TangoClub

Argentine Tango Teachers and Classes in Auckland

There are a number of tango teachers in Auckland, each with their own approach to tango. Give them a go and see what suits you. Please go to the dance studio's website (where listed) for class or course details, or contact the teacher directly by phone or email for more accurate information.

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Pasión Por Tango

www.pasionportango.com
different teachers, including local and international guest teachers
level 2 in the Barrington Building, 10-12 Customs Street East (beside the Mercure Hotel close to Britomart) (map)
info@pasionportango.com
+64 9 445 9544 (Marion Henton) or +64 9 528 5591 (Bev Goodwin)
+64 27 202 0501 (Marion Henton) or +64 21 258 5453 (Bev Goodwin)
Situated downtown in a beautiful, large studio with a variety of courses, Pasión Por Tango is a convenient tango school. The Argentinian founding artistic director and instructor Diego Echenique ( interview) has now moved on, but quality classes are still available from a selection of teachers. The studio also hosts tango workshops from visiting professionals, and offers Spanish classes.

Class timetable (updated 9 May 2010):

Location	Day/Time	Class	Notes
Auckland City Level 2 in the Barrington Building, 10-12 Customs Street East (beside the Mercure Hotel close to Britomart)	Mondays, 7 - 8pm	Beginners Tango with Cecilia Trini	Starting 10 May, 6-week beginners preparation course for The New Zealand Tango Festival
Auckland City Level 2 in the Barrington Building, 10-12 Customs Street East (beside the Mercure Hotel close to Britomart)	Mondays, 8:15 - 9:15pm	Intermediate Tango with Cecilia Trini
Auckland City Level 2 in the Barrington Building, 10-12 Customs Street East (beside the Mercure Hotel close to Britomart)	Tuesdays, 7 - 8pm	Tango Technique (all levels) with Cecilia Trini
Auckland City Level 2 in the Barrington Building, 10-12 Customs Street East (beside the Mercure Hotel close to Britomart)	Wednesdays, 7 - 8pm	Beginners Tango with Antony and Jessye Purcell (class taken by Cecilia Trini in May)
Auckland City Level 2 in the Barrington Building, 10-12 Customs Street East (beside the Mercure Hotel close to Britomart)	Wednesdays, 8.15 - 9.15pm	Intermediate Tango with Antony and Jessye Purcell (class taken by Cecilia Trini in May)

TangoParaDos

Antony and Jessye Purcell
Viva Latino Dance Studio (ground floor), 10 Newton Road, Newton (map)
and St Luke's Church, 704 New North Road, Mount Albert (map)
jessye@purcell.co.nz
+64 21 686 190 (Jessye) or +64 21 815 977 (Antony)
Past New Zealand representative in the Tango World Championships in the Tango Salon category, Antony is a highly sought-after dancer as well as a passionate and dedicated teacher. His gorgeous Brazilian wife Jessye is also no stranger to dancing, with a background in ballet and samba, and the joy and beauty of their partnership really shows through on the dance floor.

Class timetable (updated 28 January 2010):

Location	Day/Time	Class	Notes
Newton Ground floor, Viva Latino Studio, 10 Newton Road	Tuesdays, 6 - 7pm	Beginners Tango	4-week course beginning Tuesday 9 February, $60 Minimum Class Size: 8 people Enrolment Date: Students must register their interest no later than Friday 5th February. Content: Course will focus on giving students, in an enjoyable, simple way the basic skills and understanding required to move around the dance floor and includes walking, basic turns, navigation and intra couple connection.

Antony and Jessye are also teaching at the downtown Pasión Por Tango studio.

Casatango

Nigel and Cecile Bale
Takapuna Memorial Hall (next to the library), 1-7 The Strand, Takapuna (map)
+64 9 482 3394
+64 21 482 339
Nigel and Cecile are devoted to tango and organise the Tango Congress of New Zealand each year, in addition to their monthly milonga. They also sometimes give free tango classes on K'Rd and were among the first tango teachers in Auckland.

Class timetable (updated 2 February 2010):

Location	Day/Time	Class	Notes
Takapuna Takapuna Memorial Hall (next to the library), 1-7 The Strand	Tuesdays, 7 - 8pm	Beginners Tango	4-week course, $60 per person
Takapuna Takapuna Memorial Hall (next to the library), 1-7 The Strand	Tuesdays, 8:10 - 9:10pm	Intermediate Tango	$15 per person per class, or 10 classes for $135
Takapuna	Wednesdays to Sundays	Private lessons	By appointment; $50/hour + venue cost

Toca Tango

Martyn Atack and Vikki Brannagan ( interview)
Unit E, 4 William Pickering Dr, Rosedale (off Constellation Drive) (map)
info@tocatango.co.nz
+64 9 415 2926
+64 21 280 6585 (Martyn), +64 27 482 3756 (Vikki)
Martyn and Vikki's passion for tango has led them to open their own studio on the North Shore, as well as travel to Buenos Aires on numerous occasions to gain new insights to their dancing and teaching. Although they give lessons most evenings, they still find time to practise and dance socially with the wider tango community.

Class timetable (updated 10 December 2009):

Location	Day/Time	Class	Notes
Rosedale Unit E, 4 William Pickering Dr, Rosedale (off Constellation Drive)	Wednesdays, 7 - 8pm	Intermediate Tango: Tools for Navigation, Musicality & Good Technique	This class aims to maintain a leader / follower balance, so please contact Vikki for availability.
Rosedale Unit E, 4 William Pickering Dr, Rosedale (off Constellation Drive)	Times by appointment: Monday - Saturday	Private Lessons and Practice Sessions	Leaders, Followers, or Couples. Please contact Vikki for availability. Weekly private lessons, with Martyn: $60 Casual private lessons, with Martyn: $70 Practice sessions (for leaders), with Vikki: $50 * Vikki is available to follow for leaders' private lessons with Martyn (at no extra charge)

Feel Good Tango

Grant and Karyn Fromont ( interview); Grant is currently teaching with Kasha Szot
City Dance studio, level 1, 260 Queen Street (above McDonald's), Auckland CBD (map)
grant.fromont@gen-i.co.nz
+64 9 415 7408
+64 27 542 8456
Grant and Karyn can be found at practically all the milongas and are very supportive of the tango community. Apart from being great dancers who are particularly admired for their musicality and their command of the milonga traspie, they were the first to organise regular practicas in Auckland. Grant also DJs for many (most?) of the milongas—what would Auckland do without him?

Grant is currently teaching with Kasha, who has previously taught at her own dance school in Wanaka.

Class timetable (updated 9 February 2010):

Location	Day/Time	Class	Notes
Auckland CBD City Dance studio, level 1, 260 Queen Street (above McDonald's)	Thursdays, 7:30 - 8:30pm	Beginners Tango	Casual classes beginning 4 March

John Young Dance Centre

www.johnyoungdance.co.nz
John and Anne Young
Level 3, Wellesley Court, 54 Wellesley Street West, Auckland CBD (map)
info@johnyoungdance.co.nz
+64 9 373 9000
While the John Young Dance Centre has a focus on ballroom and Latin dances, they also have classes in Argentine tango. The great thing about their classes is that students at higher levels are encouraged to join in at lower levels as well, so beginners can dance with more experienced dancers, and everybody can get more practice in.

Class timetable (updated 2 February 2010):

Location	Day/Time	Class	Notes
Auckland City Level 3, Wellesley Court, 54 Wellesley Street West	Wednesdays, 6 - 7pm	Beginners Tango	10-week courses
Auckland City Level 3, Wellesley Court, 54 Wellesley Street West	Wednesdays, 7 - 8pm	Intermediate Tango	10-week courses
Auckland City Level 3, Wellesley Court, 54 Wellesley Street West	Fridays, 6:30 - 7:30pm	Beginners Tango	10-week courses
Auckland City Level 3, Wellesley Court, 54 Wellesley Street West	Fridays, 7:30 - 8:30pm	Intermediate Tango	10-week courses

Dance Pro

www.dancepro.co.nz
Irina Kapeli and John Quach ( interview)
Level 2, 39 Elliott Street, Auckland CBD (map)
info@dancepro.co.nz
+64 21 127 7573
+64 9 550 5748
Irina teaches beginners tango classes with John Quach at the City Dance studio. She is a cross-discipline dancer with a background in ballet, jazz, and other dances like salsa. Together with fellow dancer Julius Wendt, she puts a lot of energy into shows and choreographies for the various dance forms, which probably explains why she has gone largely unnoticed in the social tango scene. Their latest show is Cafe Pasión.

Class timetable (updated 4 January 2010):

Location	Day/Time	Class
Auckland City Level 2, 39 Elliott Street	Thursdays, 6:30 - 7:30pm	Beginners and Intermediate Tango

Zanaboni Tango & Salsa

www.zanabonidesign.com/tango-salsa
Maida Zanaboni Doleman ( interview)
42 Silverton Avenue, Waiotaiki Bay, Auckland (map)
designer@zanabonidesign.com
+64 9 575 8245
+64 21 230 6991
Maida teaches a style of tango which is called milonguero style, characterised by a close embrace, a slight lean or apilado, and short steps—great for dancing in crowded places. She runs small classes in her home, and will talk at length about technique, especially The Connection. Although over 60 (you don't mind us saying that, do you, Maida?) her dancing feet are amazing to watch and she sure can show us younger ones a thing or two about adornos. A note from Maida about her privates: "I've formatted my classes to address individual needs of each dancer and to work on what you feel you need and want to improve."

Class timetable (updated 24 January 2010):

Location	Day/Time	Class	Notes
Glen Innes 42 Silverton Avenue	By appointment	Private Lessons	Group private classes (4 - 6 persons): $20 per person Private classes (one couple or two individuals): 4-class package: $200, i.e. $100 per person single class: $85

Release

www.release.net.nz/tango.html
Craig (Sooty) Love ( interview) and Lisa Houghton
Soul Studio, 18 Huia Road, Titirangi (map)
craig@release.net.nz
+64 9 835 2289
+64 21 253 5349
Sooty has great musicality, and as a "body worker", also a great awareness and understanding of how to get the best out of your body. His classes are fun and energetic, yet structured and informative, so you can be sure you will be inspired to dance. Sooty is keen to make tango available out west, so contact him if interested.

Sooty has most recently taught at the downtown Pasión Por Tango studio.

Dance Pasión Ltd - Tango Tiempo Dance School

www.tango.co.nz
John Flower and Felicity Rogers
Ceroc Studio, 3rd Floor, 28 Lorne Street (next to Tony's Restaurant & near the New Gallery), Auckland CBD (map)
info@dancepasion.co.nz
+64 9 580 0145
John and Felicity are stage tango dancers and have represented New Zealand multiple times in the World Tango Championships in the Stage Tango category. You don't see them around at the milongas much, but they will impress you with their performances. They teach sequences of steps in their classes, and there is always more to learn.

John and Felicity are currently taking a break from teaching, but are still available for private lessons.

El Tango

www.eltango.co.nz
Carl Robson
Viva Latino Dance Studio (ground floor), 10 Newton Road, Newton (map)
carl@eltango.co.nz
+64 9 630 6306
+64 21 280 4464
Carl is one of the first salon tango teachers in Auckland. He loves having tango de salón danced in cafes in front of the public and originally started the Wednesday Cafe Milonga in 2000, which is now at Limon. He is having a break from teaching in Auckland, but has classes in Tauranga on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays.