I will not miss that chance)… but hey! you cannot do everything in such a short time, and most of all you need to have a partner…!
If you are crazy about shoes... watch the picture above! That was the most impressive quantity of tango shoes I have ever seen in my life! From size 34 to 40! And they were all beautiful!!!
Have to mention the party on the beach! That was a great moment to remember! We danced salsa on the beach and other dances (everybody knew the steps I learned in Brasov 10 years ago!!!) and it was a contest at that party and the prize was a free tangocamp package for 2010 and 3 Romanian couples were in the semifinals (out of 5 couples) and one Romanian couple won the contest!!! The Russian guys lost it, I think they were good, however, we were the best! So happy and so proud!
At milonga I didn’t dance much but I enjoyed the atmosphere and the dancing and the music and everything. Tried to take pictures during the maestros performances but that was a really hard job as the flash was forbidden, the video recording was forbidden as well, publishing the photos on the net is forbidden, so after trying several times to take pictures without flash I quit this activity and just enjoyed the performance. Here is a short selection of some photos I took, with (my favorite dancers of course!): Mazen and Maria, Adrian and Alejandra, and then Esteban and Evelin, Ozhan and Serkan, and the Naveira couple. Enjoy them quickly till the tango camp guys take track of me, put me to jail, force me to take the pictures from the net, torture me to give them all the photos I have and make me say who else have any other photos… Just joking!
The regular schedule of one day, at least for me, was like this: breakfast, swimming pool, tango class, lunch, tango class, beach, dinner, milonga. Who could ask for more?
After four days in the camp some of us went home but some of us took the ferryboat to go to see Athens. Such a funny moment! The boat was all ours!
Have seen Athens in one day and a half, kind of… how can you understand a city in such a short time? We ran like regular tourists from one interesting point to another and fortunately, one member of the group was an architect very interested in all the stories of ancient places, and he told us something about what we were seeing, but still we missed important places like the field of ancient Olympic Stadium where the first games took place… maybe next time! Anyway, here is Athens through the lens of my camera:
During the last evening in Athens some of us went to a milonga, the only milonga in open air in Athens, and then took the luggage and went directly to the airport. Had a quick breakfast from the photo... I had such a trouble reading all the placards and advertisements in greek… Lucky me I could recognize the brands because of some specific details, like the hat in this photo ☺
Back at home I slept two days, fighting with a flu I've got in Greece, I was so dizzy, trying to find myself, to understand where I was… I was so present in Greece, so present I couldn’t come back even if I was at home! … It took me many days to realize that I landed in Romania! Maybe that is why I recorded on my camera parts of the Athens-Bucharest flight, to watch them and help me come in touch with the reality! ☺
There are some people - they know better who they are - whom I have to thank for convincing me to go to Greece, they will never know what TangoCamp meant for me! The “tango” breakdown is over, I fell like a new person and, yes, I can dance again from all my heart and within my soul!
More official photos from tangocamp Greece here: http://picasaweb.google.com/tangopaparazzo/TangocampGreece#
Comentarii
I was sure this would be a nice way to introduce myself!
Sincerely,
Hilary Driscoll
if you're ever bored check out my site!
[url=http://www.partyopedia.com/articles/butterfly-party-supplies.html]butterfly Party Supplies[/url].
found this website and read some great discussion and feedback so decided to join
i am happy to help others and offer advice where possible :)