a taste of tango

Tango with Jenney Surelia

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Tango thoughts

Riffs, thoughts, meditations, rhymes, stories, rants, ideas and... well I think you get the idea.

How to begin?

Quote "You have to begin by loving tango, to let it go into your veins, until it arrives to your heart. And then seek a good teacher" - Maria Nieves

Tango isn’t something you think you want to do until you’ve tried it. Really tried it. It’s challenging, slow and deliberately detailed. It demands patience and concentration, rewarding you with moments of delight, sighs of satisfaction and human connection in a totally unique way.
Without a good teacher though, all you’ll have are a bunch of steps.


Where to start?

With some music – see Feb’s playlist
By listening to a story – try Firewatching (an audio taste)
With your first embrace – come to class on Wednesday.

It’ll be just the beginning, let it arrive to your heart slowly.

Ideas to make your learning smoother…

There’s a lot going on in group classes and it can be overwhelming.  The teacher/student relationship,  the complexity of the material for you, the rapport between you and your partner, group dynamics are but a handful of things that can be distracting. Here are a few thoughts about how get the best out of your group classes.

Remember the why. 

Why are you in the class? You want to dance in the milonga.  You would like to feel more confident with a particular part of your dance. Or, you’d like to add to what you already know.

You’re investing in your dance.  I don’t mean the money you pay for the class but the time and energy you put into being there, so make the most of it.

Be uncomfortable.

You’re coming to a class to challenge yourself, stretch the challenge muscle. Don’t expect to be spoon-fed.  Tango is as much about you and what you put into it.    If you don’t get it right the first time or even ten times after that, don’t worry.  It’ll be in there, just not ready to come out yet. If you’re overloaded – take a break and come back to it, break it down into smaller part.

Be nice to your partner while you’re feeling uncomfortable. 

Your partner is in the same class, maybe not experiencing the same challenges as you but others.  Be gentle, have compassion and work together.  If you’re stuck, ask for help to unstick and carry on.  Use the same compassion for your fellow dancers in the class, don’t hog the teacher and remember the space is a shared one, just like the milonga.  You don’t need to finish the steps if you run out of space.

Do the steps. 

Bearing mind some spatial awareness for your fellow students.  If you’re having problems, break it down into the steps.  Then move to the next level….

Now, feel your movement rather than do the steps. 

Developing this awareness of your connection with your partner and linking it to the movement takes time.  This is what we’re looking  out for, so look.

Enjoy the process and find the gold nugget

It’s easy after classes to feel frustrated and lose sight of the progress you’ve made.  Remember the ‘aha!’ moments in your class.  The cross that was led, the ochos that were connected all the way through, the end that finished with the music.  There’s your progress and that’s your gold.

On a practical note…

  • Be ready to start, arrive early and change your shoes before the class starts.
  • Put your phone on silent (not vibrate).
  • Freshen up before class – Use deodorant and bring a spare shirt/top to change into if you’re coming from work. Brush your teeth, use mouthwash or pop a mint (no gum). Bring a towel if you sweat a lot.
  • Avoid drinking alcohol before class.
  • If you’re late, come inside quietly and get ready for class without distracting the other students. If you want to explain, apologise after class.
  • If you have a cold or aren’t feeling well, it’s better to skip a class and return when you’re back on form.
  • Do not record or photograph the class without permission.  

The long view…

  • Revisit the basics (I love this).
  • Listen to your body.
  • Listen to the music, in and out of class.
  • Enjoy your dance.

Classes start tonight, see you there. 

The other side of the embrace

‘It’s not like that, it’s like this,’ she tried to help her partner.  He knew that, but something was off and he needed a chance to figure it out. The newness of the embrace and the conversation was big enough, he wanted to get it.  He needed a minute.

‘I just want to dance,’ she cared, but didn’t see that she had to give as well as receive.

So dance they did, they repeated the simple sequence over and again as the teacher made her way to them.  ‘This is great, now I’d like you to lead him, change his weight to connect and off you go’

She realised straight away that asking him to even change the weight was totally different, she’d never led before.  ‘It looks so easy’ she said as she tried again. He waited for her and she found him and started to walk. Her face became more thoughtful as she started to walk a circuit of the floor, she was about to start the sequence again when the teacher motioned for them to swap back.

This time she held her weight without needing him and waited for him, she became more aware of him in the embrace and the feeling of what they were doing. Relieved, his confidence increased and he began to make the sequence with some walking and pauses. 

‘Now you’re dancing,’ said the teacher as they passed by…

Learning the other half of your dance will not mean that you will progress more quickly as a dancer.  Progressing rapidly isn’t the aim though.  It will make you understand your partner and their needs better and help you to adapt to them and that is where everything starts.  When you hold back and fill in the blanks, the conversation to be had is very different.

Find out more about this way of learning to dance tango by joining a taste of tango workshop.  The January session is fully booked but there are spaces available on the 14th April.  You can book your places here.

Clocks go back tomorrow…

A number of years ago my students got me thinking.  Nothing new there, but this time was different.  I wondered how I could find a way to help people learn outside of my classes.  They would often say “I need you in my head” and somewhere in mine, a light went off.  

What if I removed the visual of me as a teacher? If they didn’t have something to look at, to copy, they would be able to focus on what they were doing with their bodies and how connected they were in their dancing.  Audio tasters came to mind and with that I would be able to share stories, ideas and lessons, as I do with my physical classes, just that I would be a guiding voice.   People could listen to them anywhere, as many times as they wanted and play around with my suggestions for dancing.  It would take concentration and patience, but those are prerequisites for learning tango.

Firewatching - part 1 a tango story

Here it is, ‘Firewatching’ – an audio taste of tango.  This version is not the first,  but it’s the first I am ok to share.  Wherever you are, you can dance in an embrace and I would love to know how you get on.  The clocks go back tomorrow and you have an extra hour -in theory-.  What could you do with all that time? Hmmm….

Love > passion

Passion, if I had a pound for each time tango was described using this word I’d have a sizeable fortune worthy of being guarded in Gringotts. Descriptions that read as, ‘A vertical expression of a horizontal desire’, fiery and filled with desire.  Burning emotions, raw energy.  I feel like I need a cup of tea and a sit down.
When you put two people together, the outcomes are endless and unique.  Passion in this sense is but one tone of the spectrum and seduction is not the only objective.  The reaction produced by these elements in their relationship to one another and the music show the true beauty of tango, love.
There is music, and lyrics, for a panorama of emotions, relationships and situations which gives rise to the idea of moving beyond the default values of passion, seduction and betrayal, man and woman with the music.
Sweetness and the innocence of first love, the richness of lives spent together and shared history. The unconditional love and tenderness of parent and child. The bitterness of loves lost and betrayed.  Sometimes the process of learning to move together, you’re both vulnerable but right there in the moment and trying your best.  It’s all love.
The act of placing a person in front of each other and creating movement hints at a story that’s waiting to be told, and they will only find it out in that moment through their embrace.  But, it’ll be painted in shades of love.

My first tango class

and so it began…

“Would you like to go to a tango class?” Stefan asked me, actually he asked me in French so it went something like “Ça te dit d’aller dans un cour du tango?”
“Sure, why not?  Um, what’s tango?”
and so it began…

the world of the CitéU

1999, Paris, the 14th arrondissement to be precise,  I arrived with 3 large suitcases to study at Paris V for a year and was lucky enough to get a room at the Cité Universitaire (or CitéU for short), a student residence with a global feel. The complex stretched out from it’s grand entrance opposite the RER with large ‘houses’ representing countries, institutions and people of note from all over the world.  Some were constructed with an architectural reference from their home nation. The Japanese house had sliding doors, a large roof and deep eaves. The Moroccan house had beautiful mosaics and you could eat couscous there every Friday.  The Swiss house was a jewel at the Cité that architecture lovers would come to admire as it was designed by no less than Le Corbusier.  Rooms were firstly allocated according to nationality and after that wherever there was space.  Stefan from Belgium, lived in Fondation Biermans-Lapôtre (the Belgian House) and I lived in the College Franco-Brittanique with its red bricks and bay windows conceived by French architects as a nod to the entente cordiale.  Tango classes happened in the Argentine House, naturally, well, I found that out when Stefan told me.
Off we went one evening when winter’s darkness hadn’t quite yet released its grip on spring.  Walking into this room the first thing I noticed was the music, old but new to my ears, comfortable yet different, there seemed to be complex but identifiable layers, a group of people were dancing, the music stopped and the teachers started speaking, we were late! I hurriedly took off my coat and waited for my equally wet behind the ears partner.

Watch & do…

The class was watch and do. Watch, I did and when the teacher Edgardo came to us feel, what was going on.  I spent the first half fighting poor Stefan in the embrace.  Twenty odd years trying to be an independent woman and now I was expected to just follow a man? ‘You’re not doing it right’ I grappled, ’Not like this, like this’, I instructed, back-leading as after 5 mins of watching, I was clearly an expert on the matter.  I thought I was trying to be helpful, I was being a pain in the arse. He on other hand had the patience of a saint. Really.

Now listen…

Edgardo’s dance was something totally different, I could understand, he was clear, it didn’t feel like following him, just being there for the conversation.  I got back to Stefan and this time tried to listen to what was going on.  It worked much better.  Not perfect, quite rough actually but the exchange was there, it was real. I could feel where we needed to go and my grappling turned into more of a hug. It was a start and I loved it.  ‘Ok so we’re going here, I’m coming with you, I want to make this more comfortable for us, my balance, oops, sorry!?! yes that was my foot, don’t worry…wait I need more time here, oh, that was your foot, sorry!’  and so it really began.

A taste memory

Can I remember what we did in that first class? Absolutely not. Can I remember how it made me feel? Totally.  I wanted to do more, that there was lots to learn, it would take time, patience and more than likely be never ending, but I definitely wanted more. I’d had a taste and was going to start collecting them.

Obama’s tango

A man was put into a potentially awkward situation a couple of nights ago.  You know the one, when he’s at a formal dinner and a skilled professional dancer asks him to dance.  This however wasn’t one of those normal situations.  This was Barack Obama, husband, father, POTUS, and now, tango dancer.

All the world’s press ‘eyes’ were on him, with reactions and micro-expressions being analysed in minutiae as he accepted the invitation.  At first he politely declined, but then rose from the table and got ready to tap into his dance reserves.  Facebook was filled with social tango dancers excitedly sharing videos of the dancing, “first Pope Francis and now Obama!” read the comments.  Some gave critique on his performance, posture, walk, others talked about how the finish was, his salsa moves knocking her tango poise off balance, her back-leading (well they were ‘performing’ and he wasn’t doing enough).  A few teachers jokingly (some not) said that if he needed lessons they could come to him.

The thing is, he was lucky.  Few people have the chance to ‘try’ with an experienced dancer and with so much space around them.  The tourists who visit milongas in Buenos Aires wanting to dance thinking they can ‘wing it’, without actually having an idea about how the dance and more importantly the social setting of tango works, end up causing more chaos for others than the fun they have.  No one ‘wins’ at the end of the day and tango remains one of those dances that is too difficult to attempt but interesting enough to bring up in small talk “you know I’ve tangoed in BAs”.

But the other thing is this, tango was lucky.  Whether it’s the President of the United States or your friend who has just seen an old Saura film and wants to dance, it’s moments like these that bring tango up on someone’s radar, and possibly inspire them to try.  I’m grateful for those moments because tango doesn’t scream at you to start, it burns bright and captivates, then it’s up to you to find it.   Whether it’s one of the academies that has sprung up in Buenos Aires now multi-million pound tango market or you are able to find a local teacher who is passionate about the social side, the craft and practise, not steps and certificates, the thing is to start.  Yes you can.

Advent calendar, day 1… ‘Sunderland’


I first heard about the Sunderland practica in Villa Urquiza from a friend talking about amazingly elegant and clean dancers. Curious, I went to see what it was all about. I arrived in this large room with stripes marked on the floor trying not to feel totally out of my element but after 2 minutes felt welcome.

The practica starts in the same way each week, an hour of individual practice, walking and then ochos. Men on one side of the room and women on the other. Like any practice it took me a while to settle into it. Distracted, I wanted to dance, stretch more. “No” said one of the young assistants, ‘too much stretch is exaggerating your walk…”
Slowly, with each step I began to get into the zone, concentrating on different elements of my movement, my weight, how I would start, finish, how I felt, trying to remember the different feelings, just walking in time to the music. There was so much there walking by myself that the hour flew by, I found myself wanting to carry on when the dancing part started.
There was a mature elegant lady who with her assistant was supervising us girls whilst the boys were under the watchful eye of her husband. Both of them were so welcoming and friendly, they invited me to join the group of dancers left at the end for a spot of dinner. After I learnt that Carlitos Perez and his wife Rosa are teachers and dancers with a wealth of experience and they have been running the pratica at Sunderland for years, producing champions of the salon competitions but more importantly amazing social dancers who have beautiful smooth walks and rich turns. Yes I’m talking about the likes of Sebastian Jimenez & Maria Ines Bogado, Dante Sanchez & Ines Muzzopappa.
To open the first day of the advent calendar, here’s a picture of the practica at Sunderland, courtesy of Frank Seifart. Bottom right you can see Carlitos at work

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