Día Del Tango (Written by Colby Sturgis)
January 12th was our busiest day yet; it almost felt like two days. After an awesome day at the ranch, we arrived back at our hotel at around five pm, stopping only to take a quick shower and change into our Tango attire. The girls were stressing and the guys were napping. In the words of Caitlin McCosh, "I only have 45 minutes to shower, blow dry and straighten my hair, put makeup on and figure out what I'm wearing!" However, all was fine and everyone looked muy bonito and we were off to take lessons at Viejo Almacén, which translates to the Old Warehouse. We had seen an incredible performance of the tango at Estancia Santa Susana (the ranch) a few hours earlier, and a lot of us were not sure what to expect from our lesson.
When we arrived, we were greeted by our instructors, Mauricio and Ivana. They wasted no time at all, and after a very brief introduction, all 35 of us were on the dance floor. We started by finding a partner and practicing the basic walk of the tango. Girls were instructed to walk backward and the males walked forward, leading the ladies. After we seemed to get the hang of the basics, Mauricio and Ivana demonstrated an eight-step routine that we were going to learn next. It seemed overwhelming at first, but once we observed the steps a few times, we felt ready to begin. 
After practicing with our first partner, we then switched partners and each of the pairs performed the eight steps as well. Mauricio would ask for four pairs at a time to come to the middle of the dance floor and showcase their new talents to the rest of the group. Most of us were naturals, especially our very own Professor Berdiev, who drew the most applause by a landslide. After we had all mastered the eight steps like the back of our hand, our wonderful instructors added a few extra steps that were a little more challenging. Which of course, we handled with ease. Everyone had a blast learning the tango, including Adam Gosselin, with 15 years of dance experience, who said: “it was an
awesome experience, the instructors were
understanding and willing to repeat the steps.”
Once our lesson came to an end, we received our certificates in Tango and walked right across the street to grab some dinner. The restaurant was at the top of a seemingly endless staircase and had a balcony with a great view where we spent a great deal of time taking group photos. After a delicious 3-course meal, our group went back to Viejo Almacén to conclude our night with the Tango show. Though at this point all of us were feeling very proud of our Tango skills, we were about to be humbled very quickly by the incredible performers. Whatever expectations that we had were absolutely shattered, and the show gave us a true look at the beautiful culture of Argentina. The show began with traditional tango dancing, performed by professionals including our instructors, who completely stole the show. Throughout parts of the show, one of the tango dancers who was a jack of all trades began singing the most beautiful songs we had all heard in a while. All of our jaws were to the floor as her vocals filled the room. All of the music during the show was played by the band on stage with a piano, accordion, violin, and bass guitar. There was also a pan flute band, who played many songs and was a huge hit with the crowd. Every time they began a song, one of the men would begin to clap and the audience would follow. The atmosphere in the theater was incredible and the crowd was going wild for the pan flute band. Our group was blown away by the talent of all of the performers, especially our instructors, and according to Hannah Mason, "The show was so awesome and being able to actually learn the tango was amazing as well because we got to watch and participate in their culture!" Overall, we all had a really positive experience, learned a lot about the culture of Argentina, and discovered how fun it is to dance the tango! 
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