The saying “It takes two to tango” surely does not refer to the local tango community.

The tango scene is full of opportunities to learn to dance and socialise

The more the merrier, says Nathalie Mifsud, teacher and main organiser of Argentine tango in Malta, giving regular classes, holding milongas and other activities.

Ms Mifsud gave up everything else she had going on in her life to dedicate time to what has, by now, become a tango obsession.

She went to Argentina several times to learn more about this fascinating dance.

“I was like a maniac, taking classes all day long, everyday,” she says.

Ms Mifsud gives group classes at various levels and also private lessons.

She even gets the odd couple wanting to learn a tango dance for their wedding night.

Not only that, she also holds a weekly milonga (social dance) night every Wednesday where everybody is invited to join in.

It was back in 1997 that Argentine tango was introduced in Malta.

Charlotte Stuart, together with Mario Borg and Maestro Eric Jørissen started it off by organising a tango workshop on the island, later joined by Aldo Calleja forming Isla del Tango.

Ms Stuart was living in England and Nice for 10 years and was very much into the dance scene.

Inevitably, she came across Argentine tango and became interested in this magical dance.

This took her to a special tango place in Holland, run by Mr Jørissen, where she later met her husband Sinan Vural, a tanguero from Istanbul.

Ms Mifsud started taking classes with Charlotte and Sinan,but soon after the couple took a break to start a family.

The baton was passed on to Mr Calleja who spent eight years teaching and holding milongas, while Ms Mifsud assisted him for five years to keep tango alive on the island.

When Mr Calleja decided to take a break, it was a do or die situation for Ms Mifsud.

But she gave it her best shot and got together with a couple of friends and created TangoMalta. A new community of dancers followed, and as they say, the rest is history.

As one can notice in the events calendar, there is a lot happening on the local tango scene.

It is always full of opportunities to learn to dance, practice and socialise.

Students sometimes meet at their private homes to practice more frequently.

Some of them have also ventured to Buenos Aires and other countries where tango is big, to dance and participate in marathons.

Since this is an improvised dance and everybody dances to his ability, the more people there are, the more improvised and interesting it becomes.

“We exchange partners and one does not need a fixed partner to participate or to come to classes,” she says.

It is lovely to travel and just go to a milonga and dance with people you do not know. Sometimes you cannot even speak the language, the only form of communication is through the dance, and that is so nice.

“There is no age limit to do this dance. Every dancer is able to offer a good dance. Of course classes and practice time are important. There is a lot of technique involved,” she said.

Upcoming events

Besides regular tango classes, Ms Mifsud organises several events for her students, like camping trips.

These will be open to students and their families and friends.

During the events there will be hiking, cooking and dancing in the evenings. This year’s camping trip is scheduled for this weekend.

A much-awaited upcoming event is the Colores del Tango which will be held at the Manoel Theatre on February 25 and 26.

This will be a tango show which includes a full orchestra, organised by Barbara Aleks.

In May, Ms Mifsud is inviting a world famous couple from Argentina to give workshops on the island. They will also be giving an exhibition dance during the Milonga classes on May 5.

• More information may be obtained by phone on 7928 7755 or e-mail: nathalie@tangomalta.org. www.tangomalta.org