IXI Danza

Dear friends,

Happy 2008!

It is with some sadness that Janet and I wish to inform you that as of early February 2008 IXI Danza will cease operations at its present location. We want to take the opportunity to thank all our students and everyone who had supported us over the past two years for sharing this journey. We want to thank especially Kris and Jeremy during the initial set up of the studio, and the unwavering support of Belinda (Tang), Su-Lynn, Howmeng, Kimsoon and Hweilan as well as Jean-Michel and Royce who provided invaluable advice in the planning of our workshops. We have truly benefited immensely from the community spirit.

Throughout January, as a break from our tradition, IXI Danza will be holding weekly milongas: every Saturday night, 9pm-2am, starting from 5 January. There will also be guided practicas staring in the second week of January. Another announcement of upcoming events in January will be sent once we have finalised everything. So, whether you are die-hard fans of the special blend of music we play, or someone hesitating for the first opportunity to get your feet “wet”, do join us this month for the last few opportunities of dancing in IXI Danza’s milongas!

After we wrap things up, Janet and I will be taking a break from teaching Tango. However, we intend to remain active in organising workshops with world-class teachers, and maybe host a milonga or two from time to time. Do stay tuned for announcements in the near future. Who knows, perhaps we can finally have the opportunity to visit Buenos Aires and improve our dancing even further?

IXI Danza was a project Janet and I started on a shoe-string budget almost two years ago. IXI, as it is affectionately known by many people, was conceived at a time when both of us feared a possible decline in the Singapore Tango scene after the premature closure of Royce and Jean-Michel’s “Las Ventanas del Corazon”. A loss of not only a good venue, but also a place with excellent music where people danced with energy and passion, would likely lead to the loss of many good dancers over time.

Seeing a shortage of such good venues for Tango in Singapore at the time, Janet and I decided to take matters into our own hands and without any external financial support started the IXI Danza Tango studio. We were quite clear that a studio of our own was essential if we wanted to have the flexibility in running regular milongas and practicas. For the past two years, we have somehow managed to juggle our busy work schedules together with part-time teaching of Tango, hosting regular milongas and (in 2007) hiring of renowned international teachers to Singapore for workshops.

Right from the beginning, our priority was to cater for the Tango dancers. To that end, the first installation decisions we made were to have ample mirrors to aid practice, a professionally laid dance floor and a reliable sound system with sufficient volume that can fill the dance space - the last two elements being fundamental requirements of any good dance venue. At the same time, IXI was transformed into a warm and welcoming “home” to all, Tango dancers or not, rather than just a run-of-the-mill dance studio. In fact, it was not uncommon for first-time visitors to enquire if Janet was living at the studio! Our primary aim was to provide a good and warm venue with excellent music and a friendly home to Tango lovers everywhere.

As part of our mission to share our love for Tango, we wanted to play a part in improving the overall level of dancing in Singapore. In the process, we have introduced the Argentine Tango to people of varied backgrounds and interests, some of whom have become regulars in our Tango scene till this day.

Moving on to the next stage, we eventually took the bold decision, together with the financial support from a small group of dedicated dancers like ourselves, to financially sponsor some of the best teachers to Singapore to conduct workshops. This is in contrast to over 90% of Tango workshops organised in Singapore in the last 5 years which have relied on teachers financing their own trips to Singapore. In 2007, we held three very successful workshops: with Hsueh-tze Lee from Boston (first and second series) and Javier Rodriguez and Andrea Misse from Buenos Aires (once). Despite the large costs involved, we made a deliberate attempt to keep the workshop charges affordable so that more people could benefit from such workshops. We are very happy to see the influence of these teachers in the current Tango scene. All we had hoped to do was to open the door and lead the way, the rest was up to the community at large to choose. Let’s hope that these lessons are remembered well.

Coming to the end of two years, Janet and I feel that we have largely achieved our initial goals. We believe that in general the community is in a better state compared to the situation two years ago. At a time (in 2006) when it was difficult to operate a dance studio, let alone a studio dedicated to Tango alone, we took up the challenge to run a Tango-only studio and showed that, with some passion and lots of dedication to quality, this was indeed possible. We are very proud to see that through our own efforts and the international teachers we hosted in 2007, IXI has left its mark in musical taste as well as the choice of embrace on the Tango scene in Singapore.

Best of luck to the followers in our footsteps because, even though we as pioneers have charted some unknown territory, the way ahead still requires much hardwork and passion. At the end of the day, organisers of Tango events has a big role in shaping the community. Tango as a “business” - if it can be called a business - is built on relationships and whoever walks in through the door deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, especially for a small community like Singapore. Providing a good and safe venue, suitable refreshments and a friendly atmosphere is all part-and-parcel of community-building. In the past two years, we have constantly set high standards for ourselves and hope that we have not slackened off in any of them.

While our regular program of guided practicas, classes and workshops has been largely geared towards improvement of technicalities of the dance, it must be said that Tango is at its core a social dance. We should be never forget the element of fun in social dancing. It is always heartening for us to see the energy levels and the friendliness at our fortnightly milongas, even when the crowd was not big at times (see our photo galleries, Milonga con Amigos 1, Milonga con Amigos 2).

Once again, thanks to your support for the past two years, and you can certainly still catch us wherever there is quality Tango music and fun-loving people to dance with!

Louis and Janet.
–
“Sharing our love for Tango”