The power of Dance at Delhi International TANGO FESTIVAL

‘I view Argentine Tango as a wonder drug that makes you younger and sexier. Its strength lies in its complex simplicity,’ says Kiran – India’s first professionally trained tango teacher

Delhi is an amalgamation of various cultures, religions and traditions. It is the cultural hub of the nation and a centre of various cultural activities. Various cultural festivals and events happening all throughout the year just add to the happening life of this city of velvet.

This time Delhi had set up for its Tango lovers at 3rd Delhi International Tango Festival at Eros Hotel, Nehru Place. The festival was organised by New Delhi Tango School as Tango Maestros Dana Frigoli and Adrain Ferreya from Buenos Aires, Argentina performed to take the audience to another level. Many participants flew in from around the world specially to attend this festival. Kiran Sawhney, the founder of the school and the organiser of the festival, is the first professionally trained Tango teacher in India.

The four day event had various workshops like ‘How to break the axis’ and ‘live to dance’, ‘timing for the dance floor’, ‘combinations of the movements out of the axis’, and many more, to feed the soul of every tango lover. To enthral the audience at the grand finale was DJ Max Marzano, a traditional Tango DJ who performed live for his audience. He is an active Musicalizador in Rome, putting on music regularly in some of the main Milongas of the city, of Italy, as well as abroad in Festivals and Marathons.

To make the event even huge Minister CD of Mexican Embassy – Eduardo Martinez Curiel, Nunziaclara Barone from Italian Embassy, Son Hong Nguyen from Embassy of Vietnam, Jesus – Cultural head of Institute Cervantes (Spanish Embassy), WHO head of south East Asia – Irina Papieva, Jenna Allaed – Head of J Pal South Asia, Author and writer from University of Arizona – Melissa Fitch and German Embassy Diplomats Inger and Hans made their presence at the event.

New Delhi Tango School (NDTS) is a pioneer in Argentine Tango. It is the oldest school in India that teaches Tango. Founder, Kiran Sawhney is known for her analytical and radical approach that she brings into teaching Tango. She is loved by her students, form different parts of the globe because of the way she teaches, as she puts her soul in dancing. She teaches Tango with precision, fun and yet very methodically. She has a knack of simplifying things and yet making them interesting. Her keen eye for detail, ear for musicality, her footwork and her technique, and the embrace, make her stand out. Kiran has been dancing since she was 6 years old, starting with Kathak, Odissi, Bharatnatyam, Bollywood, salsa, merengue, jive, rock and roll, Bachata, Zouk and cha cha. In 2004, she found her real love and passion – Argentine tango. She started teaching in 2012. Over the years, Kiran continued her pursuit in Tango and updated herself in the various tango styles – salon, stage, milonguero and nuevo. Kiran travelled all over the world, attended various Tango festivals, classes, practicas and milongas in UK, Tokyo, Spain, Paris, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Istanbul and Buenos Aires, in her quest for Tango. She learnt from the best Tango teachers in the world. She met Dana and Adrian every time she went to Buenos Aires and learnt from them. She was very keen to bring them to India.

Dana runs a very successful tango school in Argentina which has thousands of students coming from world over to learn tango. She has an extremely tight schedule. But Kiran kept persuading her to come to India.

Having a background of fitness, Kiran understands what body dynamics are required for a great connection. She works on that amazing embrace, with great posture, technique and wonderful footwork; coordinated with musicality to create one’s own Dance called – Tango.

Kiran Sawhney says, “I view Argentine Tango as a physical expression of the pain, the passion, and the life. It is a non-verbal language, to express oneself in new ways. It is a wonder drug that makes you younger, sexier, more philosophical, and more of who you really are. It is a way of life. Its strength lies in its complex simplicity. It is like a natural crystal. To see it clearly, you need to explore it from its all sides, Every time you see and uncover a new layer. The simplicity lends itself to layer upon layer of meaning. There is longing, yearning, desire and escape in it. Each person brings their own light and darkness with them, and each looks to finds their place in tango. And we all work to make our peace with the dance. It may be a constant struggle. Like any good fight, though, it’s worth it. There are moments of transcendence, of desire fulfilled, of finding oneself lost in another’s arms”.