By Vera Penêda
Grab a rose and push your date onto the dance floor to join the first international Tango marathon in Beijing kicking off tomorrow. "Trasnochando" - from the Spanish "to be up all night" - is a four-day event with a Tango intensive program: music by Tango DJs, performances by local and international dancers, workshops, afternoon milongas, and an after-party until 6 am at several venues in town, until March 21.
"I thought it to be the most sexy and elegant dance in the world," said Daisy Zhang, a 35-yearold Beijing ren, recalling the day she decided to learn the Argentinean dance after she watched the movie The Tango Lesson eight years ago. "I was so touched that I sent an email to some people in Hong Kong because I couldn't find any Tango related events in Beijing." They were the ones who informed Zhang about a local group of about five or six, mostly foreigners, who got together to do the Tango. Since then, the Beijing community has grown.
"I'd say about 100 people currently meet regularly for Tango classes and milonga sessions (Tango parties) and there are more and more Chinese people joining in," said Zhang, who's organizing Trasnochando with Beijing Tango, the main Argentinean Tango organization in Beijing in partnership with local groups Ater Tango, Tango Chino and Taifengo. Beijing Tango was born as an NGO that could gather all people involved in Tango activities, said Zhang. "Trasnochando will be an opportunity to learn from world-renowned Tango professionals from Argentina and Asia and mingle with people from other Tango communities abroad. This interchange brings Beijing people a global view of Tango," she added.
"Tango is a culture and has a lot to do with how people interact socially. Although it's hard to completely carry it into Asia, where culture is so distinct, many people can find its essence and have lots of fun learning it," explained Japan-based instructor Ernesto Borgonovo, 37, from Argentina, who pairs with Japanese Rika Fukuda, 39, his wife. The couple has been coming regularly to Beijing to give group and private lessons during the last two years and will be back for the fourth time to teach and perform at Trasnochando.
"I feel Chinese are fast learners and not as shy as the Japanese in learning the body language code and practising Tango," added the instructor. Bergonovo pinpointed language barriers [because workshops by foreign teachers are often taught in English] and the shortage of experienced teachers based in Beijing, but he notes: "Every time I return to town I see more young people eager to learn how to dance and I see a lot of talent."
"Tango's movements are quite distinct from Asian people's way of feeling the music. My suggestion for Chinese Tango learners is that, instead of trying to be more like Argentineans, learn the essence and viewpoint of genuine Tango dancers and then try to accommodate it," said Taiwan-based instructor Agnes Tang, 34, who started in Tango around 2000 and won the Creative Expression prize in the Asian Tango Championship in Tokyo with her partner Derrick Lee, 34. The couple will teach and perform for the first time in Beijing.
Tang and Lee studied Tango from masters in Argentina, Europe and the US, and they're professional dancers, teachers and choreographers in Taipei, where they ignite a more mature Tango scene of about 600 enthusiasts. "I met some people involved in Tango in Beijing at international festivals and I'm impressed with their eagerness and proactivity to explore every learning opportunity," said Tang, adding that Trasnochando will certainly bring in a multicultural flavor and light up the passion for Tango in the Chinese capital.
For more details visit www.beijingtango.org