with ALBERTO PAZ AND VALORIE HART
The Back Room at La Thai Restaurant
4938 Prytania Street, Uptown New Orleans
NEW SUMMER HOURS
Group lessons at 8 pm
$15. per person drop -in / Four week pass, $40 per person
2 for 1 Tiki-style cocktails and complimentary hors d’ouvres 5 – 10 pm
For more info, call 504.875.0526
Private lessons available by appointment
It’s not necessary to have a partner to learn but it would help the gender balance if you draw from your friendships with members of the opposite sex to invite them to join you in class and at the dances.Can I pay for the classes with a credit card?
Only if you use the services of Paypal.com and make your payment to boutique@planet-tango.com.
If I buy a four week pass and miss a class, can I make it up?
It’s not necessary to make up classes because the four week pass is good for four classes regardless of when you take them.
What time should I be there to register and get ready?
We plan to start the lessons on time, so plan to be in the fifteen minutes earlier.
I heard that the floor is concrete. Can one dance tango on concrete?
Yes! The Argentine tango is a grounded dance that doesn’t require sliding and spinning, two of the major misconceptions from ballroom dancing that some teachers of tango perpetrate at the expense of trusting students. We are fully qualified to teach people how to dance the Argentine tango on any flat surface and with almost any type of footwear.
Am I obligated to buy drinks or have dinner at the restaurant?
No, nobody is obligated to do such things. However, the restaurant gives us a generous break in the expenses needed to use the space, hoping as any good business would, that people coming to the tango, will patronize the bar and the restaurant adding incremental business to the establishment. We assume that everyone coming is an adult and therefore we won’t insult anybody’s intelligence suggesting what you should do.
What kind of shoes should I wear?
Any leather shoe would be fine. Rubber sticky soles are not recommended on account of the additional stress they produce on the knees. Be aware that the floor is finished concrete so there will be a slightly additional wear and tear on any kind of shoes you wear.
What style of tango do you teach?
We don’t teach styles. Style is a code word for choreography or imitation of what somebody tells you’re looking at. We teach technique and structural concepts of the dance, and encourage people to develop their individual style once they have learned how to dance the Argentine tango.
I am slightly concerned tango isn’t the best style of dance to learn for beginners. Can you please make a suggestion or let me know if you offer any other types of social dance classes.
You seem to be confusing the ballroom tango which we don’t teach, and the Argentine tango which we do.
The Argentine tango is unique and particularly special for couples of all ages and skills. It is a social dance. We don’t mix it with anything else, except milonga and vals.
Do make sure you know and understand what you want, and if you’re not into Dancing with the Stars, then the Argentine tango can be what the doctor recommended for you.
