...to realize and to express
one's true nature through Tango...

Their dedication to tango has contributed to establishment of an enthusiastic and ever-growing tango community in the Metropolitan Washington DC area. 

To teach and learn tango dancing and share its pleasure, they have traveled to a number of cities around the world including Buenos Aires, Vilnius, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Berlin, Amsterdam, Nijmegen, Montreal, New York City, Boston, Atlanta, Houston, Baltimore,  Los Angeles, Denver, Seoul, and Taejeon.

Eugenia and Chan are known for their unique and elegant style of dancing in close embrace, known as milonguero style, which has been danced in the crowded clubs of Buenos Aires for decades.  As milonguero dancers they simply move together to the rhythm of tango, pausing only to convey their physical and emotional expressions.  In their dance, there is no choreography involved, but joy, movement, connection, and creativity.

As instructors, Eugenia and Chan are attentive to students' understanding of the union of movement between the man and the woman, as the man improvises, leading the dance at each moment, the woman follows him, not knowing the steps or directions the man will take next.   To the end they have developed an unique teaching method style of TANGO made SIMPLE to enable students to enjoy social Tango dancing.

TANGO made SIMPLE is a systematic approach to achieve joy of dancing tango with emphasis on simple body movements, appreciation of music, recognition of inner self, and oneness with one's partner.  Concept of TANGO made SIMPLE is based on Tango Zen, which is Chan's idea and couples Zen meditation principles with Tango Dancing.   That is, Eugenia and Chan encourage their students to realize and express their true nature through Tango.

To achieve the moment of true self in tango, a  number of exercises are introduced to help students establish keen sense posture, axis, grounding, breathing, balance, sensitivity, and, ultimately, connection between the man and the woman.  Through the exercises students are also exposed to understanding of tango music and encouraged to be creative in dancing in their own style rather than executing predetermined patterns.

The following subjects are offered:

• Fundamentals of tango: embrace, walk, connection, balance 
• Intermediate level tango: turn, navigation, syncopation, embellishment
• Advanced level tango: music and musicality, improvisation, combination 
• Milonga
• Vals

Tango, Tango, Tango

Eugenia and Chan
Washington Baltimore Tango

Reference

October 1999, class instructors at Washington DC Tango Festival
June 2001, conducted tango workshop in Vilnius, Lithuania
July 2001, conducted tango workshop in St. Petersburg, Russia
March 2002, conducted tango wokrshop in Seoul and Taejeon, Korea
October 2002, class instructors at Tango Festival, Portland, Oregon
December 2002, conducted tango workshop in Seoul, Korea
March 2003, class instructors in Washington, DC Tango Marathon
April 2003, provided coaching to Cirque Du Soleil Dralion Team
July 2003, class instructors in Tango Festival, Prayssac, France
December 2003, conducted Tango Zen workshop, Buenos Aires, Argentina
February 2004, conducted Tango Zen Workshop in Silver Spring, MD
February 2004, conducted Tango Zen Workshop in San Francisco, CA,
July 2004, conducted Tango Zen Workshop in Utrecht, Netherlands
July 2004, conducted Tango Zen Retreat in Auvergne, France,
October 2004, conducted Tango Zen Workshop in Singapore
October 2004, conducted Tango Zen Workshop in Seoul, Korea
January 2005, published a book entitled "Tango Zen: Walking Dance Meditation"
January 2005, conducted Tango Zen Workshop in Butler, NJ
February 2005, conducted Tango Zen Workshop in Washington, DC
March 2005, featured on TV (WUSA and WTTG) in Washington, DC

I enjoyed the workshop very much…..I appreciate your sharing of personal insights in this fascinating subject of musicality.  For me personally, I particularly enjoyed the exercise of identifying visible characteristics in your dance and attempting to understand what aspects of the music were driving it.

I want to let you know how much Ellen and I enjoyed our lesson last night.  We are enchanted with the steps, the music, and the movement.  You are wonderful teachers.  Your observations and instructions about how to dance were clearly an extension of our inner most selves and our relationship with each other.  Simple and profound.  It is delightful, even magical, that the tango is a medium. 

Your ideas and perspective were great and I enjoyed learning about the history and variety of the music. I do think that the other part, the interpretation part, can't be talked about but must be experienced. For instance, hearing the music and just walking around to it and then discussing our own experiences and feelings, and THEN watching you dance, could make it more of a learning opportunity.

Thank you so much for the Tango lesson on Sunday. You were both so kind and attentive to all your students.  But most importantly, you instructions were easy to understand. Now, as you said, Eugenia, we have to practice and make our body do what our mind understands.

We have appreciated very much the work that you have done with our artists.  In a way you have opened their eyes to some new ideas and that is wonderful.

Last Updated 8/11/03

Milonguero Workshop in Seoul, Korea
December 21-29, 2002
by Eugenia and Chan Park

▶ Saturday, 12/21
19:00 Class 1- posture, embrace, and walking
20:30 Class 2- milonga

▶ Sunday, 12/22
19:00 Class 3- posture, embrace, and walking in close embrace
20:30 Class 4- Ochos cortados

▶ Friday, 12/27 
20:00 Class 5- Dance to various orchestras
21:30 Class 6- vals

▶ Saturday, 12/28 
19:00 Class 7- Giros
20:30 Class 8- Rhythmic movements

For decades, tango music has indulged and intrigued people around the world with its unique rhythm, melody, tempo, mood, and instrumentation.  Its uniqueness is mainly attributed to rich and complex mixture of diverse cultures. Due to its uniqueness, however, tango music often becomes challenging to social dancers as dancing to it involves mind and heart as well as body.

Goal of this workshop is to help participants increase their understanding and appreciation of the uniqueness of tango music.  For social dancers, the workshop will help enhance their dancing pleasure through listening to interpret and adapt to various styles of tango songs. 

The workshop will cover the following subjects:

• Brief introduction of tango music history and instrumentation including bandoneon
• Comparison of different tango songs with respect to recording periods, arrangements, orchestras, instrumentation, etc.
• Brief introduction of tango songs around the world
• Demonstration and try-out of movements and improvisation to various style of tango songs 

Eugenia and Chan are innovative and adventurous tango dancers and teachers.  Their dedication to tango has contributed to establishment of an enthusiastic and ever-growing tango community in the Metropolitan Washington DC area. With their own-developed "TANGO made SIMPLE", a systematic approach to achieve joy of dancing tango, they are traveling around the world to teach and learn tango dancing and share their experience.

Contact Washington Baltimore Tango (202-256-6288 or Tango@wbTango.com) for registration.