© 2005 TSCC

Our Sense the Tango residential tango retreats combine these four elements:

Residential Argentine Tango retreats will suit people who find it hard to attend dance lessons held over several weeks, or for whom this is simply inconvenient, for reasons of work, study or family commitments. 

The live-in model also allows us to deliver other skills that support dancers becoming as good as they can be, including skills that improve dance fitness.

We will provide all this in great venues around Australia and New Zealand, to provide a unique kind of learning experience.

2007 Alexander Zabara

"I learnt tango over a weekend!"  Yes, we can get you dancing tango in one fun weekend.

Dancing is a great social skill, that thousands of people enjoy.  More than just a dance, tango is also a new way to communicate. 

This weekend-long residential tango retreat assumes no earlier dance training of any kind.  We will teach you all the skills you need to dance tango in public, with complete confidence.

The retreat will be held at a delightful rural venue, a beautiful environment in which to take a bit of time out.

Every dancer was a beginner once - so give it a go!

Two left feet? Give it a go!

Up for a challenge? Give it a go!

If you already dance Argentine Tango a bit, you have got the "tango bug", and you want to build your skills, or you already dance in another style, and you would love to extend your repetoire, then this is a workshop that will interest you too.

Weekend retreat program                                     Dates, prices and registration

2007 Maria Claudia

If you are already dancing, whether it is Argentine Tango or any other dance style, then you will benefit from our longer residential tango retreats.  These will be offered as four-day and full week retreats. 

Residential Argentine Tango retreats give you the opportunity to look closely at every aspect of your dance, with full support from our team, and free from any other distraction.  These retreats will cover extended dance topics, including body awareness, dance fitness and dance safety.

We will build on your existing dance skills, no matter what dance styles you have already learned.  If you are new to tango, you will soon appreciate tango as an expressive and spontaneous improvised dance, and as an extension of your body's natural movements.

Your teacher will be Sarah Bonnar.  You will benefit from Sarah's extensive experience in dance over more than 20 years.

The retreats will develop dancers' strength and flexibility, and provide the opportunity for them to practice graceful and dynamic improvisation.  The use of massage, stretching and exercise in maintaining dance fitness will be explored.

4-day retreat program                                          Dates, prices and registration

2007 Pietro Crincoli

For couples who wish to build their relationship further, we also provide a unique and effective environment for this to occur. The Couples' Retreat is conducted over a full week, and assumes no earlier dance training of any kind. 

It offers couples the opportunity to take time out, extend their communications with each other, and provides a new skill to enjoy and to take back into their lives. 

An intimate and sensual dance, the Argentine Tango offers a path to deeper and more satisfying communication within your relationship. 

As a member of the Sense the Tango retreat team on our week-long workshops, Kristy Bos will provide each person with a massage, and identify any problems they may have that are limiting movement. Kristy will provide individual advice on the steps they can take to become free of these limitations. She will also be providing instruction on stretching techniques that will open the way for every person to become stronger and more flexible .

lf you already have some dance experience, then the Couples' Retreat will allow you to enhance and refine your existing skills with your partner.  As with our other longer retreats, the Couples' Retreat will develop strength and flexibility, and provide the opportunity to engage in graceful and dynamic improvisations.  The use of massage, stretching and exercise will also be explored.

More information                                     Dates, prices and registration

2007 Pietro Crincoli

Argentine Tango is a spontaneous and expressive social dance, with the couple improvising their dance in response to the music. 

It is easy to learn, and there is no limit to what a dancer can achieve.   All of the stunning moves that Tango is famous for are built up from a handful of very simple movements, all of which will be taught over our series of retreats.

All of the fundamental elements of the dance can be taught in a relatively short time, providing the basis for dancers to become confident and proficient at an early stage.

You don't have to be super-fit to learn or dance Tango. It is low in impact, and a natural extension of the body's movements. It helps keep you fit and supple. It is also great for developing better balance and physical co-ordination.

Professional Argentine Tango teacher Sarah Bonnar has developed an exclusive and proven Argentine Tango teaching methodology, based on social Argentine Tango, which is the basis for all of her teaching, and which is the basis for all tango training on Sense the Tango retreats.  Sarah's previous students can attest to her ability to teach tango in a way that is both engaging and highly effective.

Sarah's method is excellent for adults with no previous dance training, as well as dancers at a high level wishing to maintain condition and extend their understanding of the dance -- and everyone in between. 

Argentine Tango is an elegant dance, where the dramatic themes of the music, the intimacy of the embrace, and the moves of the dance partners are identified with romance and passion. It is completely different from Ballroom Tango (although both share a common root a century ago, and hence the similarity in name).

Building up from essential walking, pivoting and turning skills, you will learn to execute gradually more advanced dance elements. You can expect to leave our retreat confident in your ability to dance tango, and ready to begin social dancing straight away.

What is a residential tango retreat?

People have asked us what kind of Tango they will learn on the retreat.

Sense the Tango retreats teach good dance technique for Argentine Tango, rather than a specific style of Tango.

In the retreats you will learn skills that can be applied to various styles of Tango, including Salon, Milonga, Nuevo and Tango Vals.  You will find that all of these styles are widely danced.

We have selected a YouTube movie clip that demonstrates the Salon style.  Please click on the image above to be taken to the YouTube site to view the movie.

The dancers are finalists in the 2007 Argentine Tango World Championships.