 | Tine Herreman and Victor Batista, shown at a Tango Club practice, both enjoy the drama of the dance. |
It's not uncommon to hear the regular participants of weekly Sunday evening tango practices at the Graduate & Professional Student Center at Yale (GPSCY) utter words and phrases like "in need of a fix," "hooked" or "intoxicating."
Tango dancing, they say, can have that effect. Those who are drawn to it usually can't get enough.
For these dancers, the Yale Tango Club offers a sort of tonic for their longings: Through the group, they can join with others to learn new steps or movements, practice their dancing and take excursions to tango clubs in New York, Providence or elsewhere to dance the night away.
Most of all, since "it takes two to tango," they are sure to find a willing dance dance partner in any gathering of club members.
The club was formed a year ago by Tine Herreman, a doctoral student in genetics, and others who were taking tango classes taught by Judy Phelps at the Payne Whitney Gymnasium. They wanted more opportunities both to dance and to practice what they had learned during their weekly gym classes. Herreman, who is the club's president, and some of her tango classmates began the weekly Sunday night practice sessions at GPSCY, where both beginner and intermediate students learn from and teach each other.
The club also hosts workshops led by world-famous tango dancers, such as Argentinean tango maestro Luciana Valle, and arranges periodic dance parties.
Although the Yale Tango Club is a student-run group, its members include faculty and staff members, who dance and mingle with graduate and undergraduate students at club events. While their backgrounds are diverse, the members share a passion for what they describe as a dance form that is at once elegant and sensual.
"We dance Argentine tango, not the ballroom variety with its exaggerated moves and theatrical head snapping," explains Herreman. "In Argentine tango, partners dance with about one foot between them or have close upper-body contact, which makes for smaller movements than you see in ballroom tango.
"It's an elegant and exhilarating dance," she continues. "When you have a good tango partner who will sweep you across the floor, you get a tango 'rush.' It's quite an adventure."
While less blatantly theatrical than the ballroom style, Argentine tango is no less dramatic, say members of the Yale Tango Club.
"Tango is the kind of dance where every time you do it, it feels different," comments Alexandra Rose, a sophomore from Berkeley College who serves on the club's board of directors. "For women, who follow the lead of a male partner, the dance is different with every person you dance with. It can be very sensual -- slow and drawn out and passionate -- or it can be very fast moving. One of the things I like about it is that it is a dance form in which there is a lot of freedom and style."
While tango has come to be associated with the high-society life of the wealthy and glamorous in the 1940s, Herreman notes that the dance actually originated in Argentina in the late 19th century, when it was developed and began to flourish among the immigrants in the Buenos Aires region. Competing against each other, men often created and improvised new and fancy steps as a way to allure women, says Herreman. The tango music that was born of the tradition reflects the many cultures of the immigrants in Argentina: African, Spanish, Indian and others.
Since its earliest days, the dance has gone through periods of resurgence, such as during the "golden age of tango" in the 1940s, and is presently "gaining momentum globally," says Herreman, a native of Belgium who has observed the growing popularity of the tango in both European countries and in Argentina, where for several decades it had fallen out of trend.
For the Sunday practices (held at 8 p.m. at GPSCY), Herreman brings along her extensive CD collection of tango music, much of which features the accordion-like bandoneon, the signature instrument of tango music.
Victor Batista, an assistant professor of chemistry who is a regular participant in the Sunday practices, says that his passion for tango dancing is due, in part, to the nostalgic music associated with the dance.
"I love having the opportunity to interpret the music with a partner," says Batista. "From the leader's point of view, that is what tango is about: You communicate what you feel to your partner and she responds to that suggestion and gives something back."
A native of Argentina, Batista never learned how to tango in his home country. He took Judy Phelps' class at the gym and became so enchanted with the dance that he went on to have private lessons with her. He soon began traveling to tango clubs in New York City, where he began to perfect his own dancing.
"I got really hooked," says Batista, who has developed the reputation among club members as being one of the best male dancers in the group.
While having a flair for drama and some interest in dressing up formally for the dance may be qualities shared by many tango dancers, Batista asserts that the dance calls, most especially, for "sensitivity."
"I think more than the drama, tango calls for sensitive people," he says. "I think the dance allows you an opportunity to express your feelings for special moments in your life -- responding to them through the music. If you have that sensitivity, this dance will call you."
Marina Davies, a graduate student in French, admits that she decided to try tango dancing very reluctantly; while living in Paris last year, her boyfriend coaxed her into attending a class there.
"I said, 'No, I'm so uncoordinated,' but he urged me to try it," recalls Davies. "I learned quickly that the dance is really exciting and the music is beautiful. I find that the music alone is something that can be enjoyed at so many different levels."
Batista and Davies are among some 30 dancers who attend the Sunday evening practices, where they help various newcomers to the gathering -- which is always open to the public -- learn such tango movements as "ochos" (where women do a figure-8 on the floor), "ganchos" (which involve the leader hooking his leg around his partner) and "sacadas" (where a dancer steps into his or her partner's space and the partner responds by sweeping a leg around the initiator).
"A lot of tango is just walking -- with a lot of variation," explains Herreman. "In most tango dances, the leader walks forward and the follower walks backward. It's pretty simple."
Rose, who considers herself a relative newcomer to the dance, says that she loves to partner with experienced tango dancers, but still enjoys the simplicity of the dance with novices.
"One thing I try to convey to beginners is that some of the best dances I've ever had have been easy, where you just walk around and be graceful. If you dance with someone who is trying to unleash his whole repertoire, it can be stressful," she says.
Jason Lu, a postdoctoral student from China and a newcomer to tango, recently spent part of his first visit to the Sunday night tango practice just watching other dancers.
"I'm interested in learning to tango and think it is a nice way to meet people," says Lu, who has been on the campus for only two months. He notes that the dance is also growing in popularity in China.
Herreman gave Lu the chance to observe for part of the session, and then encouraged him to join her in a dance. Lu grinned on the dance floor after tentatively mastering the basic steps.
"We recommend that for people to learn effectively, they take Judy Phelps' beginner class at the gym," Herreman notes. "But we're all eager to help beginners out at our Sunday practices. The more people who learn to tango, the more opportunities we all have to dance."
In addition to their own activities, members of the Yale Tango Club have met other tango "addicts" at once-monthly tango parties hosted by Phelps at a site near the campus. "Judy has really helped to create a sort of tango community," Herreman notes.
Most of the club's offerings are free and open the public. The Graduate and Professional Student Senate has provided support for many club activities.
The club's next event -- an all-day workshop led by tango masters Robin Thomas and Jennifer Bratt -- will take place on Sunday, Feb. 8, noon-10 p.m. at GPSCY, 204 York St., and includes two classes for beginners and two for intermediate dancers. This event is free for Yale students and Yale Tango Club members.
"We welcome everyone to tango with us," says Herreman. "We'll be working on getting ready for Valentine's Day."
For information about the Yale Tango Club, club membership or the upcoming workshop, send e-mail to yaletangoclub@yahoo.com or visit the club's website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/YaleTangoClub/. Beginning on Jan. 20, Judy Phelps will teach a tango class for beginners on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at the Payne Whitney Gym; a class for intermediate dancers begins that same day at 6:30 p.m. For information about these or other spring-term physical education classes at the gym, call (203) 432-2488.
-- By Susan Gonzalez
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