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

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

FREDRIK braunschweig germany
- 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 nl
- 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 :)

 

RENÉ 58 times since 2001

With less than one year of tango experience René and I decided to visit the tango `heaven' in Nijmegen of which we had heard so many stories. We had been told to arrive there before 21.00h
(I had never heard such a strange rule before) and so it happened that we were face to face with the entrance door wondering if we had found the right place?

After entering Komala told us right away that we could not leave our luggage at the entrance, we had to keep the place organized! So we stored our bags and quietly sat down with a cup of tea to look around. Everything was so overwhelming. the colors, the crowd (it seemed everybody knew each other), the lamps, the art. but above all the atmosphere. I felt smaller and smaller every minute.. At 24.00h the music stopped and a break of 1 hour was announced (A break in the middle of a milonga??? What kind of place is this??). The decision to leave was an easy one; no, we were not ready for El Corte.

Almost a year passed by before we went back. It was this second first time that we fell in love with El Corte. The dances, the music, the people. magic. But with the horrible experience still in our minds we took things slowly and left at 24.00h at first and after a couple of months at 05.00h. Until January 2003. All day it had been snowing and we felt the time had come to stay overnight. I will never forget what Eric said when he saw us: "Ah, Roosendaal has arrived!"

As from this moment we are totally addicted to El Corte. The
socializing in the `living room' (I even appreciate the 1 hour
break!), the overnight stay, having breakfast all together; it feels
like one big family. But especially the wonderful experience of
dancing to one of the `special' songs in a dancehall that is almost dark. Thinking of these moments fills me with a warm feeling and brings a smile on my face. During our stays we met so many lovely people and it feels so good to meet old and new friends the first weekend of the month.

Now only one more step has to be taken.. continue dancing in Arnhem after 15.00h on Sunday. I am sure we will do that... in the future.

We are taking things slowly.