Richard Sagala on CTC, tango etc

06/04/07

Interviewer : Dania Adamuszek

-Richard what gave you the idea of the CTC?

In September of 2004, I went to Ann Arbour, Michigan, to visit the local university tango club  and I was more than impressed by it.

-Why?

Here was a young tango club with around three years of existence and I was surprised by the level of the dancers, all dancing connected, with a sense of musicality, in close embrace and with effortless navigation. Plus the atmosphere of the club was so friendly, the people were warm and cooperative and cared for their club.

-Is it something new here in Montreal?

Very much so. We are the first ones who have started a university tango club.

-So you had that idea in mind when you came back?

No, not yet, the whole idea took off after I  danced in  “El tango del amor” , a work that got created  in Oscar Peterson Hall in March 2005. By that time, I had developed a good relationship with John Winiarz, the composer of this work, who happens to be a  professor in the music department of Concordia here on the Loyola campus and a tango aficionado. Being myself a resident of the neighbourhood and living five minutes away, I got the idea of the club during the summer. When the fall session started over, I asked John if he would be interested in helping me setting up the club...

-And he did help?

More than that, without John the club probably wouldn’t have come into existence.

-So you presented the idea to him, and it went from there?

Yes.

-Did you have your concept well defined?

Yes, the concept was to bring tango to the students of Loyola campus, in a part of town where there is no tango at all, and have people exposed to it, people that would not have been aware that such a thing existed, and make them interested enough to come and try it. Plus, I wanted to bring quality teaching to students at a negligible cost.

-Like what?

Well, once they have become a member ($5.00 annual fee), they can join a class from 19:30-21:30, two hours for $2.00 dollars. So even a stranded student could afford it.

-When did the CTC start?

In the fall of 2005, after some time spent on  getting the right authorisations, we got a green light and on the 17^th  of November 2005 we offered our first lesson and milonga...

-And it worked?

Well, after five months of existence, we have fifty five registered card members.

-Tell me about the teachers?

It’s me and you Dania.

-When did you start teaching tango Richard?

Summer of 2004, I had my first student.

-Was it your first time teaching?

Tango yes, but teaching no. I have started teaching music in a high school when I was nineteen years old in…(maybe I shouldn’t say when)…in the 70’s.

-Were you dancing then?

No, I was studying music in those days.

-When did you start dancing?

I started dancing fifteen years ago in 1991.

-What did you dance, tango?

No, Ballroom.

-Somehow I do not see you dancing ballroom…

Me neither (laughs).

-How long did you do that for?

Until I discovered Tango in 1999.

-Do you still dance Ballroom?

No summer of 2000 I dropped it altogether to study tango full time.

-Why did you drop it though?

Tango is more than enough. There is nothing like tango.
Tango encompasses three dances: tango, waltz-tango and milonga
which is a fast dance. With that you can express everything.

-You said that you did not see yourself very much in ballroom.
Why did you start dancing it?

Well, it was a “concours de circonstances” I would say in french. In 1990-91, I got invitations to quite a few dinners and gala, most of them were very formal affairs, black tie, and usually followed by a dance with a small band.
At first I watched, then got invited to try… (I resisted) then tried
a few steps.

-And you liked it…

On the contrary, but I started paying more attention to the dancers 
and was envious of all the fun they seemed to have doing it. So the
next step, I was cajoled in trying to take a few lessons...

-Then you liked it?

No, the incredibly kitsch world of ballroom got to my nerves big time.

-So you dropped it?

No, I was annoyed by it, but soon I felt an incredible source of pleasure in moving with somebody on the music, plus the great sense of fun and  exhilaration dancing does to you. So I had to decide, overlook the kitsch and mediocre music and dance, or go home.

-What did you do?

I choose the first one. Then got hooked solid on dancing. Plus there 
was fifteen dances in the syllabus and obsessive me, I felt I had to
study them all… but to learn them was a challenge and if variety is the spice of life…there was a lot of variety there.

-And it went spicy like that for a while?

Yes, until January 1999, I was living in Ottawa in those days when
I saw the film “The Tango Lesson”.

-And you liked it?

Liked it? I was overwhelmed by it!

-The dancing?

The music first, then the dancing.

-Being a musician, did you preferred that music?

Preferred? First I had never listened to “real” tango music before. 
The only thing I knew was the incredibly kitsch ballroom music….
(like the music  you've just listened to while reading this page...)

Imagine, to discover Pugliese, di Sarli,  Pedro Laurenz,  Gardel, beautiful singers of the 40’s  and first rate musicians in super professional  orchestras….

This is  the richest most beautiful popular music that has ever existed on the surface of the earth. Overwhelming, totally overwhelming!

And then the dancing, the most beautiful couple dancing that is.  Grounded, improvised, spontaneous, with intensity in the connection, a sea of endless possibilities. Nothing comes close. After having tasted the tango, you feel you had been conveyed to an imperial banquet... and ballroom seemed as fulfilling as chewing gum.

-Then you got hooked?

Yes, when I came back to Montreal end of summer  2000, I enlisted as a student in three schools at the same time. A litle while after, I started  taking private lessons and never stopped doing it.

-Where?

Here in Montreal, then in the Netherlands, and in the United States (New York, Boston, Providence, D.C. etc).

-Did you go to Buenos Aires?

No, not yet, and to tell you the truth I am not feeling the urge of going.

-How come?

Well, I feel I  have the best of Buenos Aires with my teacher Noel Strazza who teaches here since the summer of 2002,  plus I know that the milongas there are  full of smoke which do annoy me a great deal.

-How do you see the future?

By giving back the gift of tango to others, the same way I was lucky enough to receive it.
Helping build the community and helping others acquire the proper technique to express themselves.

-Like you are doing at the CTC?

Like WE  are doing at the CTC.

Want to dance Dania?

-Sure, with pleasure!