The Tenth Anniversary Ball. A Reportage.

The night was beautiful. It was a pure distillation of tango in terms of the music, the dance, the evident friendships and fervour of the society of tango within Edinburgh. I walked into it knowing that it would be a great night, but had hardly concocted an expectation of what I would see and encounter. I gave myself room for surprise, and I was duly fulfilled. The venue, The Hub, itself was resplendent, and I was dazzled enough by the colour and detail of the place.





But before I could fully register my surroundings, I was plunged into a flurry of beautiful people. Dancing, not dancing, chatting, observing, relaxing, gesticulating, laughing, enjoying: entranced. The chatter of voices melded perfectly with the glorious tango that the Sexteto Canyengue were playing. There is indeed such a grand difference between a recording and having the music fleshed out by the passion of the musicians.



The dancers reciprocated the effort, and the dancefloor was as remarkable to watch as it was to step onto.







But the call of tango shoes in the other room cried out to me, and what can one do but to gratify their wishes to be seen? I made a trip to the bar/shoe stall, and was transfixed. A giant screen flickered with videos of days past from ETS. It was as if we were watching family videos and remarking on the growth of this baby of collective efforts.



The festivities did not stop at live music, dancing, and shoes however. Food was laid out for those who had committed to the full experience up to 4 am. Or, just to those who were peckish. Mashed potatoes and beef! I heard, but cannot attest to for myself, as I was mostly preoccupied by the glorious dancing and conversation of the night. Night had faded into day, and hunger fell to oblivion without me really knowing it.

Then the performances began. And my attention was fully arrested. Who can really say otherwise when Jenny and Ricardo take the stage?











The performance that followed was by Birkit Wildenburg and Muzaffer Demiray, two wonderful tango teachers and dancers. I particularly enjoyed their third dance, the amount of skill and precision in how slow it was was astounding. (The photos of their performance will be uploaded as I recover them!)

But the throng wasn't quite finished with the night after the performances. The dancing ensued, and the crowd did not dissipate until the last moment. And as soon as the night drew to its close, I knew that the fervour and magic in that room wasn't ready to die out. And as anticipated, people were already discussing the Counting House milonga to take place, well- that night.

All in all, it was a magical night. Well worth the price of the ticket, and it'll remain in the fondest of my tango memories.

It's not every night you get to tango until 5 in the morning.

Happy birthday ETS!