Going to a milonga regularly, to a tango ball or a practica, to dance with others: all of this has become virtually impossible in the past year.

Corona has put a spoke into the wheel of the Tango world.

Of course, as long as you have a steady dance partner   and ideally live together, you can dance tango together extensively in the living room.

Tango teachers give online lessons, tango Djs organize online milongas, tango orchestras play at online concerts.

All of this has its place. It helps to keep the flame of tango burning. It helps that dancers get the impetus to keep dancing and not to let their dancing skills wither away.

And above all it helps to keep alive the tango community, which has grown over many years.
And last but not least, all those who make a living from tango can gain at least a minimal income.

 

However, quite apart from all those who have no permanent dance partner at all, dancing only with your partner does not seem to be really satisfying in the long run.

An Italian tango dancer and good friend recently put it in a nutshell:

"Mi mancano tanto gli abbracci" - "I miss the hugs so much".

And by that she didn't mean her husband's hug. She is happily married to a nice man who is also a fine dancer. In their house they have set up a large dance room with parquet and have the opportunity to dance almost always if they want to.

But that is not the point.

What she misses, what we and many other dancers miss, too, are the hugs with all our friends.
The hugs when you meet and greet each other or when you dance together.

Dancing together in the Ronda *, the round of all dancers, with everything that seems so natural, is obviously an experience that cannot be replaced easily.

Tango is traditionally seen by Argentine tango dancers as "baile social", a social dance, an occasion not just to dance but also to meet friends, chat, eat and drink together and just have fun.

For us, that also includes everything before the actual dancing:

The dressing up before the milonga: For tonight the casual batik trousers or the little black dress? Silk scarf, tie or bow tie?

The excited search for a new milonga location, in narrow streets or in a barren industrial area on the outskirts of the city.

The way through backyards and dark staircases, here in Italy sometimes driving through forests and on gravel roads towards an enchanted "Castello", from where you can already hear the tango music in the dark of the night.

The aroma of fried calamari and freshly brewed espresso in the restaurant and the hoot in front of the football game on the TV screen before you reach the back room where the Milonga takes place.

Then the mixture of perfume, sweat and dusty plush sofas, optionally in summer the scent of jasmine and oleander as well as the chirping of cicadas.

The happy greetings, with a kiss on the right, a kiss on the left, or with a casual pat on the shoulder.

And finally, immersing yourself in the Ronda, even if it is perhaps so narrow that you can barely move forward.

The feeling of dancing to the music not only with your partner, but in harmony with all the other couples.

This is tango!

In the corona crisis, we can feel how important this togetherness and this unifying community is for tango.

Talking with other Tango dancers we hear about the same longing for dancing tango together,  about the magical moments on the dance floor, about the longing to share a beautiful experience with many others.

And this longing is much stronger than we could imagine before, when dancing tango, attending a milonga, and meeting other dancers was the most natural thing and a matter of course.

Therefore we are also convinced that our Tango   despite all the difficulties we are facing at the moment, will survive this crisis and probably even emerge stronger in the long term.

* More about the Ronda, the common round of all tango dancers:
http://tango-lessons.com/a-little-tango-lesson-help-me-ronda-dancing-in-harmony-with-all-the-other-dancers-on-the-dance-floor.html

We hope you share our confidence!

If you are already thinking of your 2021 vacation, you might find a suitable date in our tango course program.

HERE you can find our complete Tango program for 2021:   www.tango-holidays.com

Since the further development of the COVID19 pandemic is unfortunately not yet foreseeable, we are planning our Tango weeks 2021 under "Corona conditions" as a precaution, that means above all with a reduced number of participants and  our "hygiene concept", which we applied successfully in our courses in September and October 2020.

And of course you can book a Tango holiday at La Rogaia at Zero Risk:
If a course cannot take place due to "force majeure" (e.g. the COVID19 pandemic) or if the participants cannot travel due to travel restrictions / travel warnings, we grant free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of the course. We will refund your full payment.