My Life in the Milonga

Do you sometimes sense there’s void in your life. Passion? Adventure? A sense of direction? Self-esteem?

My Life in the Milonga is in part a story of self-discovery. My journey began when fate took me to Buenos Aires. Like so many others I took a tango lesson. A door opened into the crazy and captivating world of Argentine tango. My personal story soon intertwined with the stories of the milongas, the places where tango is danced. Soon my nights filled with passion, humor, and the playful flirting.

Buenos Aires is the Mecca of tango. Even compared to Rome and Barcelona, it’s a passionate and earthy city. Porteños, the people of Buenos Aires, live each day in the present with their emotions on their sleeve. Nowhere is this felt more strongly than in the milongas, where tango is a dance of human connection, not a theatrical performance. The room vibrates with passion, joy, and love for those open to receiving it. The more I learned and experienced tango, the more open I became. My passionate and earthy side, so long submerged, came out.

Tango is a challenging to learn, but not because the steps are complicated. The hard part is leaning to connect with your partner, the music, the other dancers, and yourself. There has not been a night since I started dancing tango, when tango has not reminded me of the importance of living life in the present and the desire for human connection in all of us. This book shares some of the lessons I learned from my teacher and the many wonderful people I met in Buenos Aires.

Tango opened the world for me both literally and figuratively. Argentine tango is danced in nearly every major city in the world, giving you instant access to a community of people with whom you share a passion. Unstuck from the past, now I live my childhood dream of travel and becoming more involved in other cultures. But most of all, tango allowed me to become me.

For the better part of my life I called myself a California beach girl. Mostly, I thought of myself as a tomboy. I grew up on the beach in Venice, California, body surfing, and playing beach volleyball, and tennis. 

       Later I moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado where I began calling myself a mountain girl. Then, I spent my time skiing, mountain biking and hiking. I looked forward to skiing fresh powder snow on those cold winter mornings. In the summers I would hike for hours in the wilderness areas of Colorado, enjoying the beauty and solitude. If I was lucky and it was the right time of year, I would return with a bag of wild mushrooms. 

      From an early age I had a passion for travel and have been lucky enough to see a lot of the world. I have sailed in the Caribbean and scuba dived in Indonesia, the South Pacific and the Caribbean and traveled to many European countries.

     Then came the day I saw Argentine tango danced for the first time. In a matter a months it became my passion. 

I have a throw pillow sitting on my couch.  That says: 

                  Life is short

                  Live your dream

                 And share your passion

When I bought it many years ago, I thought, ok, I know my dream is to travel more. But what's my passion? 

      Well now I know, my passion is tango and its fit perfectly with my dream of travel. These days I travel the world living my dream and sharing my passion for tango with the people I meet along the way.