Hello milongueras and milongueros, 
welcome to our latest edition of Cortinas.
In this issue:

• Updates on our Totnes práctica

• Paseos Tangueros: Remembering María Nieves

We take a break 

As some of you might already know from our social media, we are taking a break from organising the Wednesday práctica. 
We don't know currently when we will resume it.   
The práctica started as an experiment with a block of seven monthly events, and though initially we thought about continuing it into the summer every other month, some unexpected life events made us rethink our priorities. We would like to thank all who came to Paso a Paso prácticas, some nights were particularly special thanks to you.
That's only a goodbye, as we are full of ideas for Paso a Paso's future, and when conditions will allow, we will be back with even more tango. 

Cortinas, our monthly newsletter, will keep on as usual, for now with more focus on tango culture and news, to fill your time between one dance and the other.

Paseos Tangueros:
"Les dejo mi corazón de Tango"

Last Sunday, the world of tango lost the dancer who, together with Juan Carlos Copes, brought tango to the world: María Nieves Rego died at 91, after a life dedicated to tango.

El Cachivache Quinteto has a tango dedicated to María Nieves

Today in Europe (and in many other parts of the world), Argentine tango is a flourishing art, and it would not have been possible, had not María Nieves and Juan Carlos Copes brought their show, Tango Argentino, to Paris in 1983 and then to Broadway two years later.

María Nieves and Juan Carlos Copes in the documentary: "Carlos Gardel: Historia de un Idolo"

In case you did not watch it yet, the movie Our Last Tango (original: Un Tango Más, 2016), recounts her and Copes's life:

I did not have the chance to meet her in person (she was not much into teaching) but since I started dancing, I loved listening to her stories of tango and milongas in the old Buenos Aires. Her short videos posted on her social media, with her big smile, were so refreshing, in a dance environment — the tango scene — that tends to always take itself all too seriously.
I always took her invitation to create, to be unique, to find your own style foundational to the way I approach every artistic practice.
I wanted to share with you some interviews of her, but I could not find any with English subtitles. I decided then to share a YouTube playlist with some of my favourite interviews (in Spanish) and videos (old and new) of Maria Nieves dancing:

María Nieves - YouTube

Collection of María Nieves' dances and interviews

In one interview, she was asked whether she had any unfulfilled dream: she answered with a very clear "NO", and explained that all her life was tango, and that she owes everything to this dance¹. At one point, she remarks that she might as well say that "she is Tango", and that is probably the most beautiful gift she left us: her heart of tango.

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