We are in the process of cookin’ up an amazing evening of private lessons, workshops and a practilonga potluck with Karen Jaffe. Mark your calendar and stay tuned!
Read on to get to know Karen if you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting her yet….
Karen Jaffe lives near Asheville, NC. In her nearly 30 years of dancing Argentine Tango, she has supported dancers and communities through offering countless classes and social dances along with organizing dozens of full weekend events with exceptional guest teachers. She travels extensively to continue her own education and to teach, DJ and perform. She continues to study with numerous masters and is fortunate to work with a variety of skilled partners, evolving both as a dancer and a teacher. She is well known for her skilled, engaging, and musical dancing in both roles, and for her easygoing, fun and playful energy.
Videos of performances
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeIB6GsoMSRMYajqDtgjXyAw382fTQcmI
From Karen:
My teaching philosophy is based on the idea of the dancers being independent, yet connected and co-creative. I support active following, freeing the follower to interpret the music through their body, at times independent from the leader. I prioritize comfort, connection and clarity. Within a solid base of structure, technique and timing, the energy flows freely through the couple. This philosophy is further supported by the concept of tension and release, allowing the dance to come from a very quiet place yet explode at moments, always returning to an attentive, subtle baseline.
This is a more modern, complex and evolving style, but has its roots in a deeply traditional form. Leaders and followers have distinct roles; yet share many aspects of fundamental technique. They collaborate and negotiate, moment to moment, reading each other, redirecting the flow of energy between them, understanding the perfectly imperfect nature of the dance.
As far as my teaching style- I would call it relaxed and fun, heavy on technique and exploratory based. I may use a movement or sequence as a framework for the technique or concept we are looking at, but the focus is the natural flow of the energy from lead to follow, relative position and timing for any given movement. ....all with a healthy dose of playfulness!
Once the mechanics of a given movement are grasped, I focus on "how" the movement is executed, the quality of the connection and communication, refining the clarity and how we feel the movement. In the end this is a social dance, and we want to experience a good feeling with our partner, no matter what movement we are creating together.
BOTTOM LINE- It’s not “what” you do, but “how” you do it!