On dancing with Dragan
One night at twilight when we were dancing together on the
pier near the Hudson, Dragan said to me, “I’m not dancing Tango- I’m dancing you.”
I don’t know a better way to explain what makes
dancing with him different from dancing with anyone else. With every movement, with the way he holds me -soft but secure,
free but embraced- I can feel the intensity of his attention to my body, to my movement, to my inner experience of the dance.
I can close my eyes and trust completely. We move effortlessly
together, in a smooth bliss. I feel his awareness of the subtlest shifts in my body. His lead is an
invitation I am free to answer with a creative response.
When I’m dancing with him, I feel like he animates me
from deep within- and that this brings out a latent creativity I never knew I had. I feel I am an equal partner
in producing the dance.
I feel a smooth bliss, an easy flow, a gliding, energetic peace.
On his teaching
His teaching goes beyond demonstrating a sequence of steps
for his students to mimic. With his attention to the movement of each body, honed after years of teaching and from his personal
exploration of the dance, he teaches so that students are able to produce a creative dance on their own.
As sensitive and disciplined instructor, Dragan:
-instills a deep understanding of movement that sets the stage
for your own future explorations of the dance.
-asks students to let go of what they think tango should
look like- and draws out the courage and the skill for them to invent new, genuine movement in each moment
-helps followers and leaders refine their sensitivity to each
other, enabling them to have a conversation through the dance
-builds in his students an unshakable but dynamic axis
-equips each partner with the poise, grace, control, and flexibility
to invent a conversation between them
-invites natural movement- not rote
memorization or mimicry
