In the mid-nineties, I was with my wife Diane in Barcelona during a Habanera music festival. Everybody was dancing! They were doing the rumba, the cha cha and so forth. And there I was, gazing with deep longing, on the outside but wanting to be on the inside. I decided in that instant. I turned to Diane and said, "I will learn to dance. I will not go to my grave without being a good dancer." We tried various forms of ballroom but nothing really satisfied me. They were just not the dance I was looking for. Then a friend finally mentioned Argentine tango – and voila! I have never looked back.”
I am now teaching tango in my preferred style: close embrace tango. Tango is walking in an embrace. At the heart of my teaching are the principles of frame, walking, and musicality. Mastering these basics is essential to anyone who is thinking of dancing with local dancers in Buenos Aires. I gently guide beginners through the process of learning the fundamentals to prepare them for the social dance floor.
For me, savouring closeness and constantly reinterpreting musical variety is the essence of tango. Discover a dance that has no need of passionate and erotic cliches, but instead is an adventure that begins anew with every embrace, with every step.
Stylistically, I am at home in the traditional tango de salón, as it is danced in Buenos Aires, that I interpret in a very personal and modern way. I love tango because it captivates through its intimate embrace, playful musicality and an almost puristic elegance: a sensual interplay of man and woman without cliché or superficial effect. My tango is newly created in every single moment, and does not just express the music, but genuine feeling.
At the core of my lessons, which are always geared towards improvisational capability, is intensive body work and analysis of tango´s structures. Technical understanding is just a means to concentrate better on the essential: developing one´s own style and relishing the embrace in unison with the music.
I have been dancing and training for many years, which include 14-months in Buenos Aires where I developed my current teaching style. I also make an annual pilgrimage to Argentina to continue with my own development.
I am now teaching tango in my preferred style: close embrace tango. Tango is walking in an embrace. At the heart of my teaching are the principles of frame, walking, and musicality. Mastering these basics is essential to anyone who is thinking of dancing with local dancers in Buenos Aires. I gently guide beginners through the process of learning the fundamentals to prepare them for the social dance floor.
For me, savouring closeness and constantly reinterpreting musical variety is the essence of tango. Discover a dance that has no need of passionate and erotic cliches, but instead is an adventure that begins anew with every embrace, with every step.
Stylistically, I am at home in the traditional tango de salón, as it is danced in Buenos Aires, that I interpret in a very personal and modern way. I love tango because it captivates through its intimate embrace, playful musicality and an almost puristic elegance: a sensual interplay of man and woman without cliché or superficial effect. My tango is newly created in every single moment, and does not just express the music, but genuine feeling.
At the core of my lessons, which are always geared towards improvisational capability, is intensive body work and analysis of tango´s structures. Technical understanding is just a means to concentrate better on the essential: developing one´s own style and relishing the embrace in unison with the music.
I have been dancing and training for many years, which include 14-months in Buenos Aires where I developed my current teaching style. I also make an annual pilgrimage to Argentina to continue with my own development.
Masters of stagecraft: Carlos Gavito & Marcela Duran
(click to play video)
Claude and Diane in close embrace traditional style