Hard times and tango

We came to tango at a difficult time in our lives. The business that we had built up over a couple of decades had been lost in a nasty take-over and it looked like we could lose everything. Tango was a great outlet. We would go to classes (at that time there was really no choice for the non-Spanish speaking would-be dancer which was fortunate because we learnt from an amazing dancer and teacher, Daniel Mahni)and to an occasional milonga, where we would hang out with people who knew nothing about our other lives. We have made some very good friends.
Dancing tango and listening to tango music are like the meditation that comes with yoga breathing control (pranayama) which was the other outlet we found at this time. They enable me to get lost in the moment and to come out refreshed and ready for whatever comes next.
Tango itself has brought some hard times - in the way of nastiness and petty behaviour on the part of those who have yet to mentally grow into adulthood. But these have not been enough to take me away from this recreation/re-creation (an excellent word for what tango is).
A few years ago I made a friend at tango who had lost her adult daughter only months before to a brain tumour. For her tango was also an escape - and when she herself became ill with cancer she managed to tango until it was no longer possible. Tango music and musicians featured at her funeral.
As we go through yet another financial crisis tango, I know, will play an important role in keeping us sane.

Tango performances

A couple of days I received an email asking if I was an agency for tango dancers. I'm not, but perhaps I should be thinking about doing this in my 'spare time' as I have had this request before and put people in touch with dancers for private parties, functions etc. If you are looking for tango performers in Sydney - email me - angelina@tangoaustralia.com.au - I'm sure I can help!

Finding a Tango school

We have just emailed a sales letter to the Tango Schools around Australia inviting them to list their school in the Directory of Tango Schools... still waiting. Have had one response from 60 schools, though I only sent it out last night.
We often get emails asking where the nearest tango school is, or can we recommend one. We don't, if we have time in the past we have sent a list of nearby schools, but this is now getting too time-consuming. It would be so much simpler if the would-be tango student could simply check the Directory and contact the school they liked the most!

This is going to be a hard sell... however I have been through this before. When I was publishing printed Directories we often found that people said they didn't want a free listing! Very strange attitude to free PR, basically I think because some people don't understand just how valuable it is. Eventually most of the people would come round and many would actually advertise - by the way we never removed a free listing if it was public information.
Our Google Analytics show that ""tango classes [place]" or ''tango lessons [place]'' or ''learn tango'' are amongst the top search terms that bring people to www.tangoaustralia.com.au.

If you are looking for a Tango School you can check out the Directory here - if you are a tango school you can also place your entry here!