A tango class at the Hidden Dream Tango Café. Photo: Guo Yingguang

By Vera Penêda

Art, culture, way of life… Tango's appeal and passionate followers made it sway into a global phenomenon. Wrapped in hot and bothered myths, the music and the dance survived social upheaval and censorship to stride into the world heritage list and charm people from all walks of life. In Beijing, a fast growing community celebrates Tango every day of the week. These bohemians say they can no longer live without Tango. As the trailblazer who brought it to the capital seems to be lost to history, we tail the devotees for a taste of the first Tango in Beijing.

Hutong Tango

Far away from its city Buenos Aires, Tango bears a peculiar identity when you find a Turkish man dancing in the only Tango café in town hidden in a thousand year old hutong. But a plaintive bandoneón (Tango's primal instrument similar to an accordion) echoing in a warm-lit bar makes it hard not to yield to the dance.

"Tango is a way to dance all your life, to cry and enjoy, to channel all your emotions. It always makes you feel better," said Tayfun Bayram and Laura Chazarreta, the only Argentinean Tango teachers in Beijing.

Bayram was 24 when he started taking classes in a Tango art school in Istanbul. "We met at a milonga (a Tango party)," they said, when Chazarreta, originally from Buenos Aires, was living in Vienna and went to Turkey on holidays.

"We fell in love, got married and moved to Bejing in 2003 because of my job as a travel agent," Bayram said. The couple is co-owner of the Hidden Dream Tango Café, the only Tango themed venue in Beijing.

"The first thing Tango people do when they move is to check in and see where they can find a milonga," Chazarreta said. At the time, Beijing had not yet embraced Tango. "There were few people dancing here and there, occasional milongas, but there wasn't a community like you can find in every major city worldwide," they recalled.

They started by organizing parties at Kokomo in Sanlitun, but they wanted a Tango inspired location. Later they found Hidden Dream and convinced their Chinese partner to revamp it into a Tango spot. The place draws in more revelers every day.

Meanwhile, kindred spirits in Beijing were eager to engage in Tango. "We started organizing Tango nights at home, with friends and people who'd like to learn the first steps," said Michael Schroeder, a German lawyer who arrived in Beijing in 2005.

"But more and more people joined, it become a regular thing and finally we had to find a place that could accommodate more than 50 people," he said after wrapping one of his classes at the Sino Chu Wine Bar.

The Beijing Tango community grew to about 100 people, plus occasional visitors. From Tuesday to Sunday there are classes, milongas and workshops around town, in events that bring together up to 15 nationalities.

Introduced by foreigners, "Tango is slowly getting rooted in Beijing," Michael said, happy to pursue a Berlin born passion. Local Tango lovers who joined this party are usually between 20 and 50. They're often educated professionals who speak English and are highly interested in cultural exchange.

"Tango is popular worldwide and every big city has a Tango community. Chinese in Beijing are also more interested in learning about other cultures," said Diego Make, the Chinese instructor at Tango Chino Club.

First steps

"Just walk naturally, brush the floor with your feet. Listen to the music and relax. Every strong beat is a step," instructors repeat the basics, swishing the floor in front of the students that follow them in a circle.

The walk, the musicality and the connection with a partner are the most important lessons in Tango. After the warm-up, it takes two for the abrazo, the embrace. "Connect with your partner, stay with your man in Tango," teachers recommend, "and no spaguetti arms."

Tango sets apart from other dances because its walk is improvised and the sequence of movements is variable. Music and partnership are the only rules on the dancefloor. By then, some students seem hypnotized by the music, others aren't so strongly committed, but all seem to enjoy the ride.

"I don't even know what I just did. But this is fun," said Rich Keerati, 29, from the US, who landed in class for the first time. "I arrived a couple of months ago and wanted to do something besides Chinese classes. Tango seems interesting and very elegant," he said.

Jocelyn Yang, a 25-year-old Chinese, agreed. "Tango puts my mind out of everything, it's a stress release and so enjoyful. I thought salsa was sexy, but Tango is sexy and elegant."

When it comes to connection, Natalie Roitman and Nicolas Favard, in their early 30s, have chemistry on their side. "We had the dream to dance Tango together," explained Roitman, who is Argentinean but mostly lived in Israel and never learned Tango.

"In the beginning it is difficult and not exactly relaxing because you're thinking about the steps and the weight change," said Favard, from France. "When you get it right it's great," they said.

Chi and culture

Rather than a background in dance, which helps posture and musicality, the progress depends on personal effort and practice. Women tend to step up level in two or three months. It takes men twice as long because they have to learn how to take the lead. This initial challenge and a global trend that draws men to other sports instead of dance might help explain why more women join Tango communities around the world.

A Tango is a three-minute love story. More than just body movement, Tango is a culture, rapt in emotions and twofold energy that feed the soul. "When I dance Tango, I fall in love," said Camila Ye, a Taiwanese Tango teacher, who incorporates the concept of chi in her lessons to make Tango easier to her Chinese students.

"It's not just a dance, Tango shares some principles with Chinese tai chi or kung fu," she said, "if you don't show your inner energy, you won't connect with your partner" and not even perfect steps can save you on the dancefloor.

An open mind and heart is the golden rule to truly enjoy the music, understand the embrace and get the stroll, the ocho and the giros all right. "You don't have to memorize steps. You share a language without the common gaps between cultures," explained Stefanie Eschenlohr, German, who embraced Tango and its culture in Beijing "during the SARS period, when the whole city was shut down and there was nothing to do."

Enchanted by folks doing ballroom in parks, she gave her first steps in the open hair, then enrolled Tango classes and now assists Michael Schroeder in his classes. "It's a music and body language code, it's about sharing emotions. I believe that's the fascination in Tango and why it is so popular," she explained.

Tango's charm is to nourish body and soul. "It's beautiful," said Stefanie, "a smooth way to keep your body in shape, and rewarding personally and socially." It's a way to get in touch with your personality. "Tango makes me feel more human," Tayfun Bayram said.

Class fees range between 50-80 yuan. For more information about Beijing Tango:

beijingtango.canalblog.com

Hidden Dream Tango Café

6403-0688 or contact Tayfun 13910103475

Sino Chu Wine Bar

8532-2418

Camila Ye

www.camilaye.com

Tango Chino Club

13911201872

verapeneda@globaltimes.com.cn

Tango Tale

Tango is an intercontinental story of highs and lows tied with economic and political episodes. The word was allegedly born before the dance. One popular theory talks of African slaves dancing in a "closed place" or "reserved ground" called Tango, which was also the name of a drum, the Tangomao.

When Portuguese arrived to Africa in the second half of the 15th century, the Latin word tangere (to touch or to tap) met Tango's African lineage. When slaves arrived to Argentina in the mid-1800 the word Tango was used to describe the place where African slaves and free blacks gathered to dance.

In the early 1900s Buenos Aires was a melting pot of immigrants and natives mingling with the music and dance of different cultures. Caribbean habanera and candombe rhythms from Africa quickly mixed with traditional waltzes and polkas.

Immigrants fused the dance with a deep sense of loss and longing for the families and countries they left behind. From the brothels and bar salons, Tango ascended to high society and established itself both as dance and music. It spread worldwide throughout the 20s and 30s.

Tango's golden age was interrupted in the 50s when it was banned as subversive due to politically inspired lyrics but the culture survived underground. In the shadows throughout the rock 'n' roll era, Tango reemerged with the Paris opening and world tour of the show Tango Argentino in mid-80s.

"La Cumparsita" is the most famous Tango song ever. Tango superstar Carlos Gardel, old maestros like Francisco Canaro and Carlos di Sarli, and later Astor Piazolla promoted Tango. Recently, names like Gotan Project and Carlos Libedinsky injected it with electronic elements. Now there's a global network of Tango communities with the biggest in Paris, Berlin and Tokyo and smaller ones in Dubai and Beijing.