Elevate September 2018 | Air Serbia

T he fact that the tango is danced intensively every day in Belgrade is just another similarity between our city and faraway Buenos Aires. A special link between the two cities is cre- ated by Argentinian lady Maria María In- és Bogdao. In breaks between flights that see her perform and hold tango workshops all over Europe, she lives in Belgrade, where she found the most beautiful loving tan- go embrace. It’s all very simple – she came to Belgrade five years ago for a tango fes- tival, four years ago she fell in love with a Belgrader and for three years she has been living here. And she still recognises her native Buenos Aires with every step... - Belgrade is a big city; I discover it every day and see that it contains within it all sorts of things that are Argentinian. I love Skadarlija and Bajloni market. That’s a combination to which I’m accustomed – the spirit of the historical, noise and mer- riment. Buenos Aires used to be like that, says Maria. She says that she particularly enjoys the way we socialise and live here. - In Serbia, just like in Argentina, every- one loves nightlife and going out. I like your casual “let’s go for coffee”, and the extent to which people socialise and how active social life is here. Both old and young peo- ple like joking around, and that’s anoth- er similarity with Argentines. In the rest of Europe, people drink coffee in ten min- utes and go their separate ways, while here they sit, talk, meet, hang out... As a young girl, she’d wanted to grow up to become a folklore teacher, and she grew up listening to tango music, which her grandmother loved, on the radio. When she learnt her first tango steps, at the age

Možeš i da ne poznaješ osobu sa kojom igraš, ali kad slušate muzi- ku zajedno, to motiviše tvoja ose- ćanja i tako ih otkriješ. Osećaš se srećno, poletno, razigrano. Nekad je toliko romantično i nežno biti u zagrljaju da ti dođe da se rasplačeš. Muzika je između vas, osećaš samo da vaša tela plešu, sama sa oseća- njima. Zato se tango tako strastve- no voli i pleše. Marija Ines Bogado zaljubila se prvo u ljude, pa u grad, a onda ot- krila sve te divne ukuse… – Muškarci su zgodni i sviđa mi se što poštuju žene. Džentlme- ni su, ali kako moj dečko objašnja- va, na neki balkanski način. Sviđa mi se energija i, kad pričaju, tako se unesu i veruju u to što govore. Ipak, u Beogradu, osim svog deč- ka, najviše volim kako njegova maj- ka sprema proju – smeje se Marija Ines, koja voli i ćevapčiće, i gibani- cu, i sve najlepše iz Srbije, a najvi- še jednog Beograđanina.

of 17, she knew that she only wanted to dance, and to teach this beautiful expres- sion to as many people as possible. Today she is world champion in salon and waltz style tango. - Tango is part of my life. It’s my job, but also a way to express emotions in an embrace with other people. When they breakthrough their prejudices about this dance, they all discover what is the most precious in every being - emotion. When you enter an embrace and close your eyes, that’s very intimate, but that intimacy has nothing to do with sexuality. Tango is the feelings within you. You don’t even need to know the person with whom you’re danc- ing, but when you listen to music togeth- er that motivates your feelings, and thus you discover them. You feel happy, sum- mery, playful. Sometimes it’s so romantic and gentle to be in embrace that you feel like crying. The music is between you and you only feel your bodies dancing, alone with feelings. That’s why the tango is so passionately loved and danced. María first fell in love first with the peo- ple, then the city, and then discovered she all of those wonderful flavours... - The men are handsome, and I like the respect they have towards women. They are gentlemen but – as my boyfriend ex- plains – in some Balkan way. I also like the energy when they talk, they really get into and believe in what they say. Still, in Bel- grade, besides my boyfriend, I love the way his mother prepares cornbread, laughs Ma- ria, who also loves ćevapčići meat sticks and gibanica cheese pie, and everything that’s the most beautiful of Serbia, but most of all one Belgrader.

U Beogradu, osim svog dečka, najviše volim kako njegova majka sprema proju, smeje se Marija koja uživa i u gibanici i ćevapčićima In Belgrade, besides my boyfriend, I love the way his mother prepares cornbread, laughs Maria, who also loves ćevapčići meat sticks and gibanica chees pie

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