B elgrade-Buenos Aires, a regular, every-day route. Embarkation commences at the Tango Natural school of Argentine tango, the larg- est school of its kind in Europe. Passports are checked at the dance and basic techniques classes, embraces are trained during prac- tice, and at the dance evenings, the so-called milongas, Belgrade levitates on a passion- ate and tender cloud of dance. Belgrade tango has its own history. It was danced at the Hotel Moscow back in the 1930s. The famous chords of Argentine Or- chestras were heard at the time, represent- ing the city’s first tango dance steps, and the first perfumes embellished the necks of all the men and women in the embrace of dance. Belgrade then awoke. Much later, in the 1990s, people watched video tapes showing the performances of famous Ar- gentinian dancers, and Belgraders, gathered around Professor Mišo Plavšić, began learn- ing the tango. Upon returning from Buenos Aires in 2004, Dragan Mikić, together with world renowned bandoneonist and founder of the Beltango Orchestra Aleksandar Nikolić, launched the Belgrade Tango Association. Belgrade then entered a tango trance. Since then, Dragan’s pupils, Sonja Živanović and Darko Dožić, dance partners and lovers, have been spreading tango vibrations in our city for nine years, which is why Belgrade has one of the most dynamic and popular tan- go communities in Europe. - For us the tango has always been a place for the equality of human encoun- ters and human embrace, and perhaps that,
among other reasons, it why that dance is so well received in our country. The Belgrade tango community is extremely open. Who- ever comes, providing they respect tango manners, can easily dance at milongas with some of Belgrade’s best male and female dancers, which is not the case in many tan- go communities – says Darko Dožić, while Sonja notes another special feature of Bel- grade tango – Many tell us that Belgrade has the atmosphere of Buenos Aires; that there is something very similar between us and Argentines. I think it’s some sort of noncha- lance, a strong energy and a disconnection from the fast-paced currents of the world, as well as a certain dose of the bohemian life- style - says Sonja. As tango instructors and teachers, man- agers and organisers of major internation- al tango events (Belgrade Tango Encuentro, Belgrade tango weekends, Summer tango camp Kolašin, Bratislava tango festival) Sonja and Darko, along with their team, teach their dancers that the tango is more than dance. - The tango is something special, in- timate, real, alive, and it brings that fresh- ness which people have lost; something that unites physical activity and spiritual devel- opment. This is the time of consumerism, when people are often positioned as ob- servers, and as people waiting to be satisfied with various stimuli. Tango places a person in the position of someone who acts; they are no longer an observer, but rather a play- er, taking part in their own life and becom- ing an artist, someone who creates – says Sonja, revealing the hidden source of tan- go’s inspiration. MILONGAS IN BELGRADE Monday: 21-01, Balkanska 13, Milonga El 13 Tuesday: 21-23.30, Resavska 28, Milonga Inspiration Wednesday: 21-01, Resavska 24, Milonga Toulouse Lautrec Thursday: 21-01, Dobračina 59b, Milonga Dorćol Platz Friday: 21-23.30, Resavska 28, Milonga new tango generation Saturday: 21.30-01.30, Resavska 28, Milonga Alma Sunday: 14.30-16.30, Resavska 28, Practicalonga Postoji nešto što je veoma slično kod Argentinaca i nas. Neka vrsta nonšalancije, snažne energije i izopštenosti iz prebrzog svetskog toka There’s a very strong similarity between us and the Argentines. Some sort of nonchalance, a strong energy and a disconnection from the fast-paced currents of the world
SONJA ŽIVANOVIĆ Sonja Živanović, glumica. Pleše tango 13 godina. Podučava i vodi školu Tango Natu - ral devet godina. „Tango sadrži supstancu i hemiju, poput one u ljubavi između dvoje ljudi. Jednom kad se to oseti, to je toliko snažno, da želiš iznova i iznova. To je sigurno deo toga za- što volim tango.“ SONJA ŽIVANOVIĆ Sonja Živanović, actress, had been dancing the tango for 13 years. She has taught at and led the Tango Natural school for nine years. “Tango contains substance and chemistry, like the kind between two people who are in love. When you feel it once, it’s so pow- erful that you want to feel it over and over again. That’s certainly part of the reason I love tango.”
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