It's that time of the year again when we get to dance to our hearts content (and more) at the San Francisco Tango Marathon! This year's sold-out marathon is November 9-11th, and attendance is capped at 450 dancers. So if you'd like to join for next year, make sure to sign up early! I love Tango festivals as it's an opportunity to be surrounded by hundreds of people who share my passion. It's wonderful to dance in unique and beautiful venues with top Tango DJs, orchestras and be surrounded … Continue reading
Articles by Guest Writers
Practicing Tango
Tanguera Escondida returns with more thoughtful and humorous observations on the benefits of practice and a salad with tuna: A couples months ago I said something truly ridiculous to my tango partner, Klondike. He had remarked that I’d danced beautifully at a recent milonga with good posture and elegance. I really took this compliment to […]
Tango and the Feminist
A new guest post By Sasha Cagen “You’re not getting the lead,” he tells me. Gruff, mid-fifties, beady eyes, a ponytail dwindling halfway down his back, Ponytail Man chose me as his partner for this advanced tango class at Floreal, a traditional milonga in Buenos Aires. It’s nice to be chosen, but now I’m not […]
The Art of the Cabeceo
The cabeceo is considered the “Argentine” method of asking someone to dance. And truth be told, it is not easy for us North Americans to feel comfortable staring at someone so directly. But once you get the hang of it, it’s definitely a great way to acknowledge your mutual interest in dancing together. I have […]
Dancing through the Golden Years
With much excitement I introduce a new guest contributor, Andrea Bindereif of Andrea’s Tango Blog. I came across her blog recently and was blown away by her journalistic style of writing and in-depth stories on the Bay Area Tango community. Andrea, born, raised and educated in Germany, came to California in 1994, worked as a […]
Tango Dancing with the Stars
Everyone has to start somewhere. In Tango, we were all beginners at one point. But once we get past the point of being a beginner and become moderately competent, most of us do not want the challenge of dancing with a beginner again. It might make us look bad, or much worse, we may get […]
Teaching Tango in Africa
A few years ago I received an email from Camille Cusumano requesting support for her “Go Fund Me” campaign to teach tango in Africa. Camille is someone I’ve known for several years now, first as the author of Tango: An Argentine Love Story and then in person as a Bay Area dancer and teacher. Her […]
Articles about Bay Area Milongas
Milonga Spotlight: The Verdi Club Milonga
The Charming Verdi Club Milonga. The Verdi Club still depicts its original 1930’s charm and on a Thursday evening it will have you feeling as if you returned to Tango’s Golden Age. Ladies are wearing their fanciest dresses and sparkling heels and the men are handsome in suits and jackets. Chandeliers loom over the large […]
The Tradition Continues at Nora’s Tango Weekend
Stanford Tango Week, later to become Nora’s Tango week, is believed to be the first Argentine Tango Festival in the United States. Nora, along with her late-husband Raul Dinzelbacher, were the first Argentine Tango instructors at Stanford Tango week in 1991. Nora was involved with Stanford’s yearly Tango festival until 1997, when the Stanford Dance […]
Milonga Spotlight: Milonga Malevaje
The Bay Area has a lot of Tango dancers. But we would not know it if we attend the same venues and see the same people all the time. Only upon venturing out of ones usual spots does it become obvious the abundance of tango dancers in the Bay Area. Someone mentioned to me the […]
Open to Possibilities
Most people will agree that the best dances happen when both the leader and follower are both leading and following each other. In other words, Tango is a conversation in which both partners contribute to the dance. There is something magical that happens when the music flows into our bodies and is expressed as a […]
Milonga Spotlight: El V
El V has a reputation. El Bailongo del Valenciano or “El V” as it’s affectionately known, has been described as the milonga in San Francisco most like one you would find in Buenos Aires. Some say it’s snobby, or intimidating, or that it’s hard to get a dance there. Others return week after week, in […]
Alex Levin Benefit Milonga
There is something about the nature of Tango that fosters a close-knit community. We develop our regular haunts, and see other tango regulars at these places. Sometimes we see each other two, three, or more times a week. With Tango, there is a lot of waiting, watching, and socializing, more than most other social dances. […]