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Todd Thompson
I started my student dance life at Halifax by falling in love
with Argentine tango during my first introductory lesson. I soon became
an avid and intense learner, taking lessons whenever offered. Dance
spaces very quickly became my home away from home, and as I progressed
in the dance I realized the next step in my dance journey was to become
an instructor so that I could share with others my love of this
extraordinary dance.
Although I have studied both ballroom dance and salsa, Argentine
tango almost instantly became my primary focus when I was introduced to
this unique dance. I have
invested a great deal of time on lessons and in practice sessions. I
began attending tango workshops and festivals in Canada and in the
United States not long after I became a tango enthusiast.
The Toronto Tango Festival was my first adventure in dancing
outside of Halifax; the impact of the experience was to open my eyes to
the tango world outside of my home community. My twin passions are to
learn and to teach tango, and I take every opportunity to develop my
skills and techniques under the guidance of the many experienced and
insightful teachers I encounter at workshops and festivals across North
America.
Contact Details
902-448-5815
Francie
Early
I fell in love with Argentine tango
over five years ago when a valued long-time professional colleague of
mine, Peter Schwenger, declared:
“Francie, we have a date Sunday afternoon.
I want to introduce you to an art form you will relish, Argentine
tango.” Peter was right; I
was immediately entranced with the dance, with the music, and with my
dance partners. The pull of
tango became inexorable:
learning and dancing this exotic form of movement and connection is what
I do now. By birth I am an
American, by choice a Canadian, by profession a historian and university
professor. But in my heart
of hearts, in some mysterious way, at ground level, I am an Argentine
tango dancer.
Since that fateful first-class day,
I have been a persistent and engaged “follower” of Argentine tango.
I have taken classes and workshops in Halifax, in Toronto, in New
York City, in Boston, and in Miami. I have attended milongas in all of
these places as well as in Budapest, Prague, and Vienna.
Most alluring for me has been Montreal, a city I have loved for
many years and that draws me back again and again now that I am a tango
dancer. The most important
influences on my dance have been Argentinian tango dancers Tomas Howlin
and Noel Strazza, both of whom teach for the premier tango school in
Montreal, Studio Tango. Two
years ago I spent a year in Montreal and took this opportunity to study
intensively at Studio Tango, especially as a private student of Tomas
Howlin.
At present, I continue to study
Argentine tango and to enjoy dancing with friends and strangers wherever
I find myself. Increasingly,
too, I have taken to heart the counsel of Tomas Howlin who told me
several years ago: “Francie,
you need to share your knowledge of tango with others.
As you continue to learn tango, you must also help to develop
your tango community. Tango
is about giving.” Hence,
with others, notably with Todd Thompson and Cristine Thompson, [my El
Proximo fellow enthusiasts], I have taken up Tomas’s challenge:
I am a student of tango, a teacher of tango, and a tango dancer
all rolled into one. The
adventure unfolds before me.
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Cristine Thompson
Tango arises from a long history of moments, and
evolves, continuously, in each moment. Eduardo Arquimbau said, “People
talk about styles of tango, but there is only one tango.
It accommodates itself to every place and every era.”
To dance tango is to share in this creative evolution.
A quote attributed to Miguel Zotto also resonates
for me. “We dance the music, not steps.
You see; we are painters.
We paint the music with our feet.”
As humans, artists of life, how can we help but be drawn to
tango.
Tango speaks to my passion for learning. The
combination of physics and physiology, music and improvisation, culture
and self-expression, shared air and shared ground, is thankfully,
endlessly magnetic.
As an eternal student, I am especially grateful for
all who have been my teachers, in particular Tomas Howlin whose tango
pedagogy is preeminent, and Tasha Miller, who says that “when we
surrender to the unfolding moments in life, with clear conscious
thought, when we are centered and independent of each other, we can
truly give to the moment and to each other.”
As in life, so it goes in tango.
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