Bay Area Argentine Tango Association

by Gail Bailey

If Tango had not taken over the lives of Oscar Mandagaran and Georgina Vargas, they might have spent their lives searching for ancient civilizations. Highly regarded for their passionate, sensual style, very few people know they both studied Archaeology at university. Luckily for the Tango community, the calling for a dance career was much stronger. Since their first tanda at a Buenos Aires milonga in 2006, they have been partners on and off the dance floor, traveling to various corners of the globe teaching Tango. As most people know, Mandagaran was one of the stars of the Broadway show “Forever Tango” and appeared in the movie “Tango.” Vargas is also an accomplished professional tango singer. She released her first album, “Por Aquellos Tangos,” to critical acclaim in 2006.

Oscar y Georgina

When they were here in May 2008, they graciously agreed to an interview to talk about their lives as Tango teachers. Here is an excerpt:

How long have you been teaching?

Oscar: We have been teaching together for two and a half years. But we’ve both been dancing since we very young. Life is dance for us. Tango is everything: we dance our lives, our personality, our magic moments….

How is dancing in Argentina different from other places in the world?

Oscar: In Argentina, a lot of people dance every night. Some people think we don’t work, but we do. We go to the milongas and have to get up in the morning. Also, people in Argentina have been listening to the music since they were babies. This creates a great passion for the dance. It’s like they need to dance to complete their lives. In other countries it is not so different. Why do people dance Tango? They want to feel more sensations. They want energy, feedback, to express themselves. Tango selects people. One day, tango says, “You”, and you never stop dancing. It gets you. We see this in many people around the world.

In what ways do you have to tailor your style of teaching for non-Argentine students?

Georgina: In every place there is a different culture. You have to be careful about how you give explanations so that people can receive what we are teaching. In Argentina, we usually don’t have to teach connection or embrace because this is not a big problem, but in other places we have to spend time on teaching this.

Is it possible to teach connection?

Oscar: It’s very important to teach good connection, the embrace and feeling of the dance. Tango really is about moving together with one body and one heart moving in one space. When people understand that, then they are ready to learn more. It’s very important for us as teachers to have energy in class. We are very demanding. We need to feel this connection in everybody. We don’t teach steps before this. We do different exercises in our classes without touching. People have to work together, to feel a magnet, a kind of attraction. This sensation is Tango. It’s not about steps.

What is your most favorite thing about teaching?

Oscar: For me teaching is a big passion. Every time I receive new information because people are so different. Everyone has a different problem. You need to visualize and focus on finding the problem. Then you go immediately there. You also have to be very soft and delicate. You almost have to be a psychologist sometimes. You need to guide students. You need to push a little. We are demanding teachers—but in a very good way. Tango says, enjoy, open your heart and mind and go. It never says stop here. It says go.

Georgina: I love it when we have couples. Sometimes they might fight each other, but in the end they go away with solutions.

How did you two meet?

Oscar: I saw Georgina one night at a milonga and although I had seen her before that night it was like seeing her for the first time. I thought to myself, ‘this woman is so beautiful.’ I watched her and watched her, but she would not look my way.

Georgina: He was sitting with a woman, so I did not look at him.

Oscar: That was a friend of mine. One tanda went by and then another tanda and I kept on looking and looking. Finally, we both caught each other’s eye. We danced and didn’t stop. After one week we were dancing in a show.

Georgina: Someone asked us to perform. We didn’t have any choreography. We just danced. People could not believe that we had only been dancing for one week.

Oscar: We had a very strong connection from the beginning. Sometimes life surprises you. It is Tango that united us.