The Rising

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Wonderful Memories of a beautiful day.

It all started last September when we were asked to partner RTE for the biggest cultural event ever planned in Ireland : Reflecting the Rising: the commemoration of 100 years since 1916. The lovely Grainne Gavigan and Rachel Breslin worked with us for months, sorting through every little detail to create a total tango tango for the event. We considered a variety of venues and finally settled on St Stephen’s Green, where we were given a huge Marquee to host classes and a milonga. We were mobbed all day and it was really fantastic to see how everyone embraced the dance and wanted to be an active part of the dance. We performed with our choreographic team a full show at the bandstand , presented by Brenda Donaghue  in front of thousands of people. We were accompanied by the Tango Simpre Orchestra, Hot Club of Dublin and Gypsy virtuosos Oleg and Drazen. These musicians created an amazing backdrop to the day, entertaining us and the happy crowds equally. It is such a joy to dance to live music, feeling the rhythm through your whole body and the melody pulsing through your heart.

 
Our final gig was a sold out show in the Shelbourne hotel Ballroom, presented by Marty Whelan. We gave a little introduction to tango and it’s history and then performed several tangos for them, moving from early tangos, to Golden age and then onto more modern work. It was a really wonderful experience.And everyone seemed to enjoy the dance- so we were very happy.
 
Then a quick change and back to the milonga to enjoy the beautiful weather in Stephen’s Green( despite forecasts for rain). The video tells the story well, but cannot fully capture the lovely memories which we will keep forever. Our choreographic team were sensational and I was delighted to witness them grow in confidence and performance skills. They also demonstrated tremendous patience and kindness towards the new recruits on the day, which was really lovely to see.
 
I hope that you enjoy the video- Well done to everyone involved, especially the guys at RTE, who were so professional and helpful throughout the whole experience. They made the whole event a delight.
 
Kristina Chaloir

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