Talk Tango

ALEJANDRO SUAYA

To feel, to communicate, to speak through music, our imagination and reason. The art of the tango dance enables comunication like no other, expressed in each phrase, silence, pause, beat...

I was born in Buenos Aires, and began my life as a professional tango dancer in the late eighties. It was a wonderful and exciting time. I was inspired by Tango x 2, the great orchestras, musicians, and friends like Rubén Juarez, Fernando Soler, and Hernán Salinas. The legendary Astor Piazzolla and Carlos Gardel, and the dance itself, fueled the passion for learning, teaching, and performing tango.

The milongas Canning and Cochabamba 444, among other neighborhood salons, were places where I learned to dance. My teachers included Raúl Bravo, Gustavo Naveira, "Puppy" Castello, Graciela "la Negra" Gonzalez, Elina Roldán, Pedro "Teté" Rusconi, "Fino" Ribera, Gerardo Portalea, and Omar Vega. Credit for my tango education and influences must also be given to Eduardo Tapia, Esteban Moreno, "Twity", Hector Falcón, Fabian Salas, Mariano "Chicho" Frümboli, Juan Corbalán, Luis Sandá, Miguel Zotto, Norberto "el Pulpo" Esbrez, Los Natarios, Ricardo Barrios, Laura Melo, Valeria Ilardo, Valencia Batiuk, and the spectacular show Tango Argentino.

I speak English in addition to my native Castillian. Communication in all its forms, including language, music, and dance, draws people closer together. It has been a gratifying experience as an International Tango Judge, to see how the growing popularity of Argentine tango has been responsible for bringing many different cultures together. Performing in other parts of the world, has also shown me how tango has become a universal means for people to relate and express themselves.

The tango dance represents an important artistic form with infinite possibilities, the challenge of improvisation, and an aesthetic excellence. It is my occupation, art, education, and culture. Tango is a meaningful counterpart, to my other profession as a psychologist. Understanding, learning, teaching, counseling, and exploring the endless possibilities of the mind and body is what I study, and what I practice.

Talk Tango, as a practical resource, is an example of how you can systematize the tango-danza vocabulary, translate it, and offer insights into its structure. Our Talk Tango team is a group of like-minded individuals, serious, enthusiastic, and positive. We have been brought together by the common purpose of facilitating the understanding of the language of Argentine tango.