Tango in Montreal

CANADA'S TANGO TOWN
International stars in high heels mix with flip-flop-wearing neophytes at the milongas of Montreal. With a wealth of tango musicians, schools and clubs -- as well as a midsummer festival -- the city has become a hot spot in the dance's global resurgence
DEANNA MACDONALD
Special to The Globe and Mail
August 17, 2005
MONTREAL -- The sounds of laughter and tango music lure me into St. Viateur Park on a balmy summer evening. Dozens of others strollers are milling about, as curious as I am to see what's happening in the softly lit gazebo at the centre of the park. There, I find couples, from teenagers to seniors, moving around a makeshift dance floor, their reflections rippling in the encircling pond. Some look serious -- even passionate -- dancing and twirling with the sensual precision of experienced tanguistos, while others laugh and trip over each other's feet as they try their first steps of the tango.

This may sound like a scene from Buenos Aires, but it is in fact a typical summer evening in Montreal, one of the best places to tango in North America. There are several professional-level schools, many local tango musicians, a tango festival in July and, most important, many places to dance.

"The tango community in Montreal is very strong," says dancer and teacher Noel Strazza, who came to Montreal five years ago from her native Buenos Aires to partner with international tango star and Montreal resident Pablo Veron.

Carol Horowitz, co-founder of Studio Tango dance school, agrees. "You can find a tango dance [known as a milonga] any day of the week in Montreal," she says. "In North America, I think only New York can offer such opportunities."


Most of these milongas are organized by dance schools (there are around a dozen in Montreal) and are open to all comers, not just their students. Each school or club has one or more designated tango evenings; Fridays and Sundays seem to be the most popular, but there is something happening every night of the week year-round.

However, it is in summer, when milongas are held in several outdoor venues, that Montreal truly comes alive with tango. One of the most pleasant spots is St. Viateur Park, in the leafy residential neighbourhood of Outremont, where throughout the warm months both devotees in Argentine-made tango shoes and absolute beginners in sandals and shorts gather to dance and learn the tango.

The setting is idyllic -- the makeshift dance floor is under the open arcades of a gazebo-like building surrounded by a man-made pond. After dark, with music from two portable speakers and an iPod filling the air, the dancers are mirrored in its shallow waters.

Every Sunday evening, there's a free beginner's lesson and an all-levels dance. Chile-born teacher Gerardo Sanchez's first question each week is "Who is here for the first time?" and without fail, numerous hands go up. "We often have 40 to 60 beginners each Sunday," says Sanchez, who is also artistic director of the Tango Libre dance school.

As the beginners are taken through the first basic steps, more experienced tango followers arrive and join the dancing, giving the novices something to strive for. From 150 to 300 people show up on a warm evening, mostly to dance. Those who are too shy to take to the floor linger on the sidelines, admiring subtle movements and intertwining limbs. Many first-timers come expecting to see men in fedoras with slicked-back hair clasped in theatrical embraces with red-lipped women. But these clichés are put to rest by the fun and casual atmosphere of Montreal's milongas, where you are as likely to see flip-flops as high heels.

That's not to say the dancing can't sparkle with romance and tension. The tango, after all, was first developed in the bordellos of Buenos Aires in the 1880s by lonely immigrant gauchos who danced together to while away the time. Women soon got involved and the popularity of the tango spread. At first, polite society denounced the tango as indecent, but by the early 20th century it was all the rage in Europe and America. A dance of contrasts, with a European formality and a sense of tragedy -- but also an air of exhilaration and improvisation -- it never really went out of favour in Buenos Aires, and today is enjoying a renaissance worldwide, as evidenced by the tango clubs and festivals springing up in cities from Paris to Portland, Ore.But why has Montreal embraced the tango?

"Many people say it is popular here because of the Latin-French culture," Studio Tango's Horowitz says, "but that doesn't work when you think how big tango is in places like Berlin or Helsinki."

She believes that tango's popularity is at least partly a result of the resources in Montreal for would-be tango dancers. "There are good schools offering all levels of classes over several weeks, so people can develop their technique. Plus, many of the schools and milongas are found within a short distance from each other [most in the Plateau area], and this allows a real community to develop."

Like in Buenos Aires, some schools are found on residential streets, such as the main studio of Tango Libre, which occupies the first floor of a classic Montreal three-storey apartment building. Others, like Studio Tango in Old Montreal, have studio spaces -- as with most, with wooden floors and mirrored walls -- above shops or restaurants. In all cases, the atmosphere is informal and welcoming.

People start dancing for various reasons. Some are dragged along by tango-dancing friends or family and get hooked. "My mother signed me up for my first course," dancer Julio Otero says. "It was the passion of my parents. I was born in Montreal, but they are from Argentina and my mother thought I was too Canadian and not Argentinean enough."

He went on to study in Montreal and Buenos Aires and now teaches at Studio Tango in Montreal, where like most Montreal schools, courses are full with students of all ages and backgrounds. Everyone has his or her opinion as to why people love the tango. "I like the fact that you can improvise," Horowitz says. "The dance is constantly changing and very creative."

Some say it's the music, characterized by the sounds of the bandoneon, a type of small accordion which has more than a hundred years of history. It's being reinvigorated today by hip tango musicians such as the Franco-Argentine group Gotan Project and Montreal's Intakto, whose music appeals not only to tango aficionados but also to international club culture.

For many, it is simply the beauty of the dance. Still more talk about the sense of connection between people and generations it offers. "It is something special, the way two people move together, trying to go into the same energy," dancer instructor Noel Strazza says.

"You see older people dancing, so in communion, and then you see young people trying to do the same thing," Otero says. "It's really great."

It is also, quite simply, fun. Just look at the dance floor and the smiles and laughs of long-time dancers as they complete a quick twirl or beginners as they get their first step. "It's wonderful. . .the atmosphere, dancers, music," enthuses Magdalena Berthet, who grew up in Argentina but took her first tango lesson only this summer in Montreal. "It's almost like Buenos Aires, but in Montreal."

Pack your bags

WHERE TO TANGO

The most comprehensive source for information on tango in Montreal is the http://www.milonga.ca website, which lists up-to-date information on dance evenings, lessons and events.

Studio Tango Montreal: 643 rue Notre Dame Ouest; 514-844-2786; http://www.studiotango.ca. This Old Montreal studio offers classes, professional workshops and a weekly tango evening (or milonga) each Wednesday from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Tango Libre: 1650 rue Mare-Anne Est; http://www.tangolibre.qc.ca; 514-527-5197. Offers both studio classes and outdoor summer classes, such as the one at St. Viateur Park, where every Sunday there is a beginner lesson from 7:30 to 9 p.m. and general dancing from 7 to 10:30 p.m. (both are free of charge). A tango dance evening is held at their studio Fridays and Saturdays from 9:30 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Dancing Mocha Jo: 5175A ave. du Parc; http://www.mochajo.com; 514-277-5575. This Plateau studio offers lessons and has a milonga each Tuesday, Friday and Sunday evening.

Tangueria: 5359 ave. du Parc; 514-495-8645; http://www.tangueria.org. Also in the Plateau, this club offers lessons and has a milonga each Friday from 9:30 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Montreal International Tango Fest: festivaldetangodemontreal.qc.ca. Usually held in mid-July (this year from July 9 to 17), this festival offers a week of classes, shows and milongas.