Insightango by Amanda

After briefly meeting Amanda in person in Buenos Aires back in 2020, I started taking Zoom classes with her. Four years later, my first full in-person immersion with Amanda was in November 2024. From the very beginning, Amanda took complete charge of my three-week Odyssey in Buenos Aires. She picked me up at the airport, took me to my apartment (which included a dance studio!), showed me around my Palermo-Soho neighborhood, and answered all my questions about living in this exciting new city. Together, we took in the opera at Teatro Colon, the traditional asados and fairs in the Buenos Aires countryside, and wonderful tango shows in this sophisticated city. Best of all, she had organized an immersive program of rigorous private lessons, exhilarating milongas, including one very communal, open-air street tango festival with a live band! In these almost daily private lessons, she reinforced the tango and milonga skills I had been learning in her Zoom classes. And she ratcheted up those skills, showed me the finer points of technique, and the cultural subtleties I'd need in order to really fit into the porteño tango and milonga world! It wasn't just about learning new steps—although she certainly taught me those!—but also educating me to the attitudes, the "character" of each orchestra, each song. She helped me tap into the passion of this beautiful music. She taught me to translate that passion into the "cells of motion" of tanguero and milonguero styles of dancing. Even how to start the evening with authentic Argentine cabeceos! Her aim was very ambitious, and she made me feel it too! I wanted "to be the Tango, and not just dance tango steps!" And I knew, under her instruction and with a lot of hard work, I could achieve that ambition. I knew I'd have to really work at this tanguero and milonguero character every waking hour, or I'd lose it. Because tango is life. It is discipline and intention, it is life lived with passion and love. Amanda is an exacting teacher. She was keenly observant and analytical in her individualized instruction. She was incredibly patient and supportive, and with a wonderful sense of humor! I learned a ton, and I worked harder than I had worked at almost anything in my life! And I loved it! It worked! At those inimitable milongas porteñas, I was no longer shy; I had the time of my life! From the first cabeceo to the last entrancing dance with one of those charming bailarinas or with the captivating Amanda herself, I enjoyed "the party," the feast of life as I never had before. Those three weeks went by too fast! It was hard to say good-bye to the warm hospitality shown me by Amanda and her beautiful family and friends. That's why I returned in 2025 with a friend, and why I continue training via Zoom year-round. Now, six years after our journey began, I am already preparing for my next annual immersion in 2026: an incredible 47-day stay!

Amanda thanks for making my three week vacation in Buenos Aires so special. The housing option you arranged; the private tango lessons and the group sessions you set up were delightful. I enjoyed the milongas, opera, futbol match, and the rural festival visit you arranged. Meeting so many people was especially interesting. Your planning of each day was impressive and your energy and spirit for all you introduced us to made this a superb vacation. You are an amazing travel consultant! And it was an amazing introduction to Buenos Aires and Argentina….