8/03/2022 From Lili – Beaconsfield
Just finished my first Tango class with Richard and I’m hooked. I was nervous about attending a Tango event, but Richard made it easy to follow along and helped me build my confidence. “The passion and care Richard shows to his students is heart warming. I was a bit apprehensive at times but Richard continued to support me, and now love dancing tango!!!
16/07/2014 Watford Community Housing Trust
“Strictly Fun Dancing at Watford Community Housing Trust”
Watford Community Housing Trust funded 18 weeks of Fun Dancing at several of their Independent Living Schemes. Richard Putko engaged many of the tenants at the schemes to try out some new moves. For those that couldn’t move around so easily he encouraged them to toe tap and hand jive along to many of their favourite tunes.The groups really enjoyed the sessions with Richard, he made them fun and enjoyable for all, no one felt excluded. They even created a “Watford community Housing Trust Hand Jive”.
Pam from one Scheme said “I really like Richard coming to the scheme, I used to love to dance with my Husband, but since he’s gone I don’t dance any more. It really cheers my week up”
Vanessa Wright. Community Hubs Officer.
9/12/2013 Bogdan & Galina Marinuc
What can we say about Richard?
We were already taking tango lesson when we decided to ask him to offer us some private classes for our wedding dance.
The only problem was (beside my “tremendous” dancing skill – me as in the groom), we could not focus on a particular song. We did have “our song” like so many couples, but we wanted something different for our wedding first dance.
We wanted something lovely, dynamic, and funny, yet elegant at the same time and Richard succeeded in coming up with the loveliest song and the loveliest dance routine, (which turned into the funniest dance when we started dancing it.)
Anyway, we would like to thank Richard for being such an amazing teacher and friend.
The lessons and time spent learning with Richard was absolutely great and funny for us, tiring, exhausting for Richard maybe.
In the end we had a lovely first wedding dance on the loveliest of songs and rhythm.
Richard is so much more than just a dance teacher; he also managed to find a song that described us so well. It was just perfect.
And that’s thanks to Richard. for turning a stiff groom into a latino dancer.
31/05/2013 Anna Rackett, Watford
Hi Richard, Thank you for your message. Both me and Jeff enjoyed the first class and your fantastic teaching methods(as well as your sense of humour) We are looking foreward to our next lessons and hopefully appearing on “Strictly” anytime soon…but not to soon. Best wishes Anna
10th October 2011 Watford General & St Albans Hospital
Richard recently ran a couple of taster sessions at our hospitals which were extremely well received. He made the lessons fun, people thoroughly enjoyed themselves, whether they’d previously danced or not, and there was a definite sense of achievement by the end of each session.Barbara Leon-Hunt. Staff Support Co-Ordinator
Cherie Blair. Comments made from teaching at Champneys. Tring
Daily Mail article:
But, according to fellow guests, the highlight of her stay was her participation in a salsa-dancing class.
“She seemed to love it and was very enthusiastic about it,” says one. “Perhaps it’s all going to be a big surprise for Tony when he leaves office. She seemed to enjoy her stay – she dined in the public restaurants all the time and she certainly didn’t seem to mind who saw her.”
The dancing classes were held in the evenings and Mrs Blair was one of 30 guests who received instruction from teacher Richard Putko. He taught Cherie salsa, merengue and Argentine tango during the course of her stay.
An expert in lambada and tango, Putko, who learned his craft in the Dominican Republic and in Buenos Aires, has himself been taught by the leading Latin American dance teachers.
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