TangoIntensivo™ Session FAQ
Accommodations & Training Facility Location in Buenos Aires
A: Of course most students prefer booking accommodations close to the training facility to minimize daily commute time. We are excited to confirm we’re returning to the fabulous Velasco Fabrica Studio for Oct/Nov 2023 sessions A&B, located at Juan Ramirez de Velasco 1481 in the Villa Crespo district of Buenos Aires. In general, the most convenient neighborhoods (barrios) within easy walking distance to both session: Villa Crespo, Palermo Soho, Palermo Viejo and Palermo Hollywood.
In 18 years of successfully delivering 63 week-long programs, we hosted only 2 sessions outside this area and that was over 15 years ago.
Q: Do you have suggestions about where to stay? What milongas to attend? Restaurant recommendations?
A: Yes to all of the above! Directly following completion of tuition payment, we initiate an e-registration process tailored for each individually registered student. These e-registration messages, in addition to serving as your receipt, contain vital details about the session/s such as confirmed studio location, daily training schedules, additional announcements, etc. We also provide a link to a private web page accessible to registered students only that contains an orientation section with a list of Buenos Aires resources to assist students with trip planning (for example: practicas, milongas, shoe-shopping, travel and city tips, restaurants, scenic tours, museums, galleries, artisanal fairs, bookshops, cafes, theater, etc.). For more info, please scroll below and click on “Travel Information.”
Q: Can you help us find a guest house in a nice district?
A: Tuition does not cover professional travel assistance, but as described above and in the “Travel Information” question below, registered students receive access to travel resources as an added benefit. Some accommodation options are listed below hosted by people we know personally. They are excited to make our students VERY happy so be sure to let them know Dance of the Heart referred you when or if you book.
Travel Information
Q: What other travel info do you provide?
A: Once you become a registered student, expect to receive e-mailed communications providing payment confirmation, updates and alerts plus access to our exclusive “required reading” Orientation Info section for registered students only. Following the Required Reading section, we post other details such as social gatherings or activities, cool places to dance/eat/shop/tour/enjoy, weather info, exchange rates, travel tips, recommendations and reminders – especially useful for students visiting Argentina for the first time.
The required-reading Orientation webpage includes details such as:
GETTING THERE – GETTING HOME
- Ezeiza International Airport (EZE) orientation
- What to expect Upon Arrival/Upon Departure Transportation from/to EZE
- Public Transportation in BsAs
WHERE TO STAY
- A little about Palermo
- The Housing List
WHAT TO PACK
- Clothing for Airline Travel…the Street…our Sessions…Practicas & Milongas…etc.
- Cell Phones & Lap Tops
- Money (ATM’s…exchanging dollars for pesos…etc.)
- Taxis & guidelines for on-the-street tipping etiquette
- Security & Documents
THINGS TO DO
- Tango Resources (BsAs Milongas, Practicas, Performances, Clothing/Shoes, etc.)
- Other Amusements (Theater, Museums, Shopping, Tourism, etc.)
- Food, etc.
Many have urged us to publish a book based on our Orientation/Resources private webpage but information changes constantly so we are content to continue updating it and offering it as a gift to all registered students.
Skill Level for our TangoIntensivo™ sessions
Q: What is the appropriate skill level for attending your sessions successfully?
A: As the website recommends, our sessions are best suited to intermediate through advanced level dancers, performers and teachers or teachers-in-training.
We recommend for maximizing your benefit and pleasure at our TangoIntensivo™ sessions that, at minimum, leader students can execute/lead and follower students can respond/follow:
- walking in and/or transitioning between the two systems (parallel and cross)
- lead/follow the walk to the cross (la cruzada)
- lead/follow full and/or partial turns (molinette’s)
- dancing in and transitioning to/from open to close embrace
- dancing in all 3 rhythms (tango, milonga, vals)
We’ll be glad to assist you personally in determining if our sessions are appropriate for your level. We’re happy to prepare you in advance for getting the most out of our TangoIntensivo™ sessions, including following up after you’ve attended our sessions to help you retain and integrate all you’ve learned. We’re available in our private lesson studios – Luciana Valle in Buenos Aires at lv@lucianavalle.com and/or Deb & Brian in Boulder, Colorado at tangolessons@danceoftheheart.com.
For students at a more advanced level (i.e., teachers/teachers-in-training, veteran dancers, social or stage dancers), regardless of your tango prowess, prepare to grow in every way – with respect to your understanding of both the lead and follow tango roles, increasing your grasp of vocabulary, improvisational possibilities, quality of musicality/connection/movement/dynamics/range etc. Basically, wherever you are on your tango road, expect to be profoundly thrilled, challenged, provoked and supported to move forward, to expand to meet your next level because of the deep technical, musical and mechanical subtleties and fascinating variations you will be exploring with FABULOUS Luciana and your INCREDIBLE staff partners!
Most of our talented staff have the skill set to switch between leading and following to clarify a particular training detail or resolve a question. To accommodate students interested in training both roles equally, please contact us to make specific arrangements (additional fee may apply).
What to Expect
A: Because students are partnering with and rotating to ONLY our trained staff, as a customer you can expect to receive better than 1 on 1 attention. That is NOT a typo! We also place a limit on the number of students we admit per session to avoid over-crowding and to place the focus on YOUR improvement. There are so many details intentionally designed to contribute to this singular factor – YOUR IMPROVEMENT – it’s a challenge to verbalize! But we’re attempting exactly this in an effort to help you grasp the incredible learning opportunity our sessions deliver. First and foremost is the level and quality of instruction from Luciana. Next is the skilled dancers we hire to partner with you so you can work at YOUR highest level. Other benefits: that the sessions are staged in Buenos Aires where students can soak in the culture/language/milieu that gave birth to the tango as a musical and social art form, that for the price of one airline ticket you can opt to take 2 sessions with different topics in a condensed 2 week period for maximum immersion, that you’re away from your local life/work/tango communities and partners so you can really focus – the list of advantages goes on and on so you’ll have to simply trust us, get registered and come see for YOURSELF!
Q: Does the partnering change through the week? Or are you with the same person for the whole week?
A: You will rotate every 2 or 3 songs (tanda-style) to another professional staff partner each training day of each week based on our systematic rotation.
A: Our inspiration for developing this program was based on our own desire to continue pursuing our fullest potential as dancers and teachers. We guestimated that, by training with dancers better than us under the instruction of the best teachers in the Argentine tango world (…and if you don’t know yet, you’ll understand SOON why Luciana Valle is among the best of the VERY best), that magic transformation would result – and our guestimations have been fulfilled beyond our wildest expectations not just for us but for all our students – for 63 weeks and still counting!
It’s hard to describe until you experience it for yourself, but for most students it’s a dream come true situation. The main criticism we receive from our post-session evaluation questionnaires is that the sessions END. We consistently sell out and we believe it’s because we’re committed to student growth by basing our programs on pure quality – bringing YOU the best teacher, partners, training curriculum and setting available.
Q: How many hours total can we count on? What is the session schedule on a daily basis?
A: Each session delivers 20 hours total, Monday through Friday, morning sessions from 11am to 1pm, afternoon sessions from 2 to 4pm.
Q: What is the difference between the A, B, C and D sessions?
A: While each of the letters represents a specific set of topics, the level is the same (intermediate to advanced) in all four sessions. This means you can register for any or all four sessions in any order that works for you. You’ll discover many return customers among your fellow students. Alumni often insist that repeating our trainings is not unlike the necessity to schedule regular dental cleanings (but FAR more delightful, satisfying and absolutely indispensable), kinda like bringing your car in for regular oil changes and new tires (but much more magical).
Q: Will we be attending milongas in the evenings or shopping or sharing meals as a group?
A: Organizing social activities is not covered in the cost of your tuition. You are free to use your non-class time (early mornings and late afternoons/evenings) as you wish. It’s common practice for fellow students to make informal plans together post-class to share city tours, museum and gallery hopping, shopping adventures (especially shoes!), restaurants, attending practicas/milongas/other classes, etc. We provide networking opportunities with fellow classmates post-registration. Most optimally, during the week of any given session, there are multiple opportunities to socialize outside of class time with fellow students.
Q: What are chances of a program being cancelled?
A: While we cannot guarantee (who could have predicted the impact of the pandemic, for example), in our 63 sessions delivered in 18 consecutive years, we had 1 cancellation when registered students were alerted 6+ months in advance (Luciana was pregnant!) and refunded fully. Our refund policy in the event of a cancellation is listed on our registration page as follows: “In the unlikely event of cancellation of any TangoIntensivo™ session, registration fees will be refunded in full.”
Registration Details
A: Our reimbursement policy is likewise on our registration page under the PayPal buttons as follows:
“Refund Policy: Fifty percent of the Registration Fee will be refunded if a refund request is received by four weeks before the start of the first day of a given session. No refund requests will be accepted after this deadline. However, if you find your own replacement or if we are able to fill your spot from a waiting list, refund requests (less $20 administrative fees) will be honored at any time. Refunds will not be generated until AFTER payment from your replacement has been confirmed. In ALL refund cases, PayPal or any bank fees are not refundable after your initial payment has cleared.”
We urge students to consider travel insurance to mitigate expenses due to an unexpected trip cancellation.
A: Full tuition payment is required to reserve your place in any given session. While Luciana is delighted when students contact her to register, she sends everyone to this website and/or to inquire directly with Brian and/or Deb at Dance of the Heart (DoTH). TangoIntensivo(TM) session registration is ALWAYS handled through our DoTH offices in Boulder, Colorado, USA. While an email or phone call is useful to express your intentions, we cannot confirm or hold a place in any given session until we receive full tuition payment.
The most popular payment options include snail-mailing a personal US check through the US post (least expensive) or by paying on-line at our website utilizing our PayPal buttons (most convenient and fastest). Some students (outside the USA, for example), often request bank transfers which we are happy to arrange by request. After we receive payment, we respond typically within 24 hours to confirm. If we’re sold out, your payment will be refunded in full (minus PayPal or associated bank transfer fees).
Q: What payment options are available to register for your program ASAP?
A: Full tuition payment is required to reserve your place in any given session. While Luciana is delighted when students contact her to register, she sends everyone to this website and/or to inquire directly with Brian and/or Deb at Dance of the Heart (DoTH). TangoIntensivo(TM) session registration is ALWAYS handled through our DoTH offices in Boulder, Colorado, USA. While an email or phone call is useful to express your intentions, we cannot confirm or hold a place in any given session until we receive full tuition payment.
The most popular payment options include snail-mailing a personal US check through the US post (least expensive) or by paying on-line at our website utilizing our PayPal buttons (most convenient and fastest). Some students (outside the USA, for example), often request bank transfers which we are happy to arrange by request. After we receive payment, we respond typically within 24 hours to confirm. If we’re sold out, your payment will be refunded in full (minus PayPal or associated bank transfer fees).
A: Registration Instructions are below for both options.
Option #1: Pay for your tuition by personal USA-based check (steps 1 through 5):
Step 1: To send payment via personal check:
- make your (USA-based) check out to “DoTH LLC” or “Dance of the Heart LLC”
- To qualify for our early bird discount on your tuition, please adhere to pricing and date deadlines on our registration page at: https://danceoftheheart.com/tangointensivo-registration/
Step 2: In your envelope, please include a note along with your check containing the following “student info” details:
- identify which session/s you are paying tuition to attend
- full name (first & last) and email address
- identify which role you plan to study – lead or follow (choose only one)
Step 3: Mail your check and “student info” note (see Step 2) to:
- TangoIntensivo™ Sessions
- Dance of the Heart LLC
- 2890 Shadow Creek Drive #E-304
- Boulder, CO 80303
Step 4: Before sealing/dropping the envelope in a mailbox, please note scams are up where snail mailing of checks is concerned. To maximize a secure arrival, make ABSOLUTELY certain your check is not visible or obvious, that the envelope is securely sealed, that the check is made out correctly (“DoTH LLC” or “Dance of the Heart LLC”) and the address is correct, especially the #E-304 designation. After dropping your envelope in the mailbox, please send an email to tangolessons@danceoftheheart.com informing us that your check is in the (snail)mail. Upon receipt of this email, we will create a placeholder for you in anticipation of receiving your check (via snail mail).
Step 5: When we receive your check, we’ll send an e-confirm notifying you that your e-registration process is initiated.
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Option #2: Pay for your tuition by credit card via PayPal (steps 1-4):
- Step 1: Log onto our registration page: https://danceoftheheart.com/tangointensivo-registration/
- Step 2: To enroll for the “A”, “B”, “C” and/or “D” session/s, select the appropriate PayPal button. If you are new to PayPal, this may require additional steps. If you are purchasing more than one session, simply select the appropriate PayPal button and repeat the process for each individual session you wish to purchase.
- Step 3: Once payment is accomplished, PayPal will generate and send an e-confirmation to you and to our USA Dance of the Heart office. Please note PayPal will charge you a non-refundable fee above the cost of our tuition.
- Step 4: We’ll confirm by separate email that we received PayPal’s e-notice, at which point we’ll proceed with your e-registration process.