Tango Mugre

In 2004, I saw the late great Carlos Gavito perform in Buenos Aires. I still cannot forget the emotion I felt. At that time he was so weakened by illness and surgery that he needed assistance just to walk.. There was no trace of the poise and elegance he once displayed as the star of Forever Tango…

As Long As It Suits Your Fancy

My mindset was rather simple when I started dancing. I found a teacher I liked and learned from him. I was aware that different teachers taught in different ways, but I did not worry about not being able to dance with students of other teachers. I thought if I were good enough, I should be able to dance with anyone. Later I discovered that I was learning “Tango Nuevo,” which was the fashionable way of dancing at the time…

How Come There is no Tension in Your Embrace!?

Yombom is an avid tango dancer. He goes to milongas five to six times a week. He takes tango classes from many teachers, including us. In class, he genuinely tries to understand what we say, practices hard, and asks questions. Somehow we started talking online. He asks me more questions about tango, and I try to answer him as best I can…

Tango Middle Age

I have already danced for 20 years. It is only appropriate to call myself tango middle-aged. I no longer watch tango videos every day, nor go to milongas five or six times a week. I miss those days on occasion…

What a Stuck-up Place

“This place sucks. I have been to many milongas but I haven’t seen such a snobbish place. They never even look at the newcomers,” he said with an angry voice. “It can be a little rough if you don’t know anybody,” I replied…

Dancing in the Dark

Once a student asked me for help. I danced with her and gave her some advice. At the end I felt she was worrying too much about her technique, so I said, “Technique takes time. It’s ok if you don’t do it perfectly…

Andrea

I met Andrea Missé and Javier Rodriguez right before I moved to Seoul. How did they change my tango? Why did we invite them to Korea to teach? Andrea passed away a few years later. What does her legacy mean to me?