Dear Valorie and Alberto:

Last update, 7/29/04

I want to express my appreciation for the wonderful classes and workshops. I was awed by your excellent style of dance and of the effective, simple manner in which you demonstrated it. Spring weather literally came to Urbana the short while you were here making little Tanguero buds blossom at our Milonga.
Janet Urbana, IL

Thank you for sharing your passion about tango. I feel the same way about ballroom. I had the fortune to dance with Alberto at the workshop at Cuneen Hacket. You are so smooth. A real pleasure to dance with. Perhaps some day I will be a good tango dancer too.
Kim Marrone Fishkill, NY

I cannot say enough about how great Valorie's and Alberto's teaching and dancing is!! I still keep learning from the tapes we got. The other day as I was teaching a private class during which I showed the tape of your performing it became very clear to me that each step was being savored as one would sip fine wine or eat a delicious meal. No rushing through to execute a figure!! What a different attitude for us to try to comprehend here. Underscoring this is my body memory of dancing with Alberto - I would love to be able to teach leaders to lead with such gentleness and clarity!!
Swari Hhan Albuquerque, NM

Well...it’ll sure seem lonely around here without having one of your workshops to attend. I’m really full of exciting things to work on with my tango dancing. I’m writing you to let you know what a lovely experience it was to meet both of you, to receive your teaching and to dance. What made this experience “muy rico” was your openess, your excellent communication skills and I guess most of all ,your willingness to make this a “hands-on” experience for us. Sometimes, in workshops, this doesn’t happen. You make positions/movements that might not have made sense before...click and one goes...”Ah-ha” - the lightbulb goes on! Valorie, I really enjoyed the Wednesday class of your “Tango Barre”, it was insightful, fun and helped clear up some bad habits. Alberto, you are a wonderful partner and I love your style. I’m so looking forward to your return and hope you had a good trip back to home.
Carole Ross “El Tango, me copa”! Albuquerque, NM

I don’t know how to say thank you for your excellence and giving. The typical case when someone has developed expertise in an area after years of intense study and self-exploration is that they tend to dole it out selectively in small amounts, keeping a reserve of information private, probably partly because it was acquired in private, and also partly because it is difficult to organize. With Alberto and Valorie the book is open and nothing is a secret. I admire the effort and energy it takes to do that.
Joe Grohens, Champaign-Urbana, IL

The false dichotomy simplicity-complexity lay in the way tango is taught. I was struck by how profoundly simple tango can be after having taken a class from Alberto Paz. This was after having spent a lot of time with another instructor learning long chains of what ammount to figures, as if I were learning ballroom dancing.
I don't think the regimented figure-centric method of instruction from ballroom dancing is well suited to teaching tango. A focus on fundamental movements and positions seems to be a more rational approach to teaching.
Greg Olsen, San Francisco, CA

I would just like to tell everyone what a wonderful experience the tango dancers of Cleveland had this past weekend of Oct. 6-11. Saturday and Sunday was a rebirth of tango for some of my students and especially for myself. After just 10 minutes into the workshop everyone was fixed on every word this man had to say, you could hear a pin drop. I saw their eyes glued to this man and his partner, making tango look so easy and so beautiful. And in just a few short hours I saw my students transform into people who's bodies were singing the tango. The smiles on their faces, the gleam in their eyes, the feeling of acomplishment they just felt. YES, I can tango. Yes, I can Milonga. YES, I can Vals. Only a teacher knows that feeling when you see your studient learning and enjoying what they're learning.
This man taught us his technique of 8 body positions and the art of improvisation. For the men finding the mark and then placing the women on it, Now my male students understand the fine art of leading and the women have learned to surrender to the mans lead.
I feel I'm a good instructor for the short time I have been doing this, and I'm not putting myself down, I just was taught in a different way. I now see a new me, even more excited than ever to teach and pass on what I have just learned. I will be able to get more people to tango faster and enjoying it sooner, bringing me more students.
This man who come to Cleveland was not a performer, teaching us some of his fancy steps. This man was, and is a TEACHER. I rate this workshop the best I have ever been in, and I have had some very famous people here, and I don't mean any disrespect to them either, but this man is GREAT. You must bring him to your city. This man is known as the TANGOMAN, This man is Alberto Paz with Valorie Hart.
Tim Pogros, Cleveland, OH

I found Valorie and Alberto to be extremely competent organizers, excellent teachers, and delightfully warm and caring people.
Their classes were focused on improvisation. This was accomplished by starting with a familiar movement and then changing it in a direction not so familiar. When the new direction started to become comfortable, then a different ending was added or perhaps a way to connect into another familiar movement that was not totally obvious. A great deal of emphasis was put on the importance of the man “marking” all of the movements, directions, and timing subtleties.
Victor Crichton, Clearwater, FL

A belated thank you for the wonderful Labor Day weekend we spent dancing Tango with you. We learned so much in a few fun-filled days. You both offered refreshing and challenging combinations and innovative moves, and most importantly you showed how to execute them. This broadens our concept of what is possible in Tango and keeps us from being complacent.
Nancy Lingeman, Santa Cruz, CA

We were so disappointed that we weren’t going to be back in Chicago for your weekend workshops (we’re Arizona snowbirds) and then we were so happy to find out that we would be able to take a class with you during the week at Tango Nada Mas. We enjoyed the class so much. Your friendly smiles put us at ease immediately and in a very short time, we felt as though you were old friends. What a delightful afternoon of Tango! We learned a lot and we are practicing all the good information you passed along to us.
Sharon and Earl Knight, Westmont, IL

I can count the number of workshops I have attended on one hand (with a few fingers missing) and I view yours to have been one of the most enjoyable. As a point of reference, the last workshop I had attended before yours was with a well-known North American teacher. The majority of the people attending this workshop had no dance experience whatsoever, let alone any tango experience, but they were eager to discover this thing called tango.
A few of the participants were there because I had persuaded them that it would be an interesting and enjoyable learning experience for them. They were treated quite badly by the instructor to the point that some of the women were on the brink of tears and completely discouraged from any further involvement in tango. I recognize that certain maestros in any field can be stern (Copes comes to mind), but this particular teacher's attitude seemed to border on contempt coupled with an ego suggesting he was God's gift to tango in the U.S. The experience was most surprising because I had heard people speak approvingly of this man's teaching, and he seems to have a fair number of admirers.
What a contrast to have attended your session! I don't know if any of the participants were absolute beginners or seasoned veterans, but you obviously treated all with respect and in a way that encouraged and inspired everyone to participate and share in your love of the dance. This is the way to build a true sense of tango community.
Bravo Alberto and Valorie! Your demonstrations were clear, and your discourses were immediately relevant to the figures or techniques being addressed. It was a most satisfying and informative session for Nancy and me. I hope we will be able to attend another workshop of yours in the future.
Thomas Ronquillo, Bloomington, IL

I hope things are well with you both and your tango community is growing. They are so lucky to have you. I hope you guys come to teach here in the Bay area so I can connect. I want you to know for the little time I was able to learn from you both it was the most beneficial over my 2 1/2 years of tango.
Much love,
Isabela, Corralitos, CA