by holly darling

Shane Crosby is an educator, writer, and longtime social dancer who stumbled onto Tango less than a year ago. More than anything, his recent love affair with traditional Tango music surprised him, as he finds himself bobbing his head to Biagi and the bandoneon, rather than the R&B, hip hop, and salsa he grew up with as a dancer. Besides illuminating the surprisingly rocking beats from the 1930s, Tango has taught him to overcome feelings of self-doubt and have faith in his own learning process. You can find him practically living at Oxygen Tango, where he volunteers, cleans floors, and dances almost every night of the week.

What drew you to Tango initially?

I’ve been dancing for a while, social dancing since tenth grade. I’d seen Tango mostly on television, but never live.

It was something about the intensity between the two people dancing, the seriousness. I’ve always been curious about tango.

by holly darling

Vita Markman is a passionate Tango dancer, integral Tango community member, badass leader, completely present follower, and a computational linguist to boot. In this inspiring interview, she draws parallels between language and Tango, tells the story of her first dance class in Russia, and explains why she so ardently supports Oxygen Tango, which she calls her “spiritual home.” Wow.

What drew you to Tango initially?

It was the performance by Tango Mujer, which included Fabienne and Sharna. I saw the performance, and I thought: this is something I must do. It wasn’t just another “couple’s dance”; it was these women dancing together, and it was so beautiful. There were several pieces that really stood out. One was a dance where Valeria and Sharna were the two key performers. Sharna was doing the man’s part, in a suit; they were doing both gender roles as two women, and one of the things that struck me was how unusual it was, and it wasn’t your standard, banal man-woman dance. The second thing that struck me was how Tango has incredible similarity to language.

by holly darling

Gary Love considers himself to be a really, really bad Tango dancer. But Gary is proud of this level of dancing, which he considers an indication of his progress in a mere seven months of learning this dance. He says Tango surprised him by how simple it looked from the outside, and how difficult it can be in reality. His drive to improve led him to host the popular Practica of Love, and he sees himself dancing Tango still when he’s 180 years old. Gary’s experiences in other forms of dance and martial arts have given him a vision for where persistence will lead, and inspire him to “stick it out and get what you want.”

What drew you to Tango initially, and how did you find Oxygen?

I was looking for something different. I was dancing salsa and mambo for 12 years, and I just got tired of that crowd. I always wanted to dance Tango, and then I found Oxygen, and that was it.

by Holly Darling

Alice Wang is the joyful spirit and digital wunderkind working behind the scenes to create all the online goodness at Oxygen Tango. Known for her playful and spirited presence, Alice says that Tango has taught her about self-forgiveness and the wisdom behind the analogy of maintaining one’s own axis. After a long day of coding and linear thinking, she relishes the mystique and various personas we try on as dancers. Alice loves the constant striving of Tango and meeting people from all walks of life, so look out for her customized cabeceo just for you!

What drew you to Tango initially, and how did you discover Oxygen?

Mary Fu! I met her at a wine-tasting party of a mutual friend of my ex and her ex. We found out they were taking tango classes and everybody wanted them to dance for us. They danced around the living room, wearing socks on carpeted floor and with the coffee table still there. It was magical. I remember thinking that, to them the rest of us must have just faded away. It was beautiful and tender yet had so much strength and rigor. I knew I had to do this! Later on, when I started Tango, I re-met her, and we became instant friends.