Daniel’s Tango Tours to Buenos Aires ran from 1993–2000 with the last two years culminating in multiple group tours and advanced trainings. The inspiration for these trips was Daniel’s belief that learning tango is best done experientially– by visiting with dancers in their natural environment. 

Tango is a form of Argentine folklore developed over generations of dancers interacting in overlapping social circles. As a result, tango evolved into various stylistic interpretations that co-existed in distinct neighborhoods.

Complicating the heritage was the period of Military rule from 1955 to 1983 when culture of all kinds was repressed. The tango as a social form was almost lost due to the fact that, as a people’s dance, it never had a formal pedagogy and was instead passed on from one generation to another. Additionally, tango culture was mostly transmitted to new dancers through the social experience of dancing out at the Milongas. The purpose of the “teacher” is only the clever development of dance vocabulary, or steps and adornments. These factors all contributed to a state of anarchy and chaos in tango instruction at the beginning of the revival.

The idea of Bridge to the Tango was to provide, through direct visits, an opportunity for the visiting dancer to experience the breadth and variety of the tango’s genetics rather than an intensive focus on any one style. That is why the archive is now so valuable to dancers with an interest in tango’s rich history.