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The need for space

Tango communities tend to pop up in a fashion that is rather ad-hoc. In areas where there are dedicated teachers, it'll be in a space as a business, as someones livelihood and dealing with the mundane of rental - overheads and operating cost.

In Malaysia for the longest time, Tango was like the pop-up that happened anywhere and everywhere, from Changkat to Bangsar, from restaurants to houses. Even now, this is quite the essence of it, Fame studio is currently the only true dedicated space to Tango and growing it as a hub will be the challenge we will face in the coming year(s).

What is it that makes Tango such an underground scene? The awareness of it is minimal if you take the average Malaysian off the street, and yet with such little following, you will see us going to milongas on a regular basis, looping in the temporary or long-term visitor into the scene and making them a part of its core.

My first memory of Tango in Malaysia will inexplicably be linked to Tuesday nights at Shivz. Looking back at those photos, I realise with a start that most of the people that have somehow entered my life from Tango toddler days are still around, become such a inseparable part of the fabric of my life that I have forgotten the days before I did not know them.

To create a space to teach, to learn, to practice and to advance. These are the ingredients and the support that we need to give to a space to truly bring it alive. To make it a home away from home and a destination in its own right.

We always want to dance in photo worthy spaces, in intimate tango dedicated salons, to places where the walls could talk. Yet in asia, it seems as though we are spoilt by our ballrooms and our grandiose locations. Perhaps the most compelling memory of Tango I have was on peat and soil way back when in my dance beginnings, at 2am in the morning, and this is what Tango truly is. Where your body, soul and mind are in harmony.


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