ERIC nijmegen netherlands
- Almost nobody knew about the transfer to come.

SAMANTHA cambridge england
- There were men dancing together like whirling dervishes.

FREDRIK aljezur portugal
- I have been waiting a long time in front of the toilet door waiting for that man to get out!

MELIN instanbul turkey
- I stood in front of the building and asked myself where my home was.

TILLA frankfurt germany
- I met a lot of people I have already met around Europe and I found out that they are all frequent guests.

TOVE lund sweden
- So even if I was impressed by a lot of things I mostly wanted to leave.

HENRY nijmegen netherlands
- My friends had a very good time because they noticed that something happened to me.

STEFAN nijmegen netherlands
- I finally dared to ask one of the 'local heroes'. What an energetic explosion!

MAX dortmund germany
- He welcomed me with my name without having seen me before.

THORSTEN düsseldorf germany
- At this point I wonder if El Corte is a regular dancing school.

SINAN valletta malta
- I felt myself disappointed at the very first impression.

RUTH totnes england
- This is very hands-on peace work, so badly needed in a world full of fighting and disconnection..

GREG seatle usa
- I can't begin to describe the truth of that prediction.

ELISABETH bologna italy
- I survived though, and have
lived to tell the tale.

GUIDO & MY moers germany
- Wir alle suchten dann noch seine Socken (auf denen My saß...)

JO london england
- I had never seen such a beautiful dance floor.

JESSE los angeles usa
- It's like I've came back home to old friends that I haven't met yet.

CHRISTIAN rotterdam netherlands
- Some other tangueras y tangueros immediatly guided me where to store away my belongings - 'regulars' as I later learned.

JOHN totnes england
- The collective excitement was filling the space to bursting point, threatening to build to a lighting strike...

PASCALE lille france
- Et quand ils quittent la piste, c’est dans le silence, dans le recueillement de la danse...

ALEX portland usa
- and I left after the week's dancing was done with the tango-junky's needle still in my arm wanting more.

STELLA berkeley usa
- We had to stand in the cold in our light tango clothes until the doors opened.

NITIN washington usa
- I liked the absence of any sign except the street number, 108: a little frisson of anxiety, is one at the right place?

RENÉ & CHANTAL roosendaal netherlands
- The decision to leave was an easy one;
no, we were not ready for El Corte.

KATIA moscow russia
- I can speak El Corte’s tango-language! Well… may be with some accent :)

 

FREDRIK 37 times since 1999

Whenever and wherever I talked to tango people they said "you must go to El Corte - it's very special".
After a nice week full of tango on Mallorca in october 1999 I decided to go to Nijmegen on the first weekend in November.
I was absolutely curious to see the "magic space" that so many people had told me about.

It was nearly empty when I came there on Friday afternoon
and I got more and more exited to see how dancing would be like in the evening. But first of all I needed the toilet very urgently after a 4 hours ride in my car - I have been waiting a long time in front of the toilet door waiting for that man to get out! I knew there was someone sitting on the toilet because I could see his shoes...

In the next hours people from all over the world came in and when they greeted each other with long hugs and kisses I felt the warm loving spirit. I didn't know that it was an international weekend. Eric gave me a warm and friendly welcome, asking my name and where I came from. He even had the time for a little chat.

When the dancing started I just watched for about one hour before I went to dance with Ursula ( the only girl I knew). While watching people I was impressed by the expression on their faces - most of them were smiling - not just like you smile when you see something funny - it must have been their hearts and souls that were smiling. This expression of complete satisfaction and happiness was on their faces even when they
were not dancing. I have never before seen so many people in such a relaxed and hearty atmosphere that filled the whole space.

When I started dancing I was very afraid to disturb other people but I really wanted to take part ... and it worked (more or less).
Later in the evening Eric asked me if I enjoy the evening and if I had some nice dances. I was impressed that he remembered me and my name among these hundreds of people.

Since then I try to go to El Corte as often as possible and it really
changed my life. Thank you to Ursula who introduced me to El Corte and thanks to Eric, Komala, Henry and all the other El Corte People - I cannot exactly say what they do or how they do it but it is wonderful! And of cause thanks to all the visitors and dancers from all over the world who fill the space with life and warmth.