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 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 :)

 

 

SAMANTHA 31 times since 1998

I came from Cambridge with a group of friends to the marathon salon New Years Eve 1998.
I'd only been dancing tango for a few months, and I was really nervous. It was packed, and everyone else seemed to know each other. They could all dance SO well. It was awe inspiring, and scary too... What was I doing there? I couldn't do this....

I was lucky, various nice people asked me to dance, and I tried really hard to follow, but it was hard. I had some nice dances and enjoyed my evening, but went to sleep that night hoping that I would get better quickly, as I felt woefully inadequate on the dance floor.

The next day, I went back to El Corte in the afternoon, and it was much quieter. I sat and watched the dancing, and was mesmerised by what people were doing. I'd never seen anything like it. There were men dancing together like whirling dervishes, people were trying out different moves, others were just enjoying the atmosphere. For the first time at El Corte I felt relaxed. Then someone I'd danced with before, who was a lovely dancer, but who I hadn't been able to follow properly before asked
me to dance.

Why was this dance different? Why did we seem to flow together? It felt like we were meditating to the music, I could read his mind, and follow
where he led, and I hit tango heaven for the first time.
That afternoon at El Corte changed my life. Before that, I had really enjoyed tango. After that, I was completely addicted. Every time I come to El Corte is better than the last. The atmosphere is unique. Friendly, welcoming, tango-charged, you are able to be completely yourself. Arriving there I feel that I have come home. Leaving, I feel homesick, and am already planning my next visit! Thank you so much for creating this.