Dancing After School will be holding a special benefit to raise money for their work.  Founded in 2006, Dancing After School is a non-profit organization committed to providing life-changing dance programs to youth in underserved areas throughout San Diego County. The organization uses dance as a vehicle to inspire youth and provide a culturally relevant outlet.

DAS has been able to make an extremely positive impact in communities where a tremendous need exists. Based in San Diego, sites are located from Vista to San Ysidro and provide meaningful dance fitness programs to more than 1300 students each week.

Please join Ritmo Bello and the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup group as we attend the “Dance Salsa & Tango Under One Roof” event this Saturday April 30, 2011.  For more information on the event please visit the event page on the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group.

Thanks for supporting DAS!

John ;-)

@RitmoBello

If you are new to San Diego or are just new to the San Diego dance scene, you should check out the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group.  Founded way back in September 6, 2005, the group is San Diego’s most established and largest growing Meetup group focusing primarily on all types of Latin dance. (If you’ve never heard of Meetup here is a short explanation of the organization.)

The group’s events are organized by some of San Diego’s hottest dance studios such as A Time To Dance, Ooh La La Dance Company, Deseo Dance, Majesty in Motion, Salsa Inferno, and Alma Latina.  Events range from dance workshops to new club openings and everything in between.

The San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group is also a great way to meet other like minded dancers who share your passion for music and dance.  It gives people an opportunity to find friends in the scene and keep connected with the growing dance population.

Sign up for the group is FREE so what are you waiting for?  Join today!

John ;-)

@RitmoBello

The San Diego Tango scene in many ways parallels the salsa scene.  Both types of dances are experiencing a resurgence in interest from the community and both have a growing presence here in San Diego.  Nothing demonstrates this better in the Tango scene than the emergence of new Tango talent in the area such as Krista Ann.

Krista has extensively studied the art of Argentine Tango in Italy, Buenos Aires, Detroit, Chicago, Miami, & New York City under many tango greats such as Juan Carlos Copes, Jorge Firpo, Gustavo Naveira & Giselle Anne, Guillimina Quiqua & Lori Burton of Argentine Tango Detroit.  Currently Teaching in San Diego and North County she embraces all styles of Argentine Tango. She recently joined as an Assistant Organizer for the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group and will be hosting Tango events here in San Diego.  The article below is a guest piece written by her that talks a little bit about the condition of Tango dancing in San Diego today.  Enjoy!

John ;-)

@RitmoBello

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Reflections on the San Diego Argentine Tango Dance Scene By Guest Writer Krista Ann

“There’s a difference between learning the steps and learning how to dance. Dancing already exists in you, it’s in your heart beat and the way you hear the music. My job is to help you translate it into the words of dance”.

Argentine Tango is a dance of many different styles and cultural attributes. Having formed during a time of pilgrimage to South America, Tango is a dance reflectant of many cultures including African, European, Latin, and Native American. Tango is the creation of an artistic community that helped in bridging cultural divides.

Over time Tangueros have lost this community. In attempting to preserve the authentic tango, dancers have divided into many different separatist groups that believe in one style; Milonguro, Salon, Nuevo, Neo… No longer embracing the energy that is Tango.

San Diego is a place of pilgrimage and  is the cultural fusion of many different heritages.

Just as tango once built bridges between different groups of people, San Diego now does for Tango.

San Diego’s Tango scene is starting to merge the tango divides. From the traditional Milonguro to the more the modern Nuevo Tanguero, we welcome you.

With a variety of great instructors and warm Milongas, San Diego is an amazing place to explore Argentine Tango. The dancers are friendly and share a genuine love for the dance.

Argentine Tango is a liberal dance that exists in the hearts of the dancers.

With the smell of the ocean air and music of all kinds, this is the place to develop our very own, Argentine Tango.

Guest Writer Krista Ann

www.argentinetangosoul.com Email: dance@tangowithkrista.com Phone: (989) 413-3055

Time to visit your local US post office if you are a Latin music lover!  The new 2011 Latin Music Legends US Stamp collection features Celia Cruz, Carlos Gardel, Carmen Miranda, Selena and Tito Puente in close up portrait shots.  The music styles represented include Tejano, Argentine Tango, Samba, Latin Jazz, and Salsa.

They won’t be available until March but you can get a quick preview of some of the images here below.  You can find out more information about the artist Rafael López and all the stamps he’s created on his blog. Good to see Latin music represented in this novel way!

John ;-)

@RitmoBello

This is a great video showing a stellar performance by Positive Energy at the recent Grupo Niche concert here in San Diego.  You’ll notice the first part is tango inspired and the latter portion switches to salsa dancing.  A great performance overall…

Remember that you can help improve the quality of these videos to high definition format by donating to the Ritmo Bello HD YouTube Fund.  Every dollar counts and we appreciate your support as we try to improve our videos for the San Diego dance community.   Below is the widget where you can help:

Thanks and see you all on the dance floor!

John ;-)

@RitmoBello

I love history, especially when it deals with dance.   I wanted to share some video resources out there with those of you wanting to learn more about Argentine Tango.

This first video has a short overview of the history of Argentine Tango by a Florida based Tango Instructor.  I think it serves as a good intro to the subject:

This second video explains in more detail the history of the dance itself and its influences:

This next video is actually one in a series of videos that does a great job of breaking down the history of Tango according to the development of orchestras in the genre:

I’m sure there are many other good videos out there concerning the subject, so if you have one to share please do so by leaving a comment on this post.  Thanks!

Our friends over at TANGOCENTRIC are hosting a unique event here in San Diego.  

The TANGOCENTRIC Dance Project will have a special lecture/workshop on how Tango and Shakespeare fit together so perfectly.

Alex Sandie, President of the San Diego Shakespeare Society, will share his unique expertise in the area of theatre. Passion, love, and betrayal will be the focus of “Shakespeare and Tango.”

This program is open to all levels of dancers and dance enthusiasts.

For more information please check out the RSVP page at the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group.