180  Reno Tango Getaway!

Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2001 11:25:05 -0400
From: Manuel Patino <white95r@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Reno Tango Getaway!

As veterans of many tango travels, we had our share of wonderful tango
opportunities, great shows, teachers, etc. I often read rave reviews in
these forums of all the wonderful tango events that folks attend. We live in
very exciting times for tango aficionados. There is a great proliferation of
tango schools, milongas plus all sorts of special events for us all to
enjoy. Sometimes superlatives and accolades come all to easily to describe
our experiences and soon they begin to lose their meaning. Anyway, having
said all that, I'll proceed directly to post my report about our last
experience.

We just returned from the 2001 Tango Getaway in Reno, where Alberto Paz and
Valorie Hart were our gracious hosts. To begin with, I must confess that up
until now we have not had as nice a time at any other tango event that we've
attended. I had the wonderful opportunity to perform as the translator for
Gloria and Eduardo at their workshops. I only knew Gloria and Eduardo from
the firts instructional tango video I ever saw. I really had no idea of who
they were or what kind of people they were. I must tell you all that Gloria
and Eduardo are very, very talented. Without doubt they are as good as any
and better than most teachers that I've had the priviledge to learn from.
More importantly, they are extremely nice people. Eduardo is quite
charismatic and both are delightful to work with. My only regret is that I
did not get the chance to take the classes with Pablo and Beatriz or Alberto
and Valorie. OTOH, I did have the opportunity to socialize with them at the
parties so all was not lost ;-) Anyway, what makes or breaks an event is not
necessarily any one or even a number of the many pieces that that go into
the staging of the whole enchilada. As an organizer, I'm very familiar with
all the work needed and all the details that must be taken care of to make a
successful event. Things such as the venue, teaching staff, music and
support staff are crucial. In this case, it is obvious that Alberto has done
his homework very well. The Reno Hilton is very comfortable (and extremely
affordable) and it is practically a small, self contained city! there are
many restaurants and cafes, open 24 hours a day. There are stores, health
club, fast food outlets, etc. All within easy access. Alberto provided for
two evenings that included great food, live music and entertaining. I was
very favorably impressed with the food (and I'm quite picky because in
Atlanta we are blessed with numerous excellent restaurants). The inevitable
things that go awry were so minor as to be negligible. The music was
awesome. Alberto did not cut corners here at all. The sextet was terrific.
Miguel Arrabal and David Alsina provide the bandoneons, Jorge Vernieri at
the Piano plus two violinists and a bass player rounded out the ensemble. I
was already familiar with most of the musicians, but I had never heard them
all play at the same time. I must confess that the music was really as good
as it gets!

Of course, these are all the pieces that usually come together to make a
successful tango event. One expects no less from a professional. We always
strive to produce events like this and we always succeed. I'm also very
familiar with the great work of Victor Crichton in Tampa, Randy Pittman in
Miami and of course, Gustavo Naveira and Fabian Salas in Buenos Aires. We've
also had the opportunity to attend a host of other events all over the US
and other countries. What made this event so nice for us, was the way we
were treated. Alberto and Valorie, the teaching staff, the musicians and all
the wonderful participants were just so wonderful with us that it really
made it a most enjoyable weekend. I will also say that for us, the level of
dance partners was excellent. Granted, I did not get to dance with every
woman there (my loss I'm sure ;-)), but I definitely enjoyed many wonderful
tangos as well as excellent conversations with very gracious folks. My
thanks to Alberto Paz and Valorie for a wonderful time and greetings to all
of you who were there. A warm greeting also to Walter (tangringo) Kane who I
finally got to meet. It was also nice to see the Restuchas and Daniel
Arredondo from North Carolina, they are always a pleasure to see and by the
way, Amalia & Tito did a wonderful milonga performance! also, Daniel danced
a wonderful tango performance as well! I cannot mention everyones name but I
really want to congratulate all the wonderfull people who performed Sunday
night and I want to send all my best, greetings to all the other fine folks
who were there and made it such a fine and memorable experience for us!

Cheers,

Manuel