The people at Tango Cheltenham
Tango Cheltenham is run by Janet and Adrian, who usually teach the classes on Tuesdays. Claus taught with Janet while Adrian was away travelling and he and Janet now teach occasional classes at intermediate level at the weekends. The first person you are likely to meet on your arrival is Jenny, who will collect your money at the door and register your details if you are new.
The teachers
Adrian Barsby
Adrian's first experience of dancing was improvising to his dad's record collection as a child, but his first attempt at formal dancing was a small amount of ballroom dancing in Oxford in the mid 90s. He first danced Argentine tango at Gloucester with Jan and Laurie in 2000 for about a year. He then had a long break but came back to it in November, 2003. He dances at classes and milongas regularly in the UK. In 2006, he attended the Lisbon Tango Festival where he was lucky enough to be taught by some of the best Argentine teachers. In August, September and October 2006 he visited Buenos Aires and took classes there as well as dancing at numerous milongas. He attended the 5th World Tango Festival in October 2006. When not teaching tango, he is a maths teacher in Malvern.
Adrian regularly performs tango around Cheltenham with Janet.
Janet Earl
Janet has always loved music and dancing, she started swing in 1995 and still enjoys lindy hop, balboa, jive and salsa. She became addicted to tango in 2003.
Janet and Claus have attended regular classes with the Tiempo De Tango dancers Juan Manuel Acosta (TangoX2), Kicca Tommasi (Take That) and Giraldo Escobar (Corientes in London). They have also travelled around Europe to attend workshops in Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris and Greece. They have been taught different styles by some of the finest Tango dancers in the world such as: Javier Rodriguez and Andrea Missé, Gabriel Missé and Alejandra Martiñan, Chicho Frumboli, Eugenia Parrilla, Damian Esell and Nancy Louzan, Eduardo Cappussi and Mariana Flores.
Janet regularly performs tango around Cheltenham with Adrian and Claus.
Claus Schley
Claus started ballroom and latin dancing in 1992 at the Amateur Dance Club in Stuttgart, Germany. He was trained by former champions in dance technique and musicality. He also danced ballroom in the UK for Warwick University and was a finalist in ChaCha, Jive and Quick Step in the England Universities Championships. Claus started dancing Tango Argentino in 2004 with Leroy Tango Cat in Oxford and Teresa Thornber-Mann in Cheltenham.
Claus occasonally performs tango around Cheltenham with Janet.
Jenny Simmonds
I have always loved dancing and revisited jive and lindy hop from 2000. I found balboa in 2003 (the highlight of which was going to The Balboa Rendezvous, USA, in 2005) and do a little salsa. I was introduced to tango at the end of 2004 and am currently trying to master the dance. I am the Tango Cheltenham greeter 'on the door' and am a regular helper in classes when we are short of a leader or follower
