At 12:08 AM 6/14/01 -0500, Joe Grohens wrote:
>Dear dancers,
>
>Well, we've had our final Practica at White Street Arts Center. The
>building was sold yesterday, and is slated for demolition.
>
>The Sunday Practica started at White Street three years ago this month.
>Carlota and I feel special fondness for this studio space. We thank all of
>the dancers and teachers who have contributed to many great Tango moments
>there.
The closing of the White Street Arts Center is a sad day in the history of
tango in Champaign-Urbana. The birth of the tango community in C-U occurred
3 years ago when the first practicas started at the White Street Arts
Center. Yes, there were people dancing and teaching tango within a few
minutes or hours. David Lin and Maria Castello were teaching tango at the
Regent. Tom and Nancy Ronquillo were giving tango classes in Bloomington.
There were workshops given by traveling tango instructors at Tango Nada Mas
in Chicago. As a result of these early activities, Mark Johnson and Ece
Karatan began adding tango to their salsa classes, thereby greatly
increasing the exposure of Chambanos to tango. However, before White Street
practicas, there was no place to dance tango on a regular basis. Joe and
Carlota are to be given credit for recognizing the importance of having this
regular venue for dancing tango, without which we may not have the active
tango community today which has grown from these roots.
The first practicas were full of the excitement of discovering new
territory. We didn't have a lot of guidance at first and we didn't dance
very well, but we had a lot of fun nevertheless. The White Street practicas
were an important part of the tango ambiance in which Susana and I got to
know each other and which supported the growth of our relationship. From
these innocent beginnings we all matured, in large part because of the
visits by traveling professional instructors (Alberto & Valorie, Maria &
Jacques, Leandro & Andrea) who came to White Street. Joe and Carlota also
began teaching tango classes regularly at White Street to complement the
visiting instructors and practicas and thus contribute greatly to the
continued education of C-U tangueros. The tango activity at White Street
made it possible to support the monthly milongas at the Phillips Center and
was the seed for the growth of Tango Argentino activities led by Rita
Marvelli at the University. White Street tango activities also gave birth to
the next generation of tango instructors - Andrea Newhouse and Juan Fedele.
In fact, it is difficult to find a C-U bred tanguero who did not have a
significant portion of his or her early tango experience at the White Street
Arts Center.
Therefore, when you dance your next particularly sad, introspective tango,
reflect on how a landmark in C-U tango history has passed on. Then rejoice
in the memory of how this landmark has shaped our future.
Ron
Ronald M. Weigel, Ph.D.
Professor
Division of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology
2001 S Lincoln Avenue
University of Illinois
Urbana, IL 61802 USA
phone: (217)-244-1365
messages: (217)-333-2449
FAX: (217)-244-7421
e-mail: weigel@uiuc.edu
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Sep 11 2001 - 18:09:24 CDT