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Gordon Motta
He
is mostly known as the Big Island's favorite potter
and ceramic artist. Returning to his home island
in the mid 70's, he has produced, shown and sold
his work from his studio in Ahualoa on the Hamakua
Coast as well as in select Galleries on the island.
Some know him for his finely crafted residential
designs and still others now know him as the Dance
Man for his current fascination and enthusiasm
for partner dancing.
He
teaches Ceramics, Architecture and Ballroom Dancing
at Hawaii Preparatory Academy in Kamuela on the
Island of Hawaii.
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was first introduced to Tango american style by
Michelle Suber (one of our local dance instructors)
about six years ago. Sometime later, I attended
a workshop in Argentine Tango by Paul Pellicoro
(Dance Sport, NYC) in Kona. However overwhelmed,
I realized that it was something I wanted to pursue.
Still later, Angel Prince, (who taught at Dance
Sport under Mr. Pellicoro) offered her then Salsa
students a series of classes in Argentine Tango.
Now I was hooked with no real community of dancers
to dance with. A tango here and a tango there kept
me interested enough to attend the first Tango Fest
Maui in the summer of 2006. I was impressed by the
world class teachers, somewhat intimidated by the
skill of the local dancers and completely infected
by the Tango "bug". Returning home to
the Big Island was like going to the "Desertof
Tango". What Argentine........Tango who? I
must "be the difference"! |
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QUALIFICATIONS
TO TEACH TANGO (ENTHUSIASM):
If
you know anything about the Big Island you will
know that if you want to do anything, you have to
do it yourself and you must be prepared to drive
a good distance to do it. The island is polarized
because of distance between the east and west population
centers. How convenient that Kamuela sits roughly
in the geographical middle of the island. Since
my original local dance teachers are busy teaching
other styles of dance, such as West Coast Swing
and Salsa and Modern and Jazz, I have taken on the
challenge of growing a community of Argentine Tango
dancers on the Island of Hawaii. I would like it
to be centered in Kamuela so dancers from Hilo,
Kona, Hamakua, Kohala, and Waikoloa can all get
together and enjoy the wonderful music and sensual
connection of this dance. I
am an ENTHUSIAST, certainly not an EXPERT. I know
enough to teach and share basic step patterns
and basic knowledge of the dance. It's been said,
"If you want to learn something.......teach
it." At my classes we all learn together.
It is easy to learn step patterns. Learning to
"dance" only comes from time on the
floor. My goal is to
provide an opportunity to learn and practice the
dance. I am looking forward to establishing a
regular MILONGA in Kamuela to bring Big Island
tango dancers together. Just need to find the
right place and enough dancers to support it.
FUTURE INTENTIONS:
My intention is to encourage a community of enthusiasts
on Hawaii Island who can support and develop each
others' skill in Argentine Tango. We can then
enlist our LOCAL EXPERTS from the established
communities on the other islands, and invite visits
by the many "world class" teachers that
frequent the various Tango communities on Oahu,
Maui and Kauai.
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