I was once asked to describe the perfect tango moment… So here it is, a mix of very dear memories of milongas here and there…

Before the dance, I am sitting at my table. I feel quiet, confident, tranquil and peaceful. I am simply soaking in the experience and the atmosphere of the milonga. The atmosphere is polite, very gentleman-like; it feels like the 19th century and I like it, it feels like home. The light is soft and warm. The temperature is warm, comfortably warm. I feel ready to dance, in a very simple way – I don’t have any desire, any expectations towards what my next dance, my next partner should be like, and nothing from my past tandas weighs me down either. I simply am ready to dance.

After the cortina, the DJ plays a piece of music I love, it might be Poema from Francisco Canaro, Llorar por una mujer or Dejame ser así from Enrique Rodriguez, Tristezas de la calle Corrientes from Anibal Troilo, or Di Sarli’s Organito de la tarde. When I hear the song, I feel like it’s the last time I’ll ever hear it, and I just want to get up and dance. My gaze crosses his and the cabeceo is simple and sincere. I feel no emotion, I am in the moment. I just want to enjoy the present time, the here and now. I only feel like being two on one piece of music.

I stand up. We meet on the dancefloor. His left hand is warm and soft. His abrazo is firm and soft. I feel protected. He exudes calm confidence. Our dancing starts with simple steps and the connection is gradually established. We start by “taming” one another. I close my eyes and everything goes white in my mind. I don’t see anything and don’t feel the need to see. I can feel the presence of other dancers, make note of them but don’t think anything of it. I gain confidence in myself and in him. The music plays and I immerse myself in the lyrics, the words I understand. I feel the music in the same way as he does; it’s a moment of perfect harmony. I take note of my technique, my posture, my interpretation of the music, but don’t think anything of it. I don’t think, my ‘brain’ is switched off. I don’t have any emotions either. My ‘heart’ is switched off too. Only remains the sensations from my body. He might suggest that we breathe in together or I might suggest it and he’ll respond to the invitation to do so. The abrazo is like a protected space where I am taken care of. I am taken care of and at the same I am given the ability to express myself freely and completely. I am protected and free. If he sings into my ear, I will have the feeling that the rest of the world has completely disappeared, that everything is complete and perfect at this particular second.

When the music stops, we stay without moving a couple of seconds before stepping away from one another. I open my eyes, I feel disorientated, I am not too sure of where I am, I have forgotten where the different elements of the room are located one in relation to the other, I have forgotten where my table is. He walks me back to my table and I sit down. I feel fulfilled and content. During the dance, we shared a dream and I am now slowly emerging from that shared dream.

Memory, Loss and Memory Loss…

The most unforgettable addictive kind of hug…

Learning how to get lost (hopefully) in someone else’s rhythm…

Forgetting I’m a rough and tumble mum for a while and feeling like and (even more hopefully) looking like an elegant lady…

When I was a teenager, I played the accordion. I loved (and still love) the sound of this instrument, however, the focus was on Bavarian folkloric music which I found utterly uncool. I therefore hardly practiced. My teacher must have eventually become really annoyed and promised to raise my interest by suggesting a very different genre: Argentinian tango. He could not have been more right: I suddenly practiced almost every day.

Around the same time I watched ‘Scent of a woman’ at the cinema and was enchanted by Al Pacino’s famous tango scene. I decided then that I wanted to learn to dance to this beautiful music.

In my first year at uni, they offered a combined salsa/tango class. One of my male friends asked if I wanted to attend the course with him. The lesson was split in half: 45 min salsa/45 min tango. I don’t know why, but salsa was somehow not my thing, I never got the hip action right. However, I enjoyed every single second of the tango class. Unfortunately, I did not keep it up as my friend moved away and all my other male friends declined politely. It was not until years later when I was made redundant that I knew my chance had come: I put everything in storage, packed my bags to travel across South America, final destination Buenos Aires.

Once I arrived in Buenos Aires, I started by doing Spanish classes in the morning and a tango class in the evening. But I soon got seriously hooked to tango, dropped the languages classes and dialed up on the tango front. On some days, I did a private class in the morning, one or two group classes in the afternoon, and some evenings a milonga. I eventually had to leave Buenos Aires and come back to reality as I ran out of money and needed a proper job. I found one in London also some really great London tango places which take me (for at least a tanda) back to the great Buenos Aires moments.

With Buenos Aires being the birth place of tango, there is an unlimited supply of all the schools and milongas out there so that really everybody can certainly find the right style for themselves. And every evening there are several milongas to choose from, or you simply start at one and move on to the next.

However, for true beginners I found it a bit tricky as the level is very high. For me, that meant that I was not often asked to dance at the milonga unless I went with people from my class. Nonetheless, I learnt my lesson: I now know that as a lady you don’t ever do any turn/step ever unless the guy asks for it (the macho Argentinean male dancers are very very adamant about that), while on the other side I don’t crush my partner’s biceps or left hand anymore for fear of loosing my balance.

However hard it was to start tango in BA, I will never forget dancing there and I want to go back there as soon as possible. If you like dancing tango, dancing tango in BA is magical.

In London, I have found a few classes which remind me very much of how classes were run in BA, on a drop in basis. So no need to pre-book or bring your own partner, you just show up. What I love about dancing and learning tango in London is that people are very encouraging and forgiving, which especially for beginners is very important as it takes quite some time to become a more confident dancer. The friendliness might be because the tango scene here is so much smaller and therefore everybody knows each other. Or maybe I have just really become much better since dancing in London, as I understand what the teachers say (maybe dropping Spanish whilst in BA was not such a good idea after all) and my dance partner don’t complain about my iron grip anymore.

One thing that I miss in London though, is the open air tango dancing. But I heard they do dancing along the Seine, which is a lot nearer than flying to the Paris of South America;-)

These days, my non-tango friends say that I am obsessed with tango which might be an accurate description for the neutral observer. However, I believe it is a very nice addiction. For me, tango is the most wonderful dance, connecting two people very closely for a few songs, moving gracefully across the dancefloor to incredibly beautiful music. When I dance, I tend to forget everything else that occupied my mind, and when I leave at the end of a night I am always smiling, very often still humming one of the tunes I heard that night.

Try it, I am sure you won’t regret it!

I decided I wanted to learn tango when I saw that famous scene of Al Pacino dancing in Scent of a Woman – it made me think “I have to learn this stuff.” Besides, I think there are many skills a man needs to succeed in modern life – his way around a modern full course dinner service, where to pass the port, the ability to dance well and what better way than Tango? It all has got to do with deportment, and… of course, being sexy!

I also picked up tango as I thought it would help strengthen the areas of my personality I was fond of and sand down some ‘weak’ areas. Your whole life, from birth to adult, you are taught to think, the power of rational thought is held out as the greatest good. However, good tango is all about feeling. Every single difficult lesson has been when I was doing too much thinking. Every single good lesson has been when I’ve been feeling instead. Nathalie has a saying: “She does the thinking, I do the feeling.” In that respect, I feel tango has helped me rebalance my ability to think and feel.

Since I began tango, I have found out that that I was born with two left feet and no body awareness at all. I must be the most uncoordinated man alive! Several months of tango lessons and I learn something new every single lesson.

What I really like about tango is the feeling of being able to dance however you feel that day: play a track that fits your mood and off you go! I also find that tango reduces stress and that it is uplifting: I always feel better and much chirpier after a tango class. What bothers me is that I thought I knew how to walk – I had only done it for 29 years of my life. However, learning to tango walk… this is one of the difficult things to learn .

Through Nathalie’s focus and encouragement, I am getting better and I really enjoy the lessons – you find out you can do a lot more then you think. After one recent lesson, I factually listed down all the steps I was confident I could do well and I was surprised to realise I had picked up quite a bit! There are a couple of orchestras I have grown quite fond of, Miguel Calo, Enrique Rodriguez, and I especially like “Dejame ser asi”. I also listen to Carlos Gardel and Gotan Project.

I find that dancing tango is an intriguing experience. You can sense when your partner is stressed or worried or experiencing other feelings. It leaks out, comes across very clearly in dancing. Dancing with different partners is great as you get to develop your own style as a leader and also develop your emotional intelligence. My strongest joy is experiencing a 3-minute dance where there is real connection and the steps go well. It is a notable experience.

Tricked, by a friend… lulled into a false sense of security and then blindsided by tango classes.

Bambi on ice had more grace than I on the dance floor… and yet a year later I’m still attending classes, giving the furry woodland creature a run for its money.

The inescapable truth about tango is it is beautiful. The music, the embrace, the steps… they are all so intrinsic that a change in one influencers the other.

On top of this is the family I’ve met. There is a real warmth and acceptance which is so welcoming and through it, I have developed some life long friendships.

For me personally, when I was a kid I used to dance on my own to music. I also tend to express my happiness and excitement through dance often in response to music. I also love to watch dance. I think ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ helped me to see what different types of dance look like. I noticed I was most intrigued by the Tango. To me it was the most sophisticated, the most beautiful and passionate dance. I was also amazed by the leg movements, and thought ‘I wish I could do that!’.

I invited my mother to ‘Midnight Tango’ last year and she loved the show. I mentioned that I had thought about having a Tango lesson and she told me to just go for it. I tried the Lambada and Salsa may years / decades ago for a short while, but gave up very quickly. This time I didn’t want to give up. Although I’m a doctor and scientist, I also love the arts. As a child I used to do calligraphy and I also like languages and literature.

I have to say that dancing tango is very different to watching it. I find it quite hard. I guess because I used to just dance to music on my own. However, I feel it’s worth continuing as it’s also a social dance and you can meet other people through it. Also, I see it as learning a new skill and doing something very different to my every day work, Having said that a lot of my work is about understanding people, connecting with them and trying to help them.

It’s been a slow process, but I’m beginning to listen to the music more, and beginning to enjoy it more. At the beginning, it seemed more like a fearful task to get through! Unfortunately I still don’t get much time to practice, and keep forgetting things.

The few group classes I’ve been to have also helped. I’ve been able to check what I’m doing with different partners, because they all respond differently, and I learn something new from the interaction.

I started learning Russian 2 years ago and have continued with it. It is difficult, but I enjoy it very much and I feel it has broadened my mind. I sort of feel the same about Tango, although I think it is more difficult than learning Russian! I hope to continue with it because I feel I’m making progress and that it taps into my more creative and artistic parts of my personality and broadens my mind.