Champaign-Urbana residents should grab their dancing shoes as the city is set to come alive with the sound of tango. The CU Tango Music Workshop kicks off on Sunday, July 20. The week-long event combines immersive music instruction with public programming designed to expand access to the art form within the community.
The event is organized by CU Tango Music. The workshop will bring participants from across North America to study Argentine tango music from the 1930’s and 1940’s, also known as the Golden Age. Musicians will rehearse daily in small and large ensembles with experts in the music style.
After classes, the group will host evening events open to the public, such as concerts, jam sessions and introductory dance and music classes, as part of Urbana Tango Week.
En-Chi Lin, the artistic director of the organization, said the goal for the week is to make tango accessible for those not participating in the workshop.
“We figured we have all these musicians coming in from everywhere. We have these amazing faculty members flying in from Argentina and all over the country,” she said. “So we thought, let’s create some public events, right?”
According to CU Tango Music, the event is a long-time effort to promote the performance, education, and appreciation of Argentine tango music, dance and culture in the Champaign-Urbana area.
On Monday, Urbana Tango Week will begin with a tango movie screening. Lin said the movie will serve as an entry point to the music and dance style.
“Learning the dance, learning the music is important, but it’s also important to learn the culture behind that. So every year we pick a movie that is a documentary of, you know, the history of tango or the current climate of tango,” she said.
All of the public events will be followed by nightly jam sessions at the Rose Bowl Tavern. The free, informal gatherings invite people from the community to sing and dance.
Amanda Ramey, the artistic director of CU Tango Music, said the goal is to explore different aspects of tango with people in the area.
“Tango is for everyone. It’s such a varied art form, just like any art form, just like any cultural experience,” she said. “There’s so much to see and to learn, and we really hope that we can show as much as possible of that.”
The week will conclude on Saturday, July 26 with a closing milonga, which is an Argentine social dance party. Workshop participants will perform live with faculty, and dancing will be open to the public.
The workshop carries forward the legacy started by Tanguero Inc., which started the Tanguero Workshop in 2014. After hosting its last session last year, CU Tango Music decided to continue the program this year and is working on finalizing guests for next year’s workshop.
“I hope that people really get to delve into experiencing tango as much as they can,” Ramey added. “I hope maybe they take away something that deepens their knowledge and is a really great experience for them.”