OK Tango is an annual Argentine Tango event in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The event started 4 years ago with Hazel (OKC) and Allen (Tulsa) as main organizers. I appreciate their efforts to spread the joy of dancing Argentine Tango.
This year OK Tango was held over Easter weekend. They invited instructors from out of state as well as in-state (Avik Basu and Patricia Greve, Beth Anne Osborn and Clay Nelson, Laura Pellegrino and Tomas Corbalan, Hazel Lopez and Luis Angel, and Tonya Smith) for daytime classes, and had three nighttime milongas for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
We went to the Saturday milonga. They invited Argentine Tango band "Q Tango" for live music. The band was pretty good. As I saw the band members dancing before they play, I got an impression that they know what they are doing well.
Dancing Argentine Tango with live music is always great. You can feel the musician's vibe. Playful musicians may even challenge the dancers with a little bit of rhythm tweak (I don't think they did it much for the night, though).
Around 12AM there were demonstrations by instructors. Since Argentine Tango styles vary so much, no couples dance alike, and I love it. It adds fun for watching. Avik and Patricia's dance was very nice and likeable. I do not always like ballroom style, gun-ho all-out show Tangos. Their dance was a nice blend of social and flashy; smooth and easy, matching well with the music. I loved it.
A milonga is a social dance party, and I danced with different partners I don't dance regularly with. In social dance I have no idea how well they dance at first, so I always start slow, take time to figure her out, and dance accordingly. A lot of times, dancers need no introduction, though. The feeling, how they hold themselves and how smooth they move, can tell us that they are dancers. It is a pleasure to meet other dancers.
The milonga started around 9PM and ended around 2AM. Usually last song for a milonga is the most famous Tango song La Cumparsita, and the song closed the party.
It was awesome milonga and worth a drive from OKC.
Since my wife will be moving out of state, I am not certain whether we are going to make it to the OK Tango milonga next year. But I certainly hope their continuing success.
In the same weekend, there was a west coast swing event Tulsa Spring Swing, directed by Jeanne Degeyter. As a part of National amateur swing dance contest circuit, the event is quite popular and enjoys contestants from other states (e.g. Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Kansas).
We checked out the event after the milonga. Although we arrived there after 230AM, there were many dancers still dancing. WCS crowd tend to be on younger side than the Tango crowd, and I wonder it may be the reason. We left there around 5AM. We were a little tired but very happy. Special thanks to late night DJs, especially to Ruby and Ruthie. Hope to see you soon somewhere.
