"...through, just, love and committing to your own journey within a culture and within a craft and within a practice, you can embody whatever you want to. And there's nobody to tell you that it's not authentic or real or enough."

Co-founder of Oxygen Tango School and Awaken Tango Mitra Martin talks about her Persian heritage and the value of research, innovation, acceptance, and attention in tango.

Producer/Host: Liz Sabatiuk | Music: “Zorzal”, arranged and recorded by Orquesta Típica Misteriosa Buenos Aires with music and lyrics by Dorita Zárate | Image Credit: Glenn Campbell

Show Notes

• Learn more about Mitra's perspectives and work on her website. (Bonus points if you learn more about “The Romance of the Rose” and gardens in Persian poetry or even read Mitra's thesis!)
• Read some background about Iran’s history and government, then read Mitra’s reflections on Iran's 2022 protests.
• TriANGulO changed locations but is still going strong as a studio and community under the leadership of its founder, Carina Moeller.
• Listen to “Instinct Tango, with Aníbal Dominguez” for another perspective on how contact improv relates to tango.
• Read why Mitra recommends learning tango one-on-one rather than in conventional group classes.
• Listen to different versions of the same song, “El Choclo,” to get a sense of the different styles of Carlos Di Sarli and Juan D’Arienzo.
• Learn more about Marshall Rosenberg’s framework of nonviolent communication and read a post by the student Mitra mentioned, Andrei Andreev, applying Rosenberg's framework to tango.
• Listen to “Flowing together, with Avik Basu” and visit Awaken Tango to read the Inner Experience of Tango report.
• Mitra shouted out the following folks as key sources of inspiration and support in her tango journey: Avik Basu, Stefan Fabry, Jaimes Friedgen, Korey Ireland, Dave Lampson, Carina Moeller, Rebecca Shulman, Daniel Trenner, and Brigitta Winkler.

Read a transcript of Mitra's episode here.

In summer of 2021, Scott Boddye said goodbye to all but two-suitcases worth of worldly possessions and became a digital nomad. Since then, he's traveled on 4 continents and counting, learned to dance in heels, and created a social media platform for tango dancers that he hopes to launch any day now.

Producer/Host: Liz Sabatiuk | Music: "Loca" composed by Manuel Jovés, arranged and recorded by Tango Bardo | Image Credit: Kappu Chino

Show Notes

• Check out Scott's website to learn more about him, then visit the website for Mundo Tango.
• Learn more about Daniela Borgialli, Scott's first tango teacher, then read an article about the Tango Club at Arizona State University - which is still going strong almost 20 years after Scott studied there!
• For a deeper dive on gender norms and tango, check out any or all of the following HoT episodes: Small movements toward tango for all, with Arno Plass; Embracing to change the world, with Alex Pacheco Castillo; Image, authenticity, and building bridges, with Phi Lee Lam; Reflections of a queer tango trailblazer, with Augusto LaMarshall.

Read a transcript of Scott's episode here.