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August 8, 2005

I fulfilled my dream tonight. I went dancing tango in Shanghai!

I had dinner with Whitney, a friend I met last year via Helen. Afterward we went together. The location was easy to find and floor was nice. It was a dance studio in a youth training school, I think. I noticed that there are both Chinese and Westerners and they were very open and friendly. This was rather a contrast to the situation in Beijing. Jennifer, one of four organizers, told me since it was during the summer break, many people were out of town. She grew up in Canada and now lived in Shanghai. She used to teach but not any more. She just wanted to enjoy dancing, I guessed. She told that the tango club started about three years ago. It was still growing. Like any other places, people came and went. One of the problems, like in Beijing, was that there were not enough local teachers. Next week they would have two teachers from Japan visiting and Park of DC may be here in October. A few weeks ago, Jamie and Shorey whom I met in Beijing visited. Right now they only had one teacher locally. They hoped to get another one or two. This is absolutely true. The main reason for tango to prosper in Taipei and Hong Kong, I think, is that they had good local teachers for consistency of instructions. For tango to gain popularity in mainland China, this must be the first priority.

Tonight was a practica. There were about 10 people, most of whom were beginners. But they practiced hard and eager to learn. Overall, the participants were young to middle aged. I principally danced with Jennifer and Eva from Berlin. Jennifer danced very well. She had all a good tango dancer should have: tall, slim, quick feet, a fast learner. Eva danced well, too. Only one thing was that she couldn’t trust me enough to do a volcada. J Maybe when we meet again in Shanghai, DC, Berlin or somewhere else, I could earn that trust.

To my surprise they also played some alternative tango music.

I also taught Whitney a little bit. She was a good follower and moved well. Later on our way home, she told me that she was not that interested. It was a pity.

My overall impression of this club was that it was well organized and had a great potential. I wish them all the best.

posted by Unknown @ 11:25 AM