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2008 International Chicago Tango Fest
General Information & Guidelines

The Fest workshops are divided into four levels of skill: beginner, intermediate, advanced and advanced plus. Review the guidelines below to determine which level will best suit you.

Determining Your Level of Dance: Determining your level of dance can be subjective. Some dancers consider themselves intermediate after one month of classes; others will venture into an intermediate class only when they consider they've mastered the basic techniques of tango, and this could take many months. Also, dancers learn at different paces, depending upon their coordination, experience dancing other dances, number of hours of classes and practice per week, etc. So, the number of years dancing tango may not necessarily determine your level of dance. Since we would like to have people of similar dance skills and experience in each of the levels of dance for the workshops, the following is a description of what we suggest you should consider when registering for workshops in a specific dance level:

Beginner workshops are designed for people who have never danced tango, for those who have had limited experience dancing tango and for those who would like to reinforce their basic tango techniques. These workshops will emphasize musicality, mastering balance and change of direction and achieving connection with your partner. You will explore the fundamental aspects of walking, floor navigation and changes of direction, basic 'ochos' and turns within tango, vals and milonga rhythms.

Intermediate workshops go into greater detail to perfect walking, ochos and turns in combination with other movements, including simple bloques, sweeps, sacadas, ganchos, planeos and more dynamic changes of direction within tango, vals and milonga (including traspie) rhythms. It is important that those registering for intermediate workshops already have good basic skills, such as control of your axis, ochos and the cross.

Advanced workshops are for those who have mastered a variety of walks, ochos and turns and are prepared to explore techniques for more complex combinations with front and back sacadas for leaders and followers, ganchos, boleos, enrosques, volcadas, colgadas, etc., and in general, more advanced moves in tango, vals and milonga.

Advanced Plus workshops are for dancers who have had extensive dance experience, have mastered fundamental and advanced moves, and are ready to take their dancing to a higher level. Classes will include more intricate moves for social dancing as well as moves for performance.

All-Inclusive Package: We are offering only one Festival All-Inclusive Package this year. The Package will include 7 workshops, milongas every night of the Fest, the tango performance/theater show, plus art and film exhibits. Additional workshops may be purchased at a discounted price. Registrants will receive seven workshop tickets for their level of dance, entitling them to attend any workshop in that level or below. Workshop topics and days and times will soon be posted on this website. To ensure a place in workshops, it is suggested that dancers register and pay early on, as places in workshops will be assigned 'first come, first served' according to date of registration and payment.

Additional Workshops: Dancers registered for the All-Inclusive Package or the Seven Workshops Only Package may purchase additional workshops at a discounted price. These additional workshops must be within or below your level of dance.

Individual Workshops: You may purchase individual workshops at $45 per workshop. We encourage you to take advantage of our discounted rates when you purchase the different packages we offer during the festival.

Registering as a Single or a Couple: While we strongly encourage singles to try to find a 'partner' for workshop participation (see Looking for a Roommate or Dance Partner), this is not a requirement. The reason for finding a 'partner' is to try to have an equal number of leaders and followers in each class, although the 'partners' will not be obligated to dance together all the time. We will encourage the festival instructors to ask, but not obligate, dancers to rotate partners during the classes.

'Gender Balance' in Workshops: We are not able to guarantee an equal number of leaders and followers in all workshops, but we will do our best to balance the classes if we see that there are many more followers than leaders in any given workshop, or vice versa. We will have 'floaters' available to help even out the gender balance when needed.

Fest Milongas: You do not need to be registered for Fest workshops to attend our nightly milongas; they are open to the public and may be purchased separately.

Cancellation Policy: If you find you have to cancel your participation in the festival, we will refund the following percentage of your money:

100% Up to June 15, 2008
50% From June 16, to August 1, 2008
30% After August 1, 2008