Edgard Alvarez was born in Sydney and his parents are Argentinean. Ed’s father Pedro Alvarez founded one of the top tango schools in Australia (now trading as: Esquina de Tango). Taught by his father to dance tango, Ed quickly moved on to teaching classes himself. “I remember dad asking me to come along to one of his classes to help out with gender balance, and from there on I was hooked” says Ed.
Edgard has also had extensive training from Maestros in Argentina. One such Maestro (Master of Tango) Carlos Gavito said to him “A good dancer is one who listens to the music. We dance the music not the steps. Anyone who aspires to dance never thinks about what he is going to do. What he cares about is that he follows the music. You see, we are painters. We paint the music with our feet.”
Other locations where Ed has taught and performed at include Alice Springs, Melbourne and Canberra. A gap year in Argentina with his wife April Sutcliffe gave him the opportunity to teach private lessons abroad. Both April and Ed have performed together for numerous events and festivals, the most recent being the opening of the Argentine Film Festival 2012. Originally a migrant’s dance in the mid 1800’s, adopting rhythms from Africa and Cuba, tango was danced in Buenos Aires attracting the working-class. Tango is now danced through out the world in clubs called ‘milongas’, to be a milonguero is to be a milonga dancer.
“A student of mine said that learning tango is equal to learning a language”. This is true on two levels. Firstly it is a technical dance, which attracts a person that likes a challenge. Secondly tango is a silent language communicated between couples. Leading and following are strong skills taught in the class to encourage connection between you and your partner. The embrace seals the deal. Tango has been in Australia for about 10 years and can be found all around the country. In Sydney alone you can find a venue to dance at almost every night of the week. Finally, Beginners want to dance like intermediates; intermediates want to dance like advanced dancers; advanced dancers want to dance like the greats; but the greats always go back to basics. We are always learning and the journey leads us to new experiences. So will you join this loyal society whom are infectiously friendly and share the same highly addictive passion for tango?
