For those who have seen Vivek Yadav move with such superlative ease across the floor, enunciating the finer nuances of the Argentine Tango, it will perhaps comes as a surprise that this 42-year-old dancer began just a mere decade ago. “It all began when some of my friends were down from the US and were keen to learn the tango. I became enamoured with this dance form and very soon I was scouring the YouTube for information about it,” shares this self-taught dancer who then went on to hone his skills and elaborate his technique with a few visiting maestros of tango – from the world famous Pablo Tegli, Marcin and Luz Han ree to mention a few.
Vivek’s passion for the dance was so overwhelming that he slowly set aside a teaching career to pursue the art wholeheartedly. Mastering the nuances and setting a benchmark for others, he was invited to teach Argentine Tango in Peru in 2013 at the Peru International Tango Festival. This honour is being followed up by an invite to teach in Italy, Germany, Thailand and Romania in the coming year. “I was introduced to tango in 2006 but commenced teaching only in 2010,” he explains.
Many aspects of the dance have lent to his attraction for it. “The unique character of tango is that it can never be monotonous and can be danced both slow and fast. Also, it’s spontaneous in nature. Technically there is only Argentine tango; other styles, namely international or finish, are just offshoots of Argentine tango. It is a ballroom dance with few steps taken from tango but technique of executing them is completely different,” he elaborates, while pointing out how this dance form relies on body movement, angles, ranges and flexibility to guide one’s partner, rather than deliberate hand movements.
Over a period of time, Vivek has developed his own style which he terms the ‘connec tango’. Although he has brought together a group of dancers under his banner Tango Club India, he envisages travelling to perform once he strikes up the right ‘dance’ partner. “This dance has helped me to mingle with and understand different cultures from all over the world. It’s almost a profession for me now. I will do workshops all over the country to introduce this form and I am sure many people will start tango soon,” is his earnest hope after his recently concluded workshop in Goa. “There are many people here who are aware of this dance form, the only difference at the workshop was the introduction of a method to the dance,” he says.
The workshop comes as a forerunner for the Goa International Tango weekender slated from February 11 to 14, 2016. “We will be conducting a series of workshops during this three-day period. There will be workshops by day and performances by the teachers at night at the Tango social ‘Milonga’. My partner and I will be joined by world renowned Argentinian dancer Pablo partnered by Emily(both in France); Haris Mihail and Malika Pitou Nicolier (France), who are one of the most famous European dance couples as well as two female body work dancers,” elaborates Vivek of the forthcoming event.
Till then the show goes on…with one to Tango!
