Our ‘Junction 8’ Tango nights have been running for nearly 10 year now!

They started out as just a fun evening for people who’d been asking for a more varied mix of music. Now,10 years later, the events are firm favourites, and we seem to get more dancers coming along every time!

TBH DJing at ‘Junction 8′ is a real challenge, The normal structures of a traditional milonga aren’t any use, and keeping the flow of the music, and at the same time keeping everyone happy with a varied music mix is bloomin’ tricky. As the years roll by I’m getting more familiar with how things work, and what keep the dance floor full. For a start, I stopped playing any electronic Tango years ago. I sometimes ask for suggestions for favourite tracks, but in all these years there hasn’t been anything suggested that works well as a popular dance choice. (Bohemian Rhapsody? No thanks!).

So it’s really amazing when we get a great crowd every time. People bring their friends, and tell me it’s their favourite Tango night of the year (Really? Oh, OK then).

Here’s to the next 10 years!

Our ‘Etonathon’ event at Christmas time has been running since 2007. To start with it was called ‘Yule Tango’ (geddit?) and included workshops during the day & milongas in the evenings.

Then we decided to ditch the workshops & have afternoon milongas instead, and since then it’s been one of the most popular Tango events. Dancers from all across the UK and beyond can take a break from their relatives, and enjoy a few days of high-quality dancing instead.

About this time of year we start to panic about the arrangements; DJs, Babysitters, & kitchen helpers all have to be arranged. The Hall was booked years ago, but there are still hotel rooms and travel plans that need finalising. To be honest, by the time the event starts it seems that most of our work has been done!

But then there’s 4 days of hosting, dancing, and trouble-shooting to make sure the event runs as well as is humanly possible and everyone has a great time.

Luckily, we have great support from our friends in the Tango community, and it’s a real pleasure to put on an event that’s always so well received.  The advance bookings are already starting to come in, and the DJ team is nearly in place, so we can’t wait for Etonathon 2018 to arrive!

Running a Tango event can be hard work, but some things make it all worthwhile, especially lovely feedback from happy dancers. Like this message  we’ve just received from a dancer after last weekend’s ‘Septonathon’:

“Sarah, Charles – it would be remiss of me not to express my ongoing gratitude for your sustained time, efforts and energy. It’s said that ‘The only thing that is constant is change’; they also say that you have to ‘Adapt or die’. While that is very true, it doesn’t sufficiently account for ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’. You’ve got the formula just right, which is why I think you run one of the best milongas anywhere and make tango in the UK richer for it. I’m very glad I live only an hour away! Sincere thank yous again from a delighted punter”

*blush*