Experienced Tango dancers of "Tangolombia" from Medellín, Colombia, are on their way to competing in the world's largest dance competition in Buenos Aires.
Share
Tangolombia Bailate tu vida (dance your life)
The Tango Culture in Medellín
Medellin has many things it is known for. For starters, it became more popular on the world map as a spot for drugs and receiving affordable medical tourism care or perhaps the world's largest flower festival every August. Many people think of Pablo Escobar when they think of Medellin or Colombia. But just like any place around the world that we think of and have stereotypes for Colombia and Medellin are so much more than that. I have lived in Medellin for 11 months, and since this time, I have been learning Spanish (currently about to finish my B-1 of my Spanish program) and taking eight months of tango classes. When going to the Memory House Museum (Museo Casa de la Memoria) in Medellin, I quickly learned about the violence that makes up a lot of the history of this city, especially over the past 70 years. And how much of the city was formed from this violence, but what many westerners or those not highly familiar with the history of Colombia and South America are that Medellin has had a long cultural tradition of embracing and dancing to Tango. Medellin revised more attention on the world scale when Carlos Gardel (considered one of the most inflectional and prominent figures in Tango) died when attempting to leave in a plane in the airport of Medellin back in 1935. My interpretations and sharing of this story will be later shared in another blog write-up. But in the meantime, let's fast forward 87 years, and Medellín is a city thriving in tango activity and culture.
Who are the dancers of Tangolombia?
And this is where my guests Laura and David of Tangolombia come in. They are the proud owners of Tangolombia, and they are currently in the process of training and preparing for their biggest tango competition yet. In Buenos Aires, this September is home to the world's largest Tango event where not only are they competing, but they will be sharing their brand of Tango with people who appreciate the art and aim to inspire the numerous benefits that they have gotten from Tango with others along with their unique addition to Tango of embracing and combining with Neuro-Linguistic Porgmmaing (NLP) practices.
I was so grateful to have gotten the time to have the evening spent with Laura, David, and their daughter Isabella. I was welcomed into their family by sharing in a long car ride in the Medellin traffic, where I had the opportunity to hear their entire tango story and share in many laughs. Then be invited to their house in Envigado (a different city just south of Medellin), where we had pizza from a local pizzeria and made our way to the local Theater a quick walk away. I forgot to mention that their daughter Isabella owns Dulce Bella Arte Comestible (art edibles). At their home, Isabella showed me her baking set-up and some of her favorite cakes and other pastries she has created for clients. Once we were at the theatre, I could film a close-up on stage four rounds of Laura and David dancing Tango together. After which, we had a 32 min conversation going into more details about their brand of Tango and how they use NLP tactics for their own lives and in Tango. David and Laura have received training in NLP and offer their skills for service and incorporate Tango into their practice. We also talked about what Tango means to them in their life, why they take pictures of them making Tango poses everywhere they travel together, and their latest upcoming project in Buenos Aires for Tango. If you haven't watched my video, I recommend you watch it now to learn more about this professional tango couple. Since I last saw David on June 15, he has left Medellin on his Suzuki VStream motorcycle and has ridden it to Argentina when writing this post. This means very soon, he will arrive in the city of Buenos Aires to begin his intense training in Tango dancing.
I initially connected and met David at one of the Tango milongas in Medellin at El Candombe dance school in the Manila neighborhood of Poblado. Owned by Johny Blandon, this dance school has a long history of teaching Tango and other Latin dances and is my home for learning dance. This is where David first told me of his idea that he would travel on a motorcycle from Colombia to Argentina. I could see the look of excitement and adventure on his face, and I'm so happy to receive a Whatapp message from Laura just now saying that David has made it across the Argentina border. They are one step closer to improving their tango level as a Tango partner and knowing that David is safe because his Wife, Laura, and daughter Isabella won't be seeing him for three months.
David has been dancing Tango for just six years, and Laura has been dancing Tango for over 25 years and has been a National Tango Champion in Colombia. The two of them embrace the tango culture and their brand of Tango by entering dance competitions, making media appearances, holding seminars and classes to teach Tango and NLP, and continually growing their brand to spread the beautiful and elegant art of Tango dancing.
Laura and David are beautiful human beings living through Tango's teachings and are genuine people. David is an engineer, and Laura is a gastronomic chef. I highly recommend them for any of their services in the area of Tango for putting on shows and their teachings on Tango and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. If you have any questions about Tangolombia, please feel free to contact me, and I will be more than happy to share my thoughts from my interactions with Laura and David.
Why Medellín is a better Tango culture than Buenos Aires?
One last thought from the previous conversation I had with David over a cappuccino (by the way, David has a deep love for cafes and is an excellent barista). David highlighted the difference in Tango culture in Buenos Aires and Medellín. Buenos Aires, a city of over 15 million people, will have on any given night 25-30 Tango Milongas or shows that you can attend (this number is only counting the ones that are listed, and I'm sure there are many more that aren't publicly listed or easily found on a directory). Although Medellín is smaller in size, David commented that people who are from and grow up in the city get exposed to Tango without ever having to look for it. He meant that although most people will never dance the Tango (many of the most talented Tango dancers in all of Colombia come from Medellín), it is common to sit at any local corner tienda (shop), restaurant, or bar and hear Tango playing on the speakers with people drinking and listening to it. Locals here get exposed to it all the time without ever having to go searching for it, and this is one of the many unique and exciting aspects of the culture of Medellin that most people who travel or live here that are foreigners miss out on. Of course, Buenos Aires is the pinnacle of Tango culture point. I wanted to point out that Medellín has a lot to offer to the Tango enthusiast, and an ever-growing scene of Tango is thriving here in Medellín.
You can support Tangolombia, Laura David, and Isabella through the following links to be able to connect with them:
🖥 Tangolombia Website:https://www.tangolombia.com/
📸InstagramTangolombia: tangolombia
👥Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tangolombia/
📧 Email: tangolombia@gmail.com
👩💻Youtube Tangolombia Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7R5Y5LKidzfwopgTNZ-9Yw
📲 WhatsApp: +57 322 762 13 75
🕺💃Tangolombia Airbnb Experience: https://www.airbnb.com.co/experiences/952082?_set_bev_on_new_domain=1546748952_7wh%2FJ1oCY%2BFmwoiX
📸Instagram David Alarcón: daalabe
📸Instagram Laura Marín: lauritango
📸Instagram Dulce Bella Pastires: dulcebella.reposteria
Ready to work with Xander Clemens?
I'd be happy to discuss your project and how we can work together to create unique, fun and engaging content.
Go ahead and click here to be taken to my business service page and see what I can do for you. Book a call with me now. Looking forward to chatting soon!
