Modern Tango World N° 10 (Athens, Greece) | Page 27

Tango Sweat in Havana
Urszula Przezdzik Abolik
The cooling sea breeze finally dries our sweat as we extend our milonga outdoors to the Malacon Boule-
vard, and talk tango. The milonga is unfinished. We continue to live and breathe the tango, on the Malacon.
It has been quite by accident that I found myself visiting a Polish colleague, who was a DJ in Havana. My first
of four visits with Mike (who ??) was in March, 2016. I knew that he has a lot of Habanero friends - artists,
musicians, dancers. He lives for music; so, my trip was to be a very musical adventure.
Being Cuban and a dancer, however, I had dremt about
tropical Cuban dancers for years. I would do every-
thing to dance in Havana, and, particularly tango. But
how? I had searched a lot of websites about the dance,
and had written down several addresses. Nothing was
certain, but it proved to have been enough. Mike knew
about my passion, and my history with tango.
Since that first visit, I have danced in Cuba many times.
Now, I acted as a tango guide for many trips. In one of
my events, We Are Going To Cuba - Tango Trip, Dr. Barn-
aby Ruhe had a lot of questions which allowed me to
share my feelings about Cuba, the tango, and the tango
in Cuba. He asked, You came back from Havana with
that delirious look on your face. What was that about!?”
What follows was my reply.
Cuba is a country for lovers, and love affairs, not only the
clandestine ones that come to mind when one hears
that term, but for true affairs of the heart and spirit.
Love is always in the air in Havana. Tango is a dance of
deep personal and interpersonal connection. Tango, of-
ten finds itself breached or engulfed in emotion. It is no
wonder that the tango in Havana is also there for lovers.
This include