Dancing tango since the early 1990s, Luciana Valle is regarded around the world as one of the most dynamic and articulate teachers of Argentine Tango. In her popular tango school "El Motivo" in Buenos Aires, Luciana offers a compendium of thematic workshops and inspires dancers with her remarkable insight, energy, and clarity. Through her teaching, a prodigious number of great dancers have themselves become touring teachers over the years. Luciana has been a regular visiting teacher to SF for … Continue reading
Thoughts on Tango
Time flies… 11 years of “SF Loves Tango”!
We can't believe we're already a quarter through 2023! Did you know that the very first post on SF Loves Tango was published by Maika on April 20, 2012? And April 21, 2019, is when the brains and hands behind SF Loves Tango changed to us, Xiaomin & Jonas? We would like to celebrate these anniversaries by recapping what we've accomplished post-COVID and start looking ahead! Winter 2021 We cleaned up outdated content, and Xiaomin designed a new cover and new profile pictures for our … Continue reading
Women’s Gathering, not your usual gathering
With the intention to bring the tango community closer, and inspired by the book The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, our beloved tango dancer, teacher, DJ, and organizer, Ayano Yoneda, hosted the first two editions of Women’s Gathering at the beginning of 2023. The following conversations happened between SF Loves Tango and Ayano before and after these two events. We would love to share with you the what and why behind these gatherings. ❤️ SF Loves … Continue reading
Che! Tango SF 💬
Che, amigos! What's new? Did you notice the rising of Che! in the SF tango scene? About Che! Che! is the name chosen by Ramada Salieri and Elaine Chiu in the Fall of 2022 to brand their endeavor of creating a collective of all tango-related events. It includes but isn't limited to traditional milongas for social dancing, but also experimental formats, such as música (for musicians to jam and for live music lovers to enjoy), a happy hour event combining concert and milonga, and even an EQ … Continue reading
More Thoughts on Tango
Articles by Guest Writers
Tango Confessions by Tanguera Escondida
SF Loves Tango is thrilled to introduce Tanguera Escondida, our new guest writer. “Tango Confessions by Tanguera Escondida” will be a regular series at SF Loves Tango. Tanguera Escondida (TE) shares her stories, with honesty and a wry sense of humor, the joys and frustrations of dancing Tango in the Bay Area. TE frequents all the […]
More Tango Confessions by Tanguera Escondida
Another humorous story by guest writer Tanguera Escondida: Situations In Which Followers Should Be Paid To Go To Group Classes I recently decided to take a group class with one of my favorite instructors in the Bay area. I love his focus on the basics, his salon tango embrace, the way he walks around the […]
How Many Tandas?
Half a tanda or 10? When do you leave a tanda, and for how many do you stay? The latest from guest writer Tanguera Escondida. One of my worst experiences in tango happened recently. I was sitting along the wall at a popular milonga when a dignified-looking man approached, wearing a pin-striped suit and button-up […]
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 […]
Interviews with Bay Area Teachers and Dancers
Luciana Valle returns August 2023
Dancing tango since the early 1990s, Luciana Valle is regarded around the world as one of the most dynamic and articulate teachers of Argentine Tango. In her popular tango school “El Motivo” in Buenos Aires, Luciana offers a compendium of thematic workshops and inspires dancers with her remarkable insight, energy, and clarity. Through her teaching, […]
Women’s Gathering, not your usual gathering
“I want to extend the invitation to everyone – not only women and gender-marginalized people – to have a safe space to express concerns and practice social skills, to get to know each other outside of the dance, and build a strong community together.”
Alma del Tango, “the soul of Tango” in Marin
Tango can be found in many cities, counties, and suburbs of the Bay Area. Alma del Tango (ADT) is the gem in Marin county, located in the northwestern part. It will be celebrating the 26th anniversary at their Milonga de San Anselmo on September 23rd, 2022 with live music performances featuring visiting artist Hugo Satorre […]
The Dome, a tango event space unicorn
If you haven’t heard of The Dome or haven’t yet been there for a live tango music event, you are missing out. What is The Dome & who is behind it? The Dome Center for Art, Music and Dance, is a dome-shaped live/work space for Bay Area artists in Oakland, established by the renowned sculptor […]
Milonga Spotlight: El Pato Loco
SF Bay Area’s newest milonga: “El Pato Loco” (The Crazy Duck!) Since the inaugural launch in March at the Starline Social Club in Oakland, the milonga has attracted a great crowd of tango dancers looking to spend a casual Sunday afternoon dancing. The third edition is happening this Sunday June 9, 12 PM to 4 […]