PLAY BALL! Baseball exhibit pairs history with national pastime P8
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August 2, 2018
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DENVER, COLORADO
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‘A beautiful game of balance and connection’ Colorado’s tango community calls Uptown home BY KAILYN LAMB KLAMB@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
As a dancer stands on the floor at the Denver Turnverein, a look and a small nod is all it takes to find a partner for the milonga —an open floor for Argentine tango dancers. At Tango Colorado, dancers take to the floor on Tuesday nights, looping in pairs across the dance floor. The milonga, dancer Rose Vehill Dale noted, is as much an opportunity to dance as it is to observe other people on the floor. “If you don’t feel like dancing a lot,” she said, “it’s so great to just watch.” Vehill Dale is one of the many dancers who take advantage of the Tuesday-night tango lessons at the Turnverein, a historic building in Uptown that has transformed into a dancing mecca, welcoming dancers of all styles — swing, ballroom, Zumba, the Argentine tango and more — every night of the week. Jose Carranza has spent 56 years in Denver. He began teaching tango in 2003, but first started listening to tango music in the ‘50s. He learned to dance the tango the way the music made him feel. Although he enjoyed many dance styles, he decided to focus on tango. “I used to dance everything, and I dance everything still,” Carranza said. But “I decided I wanted to be good at one thing instead of mediocre at everything.” For Carranza, a place like the Turnverein helps him to spread his passion for tango through teaching. On Tuesday nights, the tango brings about 120 dancers to glide across the Turnverein’s wooden floor and lose themselves in the smooth rhythym of the music. SEE TANGO, P12
City’s rules for ballot initiatives could change Voters will decide this fall on proposed new formula for signature numbers BY ANDREW KENNEY DENVERITE.COM
Xiaoli Quispe leans against her husband Jorge as they dance during an open dance session with Tango Colorado. The pair dance close-embrace-style tango and have traveled the world performing. KAILYN LAMB
If someone campaigns to change Denver’s laws through a ballot initiative in 2019, they might have a harder time. A ballot initiative, as most Denver residents know, is one of the reasons that strangers approach you in the street. If a group gets enough signatures, they can place a proposal on the city’s election ballots. In November, Denver voters will decide whether to change the required number of signatures for these ballot initiatives. In some years, the new rules will make things tougher for campaigners, but in other years it will be easier. The Denver City Council voted on July 23 to let voters decide the matter — and the debate gets at some of the core questions of running a democracy in a ballothappy state. The change wouldn’t be a straightforward increase or decrease. Instead, the math would change. Right now, the required number of signatures is 5 percent of the total number of votes in the last election for mayor. SEE BALLOT, P10
THE BOTTOM LINE PERIODICAL
“Together we’re going to continue to build great things and make this a great area to visit.” Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock, on Daniels Park | Page 2 INSIDE
VOICES: PAGE 6 | LIFE: PAGE 8 | CALENDAR: PAGE 7 VOLUME 91 | ISSUE 39