Tango in the Spring 2018 is all over. We had a great time, and we hope you did too! …And we’ve booked the Albert Hall for 2020. What do you say, another one?
Here’s some fab photos from Connie Wong – plus a couple of rogue asado shots from Gary.
Thank you to all our volunteers!
TISP 2018 was only possible because we had so many people pitching in as volunteers. We had more than 50 people who took some role over the weekend —including quite a few interstate guests — which was just phenomenal. Thanks to every one of you.
There are a bunch of people who took particularly hefty roles and so deserve acknowledgement, especially since they mostly worked behind the scenes. So, lets thank our amazing core volunteer team (in reverse alphabetical order):
Yara Jerious: The Queen of Decoration
Our new deco queen, Yara, led our super capable deco team to bring a fresh touch to the grand Albert Hall. She realised her aesthetic vision of “complement the elegance of the venue with a uniquely Canberra feel” so wonderfully with the Bush Capital theme. I’m sure everyone enjoyed the beauty of the venue each day.
Sonja Zink: The Queen of Bookings
Her meticulous record keeping and responsiveness to inquiries are legendary. She made it possible for us to accomodate more guests by keeping a close eye on the waiting lists and cancellations. It was a lot of hard and fiddly work: extensive spreadsheets and hundreds of detailed emails. And having Sonja on this job, we could make a confident call on when to close the bookings and when to send invitations to people on the waiting list.
Rowan Rogers: Super Deputy
He was Gary’s most trusted deputy in sound (and everything) setup, especially as Gary is still recovering from surgery and couldn’t lift stuff. Being young and fit, he can lift and shift, but it’s not only that. He is our auxiliary brain. He needs no instructions. Just tell him what is the effect we are after. He comes up with an optimal sensible solution – got to love those engineers.
Kirsty Rhind, Michael Ellery, San Llorens: The legends of venue setup and everything beyond
They have been in the core volunteer team since the first TISP in 2008. Every year they assist with decoration and setup, but their help always extends far beyond that. They are all calm, practical, resourceful, and sensible. They know exactly what we want to achieve, they notice everything that the organisation team misses and fix it before even we realise. They are there if we need brainstorming in organisation, and give us very sensible input. Total legends. We cannot imagine running TISP without them.
Kathi Schlesinger: The Queen of Volunteer Coordination
Calm, organised, dependable – a bundle of amazingness is what she is, our trusted volunteer coordinator. She had a huge job in constructing the list of tasks, the list of volunteers, and matching them with jobs. Then contacting them to confirm their engagement, AND overseeing most of the door duty change-overs throughout TISP. Also Kathi is a master cleaner. Not one cleans like Kathi. She made sure the kitchen was spotless after our big asado lunch. What a legend.
Jamie Gifford: All round helper
Jamie was there, for all sorts of random bits and bobs. We just have to call for his help, be it delivering goods to the venue, storing stuff, last minute emergency printing, as well as shifting and lifting.
Erika Mordek: The Queen of Salad
It’s not TISP without Erika’s potato salad at the asado. And we had three types of salad this year, because it was the 10 years anniversary special! While the meat was cooking outside, she was in the kitchen with her capable lunch preparation team, making sure all the accompaniments were yummy and well presented.
Daisy Ruan: The House Florist
Daisy from Arum Floral Design was also a critical player in creating this years venue decorations with Yara. No doubt everyone was delighted with the wonderful display of fresh Australian flowers. How luxurious was that?
Connie Wong: The Queen of food and drinks
Did you enjoy your fruit platter, cakes, and other goodies? And how about the quality of wine served at the bar? Connie is the one behind all of those. She sourced all the snacks, cut up fruits, engaged the local winery for the wine supply, and managed the bar person. And did a fair bit of Costco shopping. Also she is an amazing photographer. As you might have seen on Facebook, she took some gorgeous photos that captures what TISP is. They are truly special.
And we thank the TSCC committee (Magda Mayer, Paul McGlew, Peter Dall, Reynaldo Galang) for their support – they gave us anything that we needed for TISP organisation very promptly.
…And we’ve booked the Albert Hall for 2020. What do you say, another one?
Cheers, The TISP 2018 organisation team (Yuko, Gary, Jarny, Tim and Jane)
Tango in the Spring brings Argentine tango dancers from across Australia to Canberra to simply enjoy dancing together to beautiful music.
Since the inception of TISP in 2008, we have had the same goal: social tango nirvana! For us, that means good traditional tango music from experienced DJs, good sound, a comfortable venue, allocated seating and lighting for cabaceo. We will be at the elegant Albert Hall for all the milongas — high ceilings, parquet floor. You will get a warm welcome from the Canberra tango community as well as all the Tango in the Spring regulars. Starts on Friday evening, and ends on Monday afternoon. The Monday is a public holiday in some states, and even if not for you: stay anyway!
Here is what others have said about previous Tango in the Spring events:
“Everything was exceptionally well organised, all DJs a great choice and the venues made it even better!”
“I thought the whole festival was perfect. The music was amazing.”
“absolutely exceeded my expectations which were already high from previous years.”
“I had the best time. Loved the music, dancers, supper, asado, decorations, Albert Hall.”
“A unique feature of the Festival is the sharing between the community of dancers without the usual Festival emphasis involving cost of classes and teaching from tango professionals.”
“felt really welcome, the atmosphere was professional in how it was all carefully organised.”
“Congratulations! Lived up to the reputation. Well done!! See you in 2018.”
All the organisers are volunteers at this non profit event. It is organised by dancers, for dancers. We are not affiliated with any tango teachers or dance schools. We’ve got DJs from other cities, and a whole bunch of people from Canberra will be helping during the festival. Our aim is to have a great time, and strengthen social tango in Australia by connecting dancers across the nation and beyond.
The Tango in the Spring team:
Yuko Kinoshita | Gary Barnes | Jarny Choi | Chanop (Tim) Silpa-Anan | Jane Won Silpa-Anan info@tangointhespring.org.au
A project of the Tango Social Club of Canberra, a non-profit association.
Tango Social Club of Canberra Incorporated
Registered Association Number: A04223
Australian Business Number (ABN): 34 778 985 483 GPO Box 2740 Canberra ACT 2601