Every time the DJ plays a milonga tanda, the dance floor empties and the bar fills up. This is for the few dancers who jump to their feet anyway.

We were drinking macchiatos at a busy café, enjoying the shy sun of the late winter afternoon. Earlier that day, we had two private classes. Our chat was a continuation of what we’d worked on. Rafael was basically my first formal tango teacher – all I had before were informal instructions from more experienced dancers I met or asked to teach me. And there, in that moment, he taught me one of the most important things I needed to hear…

When you start dancing, many things get into the bucket labeled “tango,” and a lot of them have little or no connection to the thing that evolved to be danced at milongas. With time, as you learn, the definition becomes more nuanced for you. However, I don’t think a clear definition exists – only guidelines. We can forgive beginners since they don’t know – but I’m less forgiving with the more experienced. For example, what most teachers and dancers today…

I know exactly what a good connection in tango feels like, but if someone asked me to define it, I wouldn’t know how. It reminds me of that old paradox by Thomas Aquinas about time: I know what it is, but when asked to define it, I can’t answer. Most tango dancers have one or two unforgettable tandas in their lives – I can recall a few myself. All the other dancing feels like searching for that feeling, trying to…

I like blueberries. The thing is that I didn’t know what they really taste like until later in my childhood. The taste I had recognized as blueberry up to that moment was the artificial aroma used in fruit juices: strong and sharp, with even stronger coloring. It would hit you right in the nose the moment you opened the juice box, trying to allure you from afar. On the other hand, the taste of real blueberries was gentle and subtle.…