Q and A
Studying Art in France
Q. We are interested in spending a month or two in France and would like information on art schools or studios that offer painting and ceramics courses in English. What time of year would be best? -- Al and Fran Schwartz, New York,  N.Y.
A. The summer months offer the best opportunities for English-speakers to study art in Paris as well as in the provinces.
In Pont-Aven, the village on the Brittany coast where Gauguin painted, Caroline Boyle-Turner, an art historian at the Rhode Island School of Design, runs summer art courses for English-speaking students at the Pont-Aven School of Art. The classes -- in painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, French and art history -- have 6 to 12 students. A four-week session, from June 1 to June 28, is followed by a six-week session, from July 1 to Aug. 9. Courses are open to graduate and undergraduate fine-arts students; artists with little formal training are asked to submit slides of their work before admission. Fees range from $2,500 to $5,000, depending on the length of the session and the number of  classes taken; charges include board, breakfast and dinner with local families.  More information: (508) 263-1654 in the United States.
The school at Pont-Aven is also organizing a summer session with the American University of Paris. Classes, with a maximum of 12 students, are held in Pont-Aven from June 3 to 28, then continue in Paris from July 9 to Aug. 9. Students visit the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay and other museums. This course is open to fine-arts graduates and undergraduates; other applicants are asked to submit slides of their work. Course fees are $6,140 and include tuition, room and board while in Pont-Aven, and tuition in Paris.
The American University in Paris offers summer-session courses in painting, drawing, photography and art history. They run from June 3 to July 4 and from July 9 to Aug. 9; class size never exceeds 20. Fees, covering tuition only, start at $1,320. More information: in the United States, (212) 677-4870; in Paris, telephone (33 1) 40.62.06.00, fax (33 1) 47.05.33.39.
The Parsons School of Design in Paris offers five-week sessions, with a maximum of 15 students per class, in drawing, painting, ceramics, furniture-making and photography during the academic year. The fee is $235 per class. In the summer, classes are given in Paris from June 29 to July 25 in drawing, painting, art history and photography. Fees are $2,700 and $825 for dormitory. In La Napoule, near Nice, classes run from July 28 to Aug. 17 in drawing and painting, and contemporary art history. The charge for tuition, room and board is $3,500. More information: Holly Warner, Parsons School of Design in Paris, 14 Rue Letellier, 75015 Paris, France; telephone (33 1) 45.77.39.66, fax  (31 1) 45.77.27.36.
To Buenos Aires to Tango
Q. I will be in Buenos Aires in November and would like to know where I might see the best tango and where I might also take some tango lessons. -- William R. Burton, Redondo Beach, Calif.
A. Perhaps as a result of the success of tango shows abroad in the last few years the tango has undergone a revival in Buenos Aires, where it was born in the late 1800's.
The two best tango shows in town, which attract primarily a tourist crowd, are at El Viejo Almacen and Casablanca, in the San Telmo district; that's a five-minute taxi ride from downtown. Both feature two-hour performances at a cost of $40 a person, including unlimited drinks.
El Viejo Almacen, at Avenida Independencia and Balcarce, presents all-tango shows nightly, beginning at 10. Telephone (54 1) 300-3388.
At Casablanca, 668 Balcarce, telephone (54 1) 334-5010, the show begins at 10 P.M. from Monday to Friday. On Saturday, there are shows at 9 and 11 P.M. that feature tango and Argentine folk-dancing with dramatic displays of the boleadoras, a three-pronged leather device Argentine cowboys use to lasso cattle. There is no show on Sunday.
To see traditional and experimental tango in an authentic atmosphere, try the Cafe Tortoni, at 829 Avenida de Mayo, a turn-of-the-century institution that still has its original decor of stylish woodwork and decorated tiles. A different tango program is offered each night; for details, check the daily English-language newspaper The Buenos Aires Herald. Admission is about $9 plus a minimum of $6 for a drink.
To learn the tango's intricate steps, travelers may want to visit Rodolfo Dinzel's studio at 160 Jufre in the Almagro neighborhood, telephone (54 1) 777-0405. Group lessons are given by Mr. Dinzel, who performed in "Tango Argentino," a spirited and successful show that opened in New York in 1985. The  lessons, with no more than 20 participants, take place on Wednesday and Thursday from 7 to 10 P.M. and cost $20 a person. Private lessons run two hours and cost  $70.
Also recommended is Volver, at 837 Avenida Corrientes, telephone (54 1) 322-5100. There, Gloria Barraud and Eduardo Arquimbau, who also appeared in "Tango Argentino," teach one-and-a-half hour group lessons from Monday through Friday, from 6 to 9 P.M. A single class, with a maximum of 18 students, is $10 a person. (Later in the evening, you can also watch the two perform at Casablanca.) Wagner in Arizona
Q. My fiancee and I will be in Arizona in June. We understand that Wagner operas are being performed in the area then. Can you provide information? -- Thomas Irving, North Bergen, N.J.
A. In what the Arizona Opera company says will be the first of an annual series, Wagner's complete "Ring des Nibelungen" will be performed twice in Flagstaff between June 3 and 15. Collaborating on the presentation will be Glynn Ross, general director, and Henry Holt, artistic director, who drew acclaim for  their productions of the Ring at the Pacific Northwest Wagner Festival in Seattle from 1973 to 1983.
The four operas that make up the Ring -- "Das Rheingold," "Die Walkure," "Siegfried" and Gotter dammerung" -- will be performed in sequence in two six-day periods, just as they are at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany. The operas will be sung in German, with English surtitles, at the Ardrey Auditorium  at Northern Arizona University. The hall seats 1,500, close in size to Bayreuth's Festspielhaus. Among those performers will be the soprano Karen Bureau as Brunnhilde (she has sung with the Hanover Opera), the tenor George Gray as Siegfried (the Hamburg and Zurich Operas).
While in the Flagstaff area, visitors can take the opportunity to see such sights as the Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert. Information: Arizona Opera, 4600 North 12th Street, Phoenix, Ariz. 85014; (602)  266-7464, fax (602) 266-5806. Tickets for a Ring cycle: $100 to $525.
PAUL FREIREICH