Oscar Mandagaran and Georgina Vargas are not just for the advanced tango dancer.
After only a few months of tango, one of my students and friends in Portland, Sarah, told me she was headed for Buenos Aires. "You MUST study with Oscar and Georgina!" I told her, and connected her with them. Here's some email she sent me this spring from Bs As:
Email #1: I'm studying with Oscar and Georgina!!!!!!!!!!!! (I think her original version had more exclamation points than that, but I can't find the email to cut and paste)
Email #2: After that first email, I asked her to comment on studying with Oscar & Georgina:
"I´m in BA right now studying with Oscar and Georgina three times a week. Oscar and Georgina are exceptional, and if I could I would insist that anyone learning Tango must learn from them. They exude the essence of tango in their own bodies and dance (it
really takes your breath away to see them), but are the most delightful
and enthusiastic teachers that I have met. I am a
beginner, but they not only have patience and give me excellent
instruction, but they genuinely seem to care about me. In teaching they combine the ability to give highly skillful and
timely instruction, demand a high level of participation ("no
holidays!", as Oscar loves to say while smiling at the beginning of
class), while somehow making you feel like what you are doing is
important and good. And to anyone who is intimidated by how completely mouthwatering
and delightful and passionate their own dance is to look at, you might
take comfort in knowing that I was at a Milonga last night with
them where they dance among all the other Milongueras to refuel and be
at home. I highly recommend grabbing the opportunity to study with them in
Eugene or Portland, with the only reservation being that I will have to
share them with you!"
Email #3: Sarah emailed me to say that she had more to say:
Email #3: Sarah emailed me to say that she had more to say:
"Georgina and Oscar developed a way to dance tango that creates a pain free, organic, and natural feeling dance. Since I didn´t realize that about their teaching method before I
came to Buenos Aires, this was not why I chose to study with them. So,
it came as a surprise to me to notice over the last three weeks that
the pain in my feet and my low back have slowly disappeared. Because
I´ve back pain for years I had no expectations of relief from it. But
I find that I feel more freedom in my body, and well as I said...very
suprisingly.. no pain at all when I dance."
Wow, what a resounding ovation! I want to take a class with O&G just to see what Sarah is raving about ... ;)
Posted by: Henry Finkelstein | June 08, 2009 at 04:31 PM