Of course a blog about Argentina would not be complete if it did not include at least one post about the national dance, the Tango. I love to dance and have been slightly obsessed with dancing ever since I can remember (it’s a shame my mother never signed me up for dance). My dances of choice are not the typical dances that are seen in hit clubs or on music videos. I absolutely love and adore Hispanic dances including the Salsa, Tango, Flamenco, Merengue and so many other ones. Hispanic dances are filled with so much passion and feeling that makes them so much fun to learn and do. Every time I visit a country I make it my goal to learn their national dance and this time around it was time to learn the Tango. For my Spanish 301 class my sophomore year of college I did a research project on the origins of the Flamenco and the Tango and fell in love with the dance from that day on. Friday we went to a milonga (tango club) to take Tango lessons. At first glance you wouldn’t believe that the little place we were in was a house of Tango, but the place was filled with so much character. It reminded me of the streets of La Boca where Tango was originated. It was small with eclectic artwork all around and it felt like we were where Tango was born.
After we looked around at the place at 8:30 we started our class. There were two instructors, one guy and one girl. The girls and guys had to separate and we each learned our respective parts of the Tango. Soon after we picked our partners and practiced, practiced, practiced. It was so much fun! None of us had any idea what we were doing, but the instructors were nice and give us plenty advice. Pretty soon we were getting the hang of it and we didn’t want to stop dancing. This wasn’t your typical Tango lesson. It felt more intimate and much more authentic. You could tell that the instructors really wanted you to learn and that they weren’t just doing all this for show. I loved the experience and the dance and now I just can’t stop practicing. Maybe one day I’ll take an intermediate Tango course and put my newly discovered moves to the test!
Jasmine B.