Participants are invited to gather from 12am midday, for tea, dancing, relaxing, for a start to the 'official' happenings at 1pm. Please try to arrive before 1pm. The event will continue until approx 7pm, or until folks have had enough.

In more detail, here's the program outline for the day:

• 12:00am - Meet, dance, catch up, have tea
• 1:00pm   - Opening activity lead by Yanna
• 1:20pm   - Introductions. This is a chance for teachers to introduce themselves and talk briefly about their approach to tango in teaching and dancing, their inspirations, and what they'd like from the day.
• 1:40pm   - Quick tea break
• 1.45pm   - Beginning of participant presentations
• 3:00pm   - Meal break - please bring your own food and perhaps something to share. Biscuits and tea are provided.
• 3:30pm   - Continuation of participant presentations
• 5:00pm   - Quick tea break
• 5:10pm   - Final set of participant presentations, with a focus on requests for input and sticking points.
• 6:15pm   - Practice and play time
• 7:00pm   - Official finish

If you'd like to take part, please use the use the contact form to let us know, thank you!

An attendance fee is requested purely to cover costs of hall hire and refreshments. A nominal fee of approx £10 (depending on how many people take part) should suffice.

Questions offered as a guide to preparing a contribution

If you're wondering what ideas or movements you might bring to share, here are some example questions that might help you find something.

• What concepts for understanding and dancing tango do your students find most helpful, and how does the way you present them help your students get the most from those concepts?
• What are some of the most common sticking points you see in your students, yourself, or others, and what specific changes to practice or dance have you made or suggested to overcome them, which seem to have made a big difference?
• What approaches do you use to engage students in class and keep them enthused with the learning process?
  
• What are some of your favorite practice routines or practice games that make a real difference to your dancing or your student's?
• What unusual movements, or unusual combinations of common movements, do you enjoy dancing which seem to work really well?
• What interesting use of timing or dynamics do you really like to play with in the dance?
  

If you have something (or several things) you'd like to share, but aren't sure how to present it, think about these 3 steps:
 
1. show and/or describe what it is.
2. say why, how and where you think it's useful, cool, or interesting.
3. teach the other teachers how to use or do it. 

Ideally whatever you're sharing should be sharable within 5-15 minutes (plus a few minutes to answer any further questions). Everyone should have the chance to have at least two 5-15 minute slots during the day, or 30 minutes total time.

This TTS there is a suggested theme for one of each participants presentations: 

"How do you teach step, or combination of movements X?" 

X - the step or movements, is of your choice, and can be anything from walking and crosses, to complex series of ganchos, sacadas, colgadas and volcadas. The idea is to practice and share your teaching skills, at the same time as potentially sharing some interesting movements, or approaches to movements. The other participants will play the role of students for you to teach, and offer feedback at the end, where it is wanted.

What would you like to learn or get feedback on from others?

In addition to bringing ideas to share for teaching or dancing, attendees are also encouraged to bring questions or sticking points of their own, which they'd like to put to the group and get some constructive feedback on. It's one thing to go to your own maestro(s) and reveal where you struggle, but another to reveal it to your peers, or even those you may not normally consider peers. But by doing so, you take advantage of the opportunity to get a variety of constructively intended perspectives that may help you move forward.

So you are encouraged to make one (or more) of your presentation slots a request for input on a sticking point of area of challenge for you, in your teaching, or dancing.

If you have any questions about the event, please get in touch! You can contact either Joe on 07708882901, or the host for this event, Yanna, on 07969788514.