By Vera Rosales
“Tango has a way of bringing people together no matter who you are and where you are from.”
Oliver and Lin Krstic met back in February 2012 in Barcelona at a ‘milonga’, a place or an event where Argentine Tango is danced. The two are founders and instructors of Tango-OK™?, a Dubai-based tango company that teaches the art of Argentine Tango to people of different ages and walks of life. Tempo got to dance with the couple and chat about what sparked their love for the social dance that is tango.
Tempo: How did you two meet to create a school for Tango here?
Oliver: I had just returned from my annual Buenos Aires trip where I spent three months intensively working on my Tango. Apart from teaching Tango, I was then traveling a lot in Europe and Asia as a professional Tango DJ. I was invited to play at one of the milongas in Barcelona in February 2012, and on my day off, I went to a milonga ‘Casa Valencia’ to relax. There, I met Lin whom I knew I had to marry! 😉
Lin: I was in Barcelona for work – I wasn’t into Tango professionally then. I took a few days off to have a vacation in Barcelona and went to a milonga with a friend and there I met him, the love of my life – Oliver :-). Ever since then we have been inseparable. Oliver was living in Switzerland. I had a job in Dubai at that time so Oliver moved here to be with me and to figure out what he would do here.
Oliver: I couldn’t imagine doing anything else other than Tango. I thought to go back to my previous profession – private banking, but Tango was always on my mind. We decided we would give it a shot. In November 2012, we created our first group class at The Fridge Dubai, and to our most pleasant surprise, received 14 students. We were excited and encouraged. We never looked back from then. Today, we have our own studio in Dubai and a really wonderful group of students, some of whom came to Buenos Aires with us this past August.
Lin: When the classes started taking off it was impossible for me to sustain my day job. I left my job and dedicated myself to Tango full-time with Oliver.
Tempo: Argentine Tango was declared by UNESCO as part of the world’s ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’. What makes it so unique?
Oliver: Argentine Tango developed in the late 19th century among the working class in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Montevideo (Uruguay). In that period, Argentina experienced massive immigration with predominantly Europeans arriving to seek a better life. This melting pot of cultures of the Europeans, Africans and native-born Argentinians created the dance and music, which borrowed elements from one another. UNESCO has defined the ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ as that which “… is transmitted from generation to generation, and is constantly recreated by communities and groups, in response to their environment, their interaction with nature, and their history. It provides people with a sense of identity and continuity, and promotes respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.”
As you can see, Tango is more than a dance. It’s a reflection of a basic human condition, and it carries with it generations of human interactions and creativity. Tango, its true essence, and all that surrounds it as its culture and etiquettes are worth protecting and we guard this dearly. In our teaching of the dance, we not only try to teach our students to move, we transmit to them what IS truly Tango.
Tempo: You will be holding the first ever Tango marathon this month. Can you tell us more about it? What are you most excited about?
Lin: The Tango marathon is a popular concept in especially Europe. It’s basically an extended milonga, sometimes 3-4 days in duration. The Tango marathon is an event by social Tango dancers for social Tango dancers. Tango DJs are invited to play the music for these marathons to motivate the crowd to keep on dancing. Our first Tango Marathon here in Dubai is called miMARATHON and it will take place on 21st November 2014 (Friday) at The Fridge Dubai. It’s a 10-Hour event and we have a promising group of DJs to play the music. These DJs will play music from the Golden Age of Tango (1940s and 1950s). We’re excited as this is our first marathon and we can’t wait to see all our friends, and students in one place, sharing Tango together in one long magical evening.
Tempo: What would be a normal day at the dance studio?
Oliver: We have Tango almost everyday at our studio in Dubai. On Saturdays, we go to Abu Dhabi where we conduct a Beginner’s and an Intermediate Class at MoxieZone at twofour54. In the evenings, we teach at New York University.
Tempo: Any message to those interested in learning Tango?
Oliver: Anyone can dance Tango. Tango is about embrace-and-walk. It is said to be a ‘walking-dance’. If you can walk, if you can embrace, you can dance Tango. Social Tango which is danced in milongas in Buenos Aires and all over the world, and one which we teach at TANGO-OK™, is different. What is most powerful and beautiful is rarely visible to the eye but felt between the two dancers in an embrace. Social Tango is about connection – with the partner, with the music and with the whole dance floor. It’s an internal expression of Tango.
Tempo: Your future plans for Tango-OK™?
Oliver: We would like to focus on enriching our current Tango classes and to give our students the best possible Tango experiences. We have plans to invite great teachers and dancers to come to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for special workshops. For example, last year, we had Dante Sanchez and Ines Muzzoppappa, very young and talented dancers and teachers, winners of the 2007 World Tango Championship. They graced us with their performances and workshops. Just in October, we had Marite Lujan, a well-known name in Tango. She has 20 years of Tango under her belt and is well-loved as an excellent teacher and one who embodies Tango in her every breath. In the months moving forward, we have teachers lined up and will announce their visits as soon as we can confirm the details.
In July/August 2015, we will conduct our 2nd Buenos Aires Tango Holiday – the last one was a resounding success. Of course, we would like to host miMARATHON – Dubai Tango Marathon 2nd Edition. Apart from that, let’s see! We live in the moment so we will just have to go with the flow.
More info: www.tango-ok.com |tangookay@gmail.com
