JIN YOUNG

 

We always remember where our students had been, on the first day they came to our space to study

The Magdalena Technique (TM).

We so remember when Jin came in; we can now admire her breakthrough on her Tango journey. We have appreciated her diligency, her consistency in her process, her patience and her attention to understanding the details.

It is a great pleasure to celebrate her demonstrated progress in morphing into a... Tanguera!

Let's let her express herself here:

"I have been dancing in one form or another, all my life. But it never once crossed my mind to dance tango. I thought of it as an old fashioned dance that had nothing to do with me. I was a salsa enthusiast when the pandemic shutdown hit, and like many people I stopped dancing immediately and completely for 3.5 years. Last July I decided it was time to start again, and a friend dragged me along to a tango class for my first time out. 

This first tango class hit me like thunder. I remember thinking, what is this tango???!!! It resonated with all of the foundational experiences in my life. It had the discipline of ballet, the dynamic stillness of meditation, the knife-edge improvisation of jazz, and the deeply intimate embrace which reveals every thought, impulse and feeling. And all this danced to a music that was so incredibly rhythmic but devoid of drums???!!! With that first class, I recognized that this strange art form would take me where I needed to go to explore and express who I am at this stage in my life.

I started attending tango classes and practicas. One day I met someone whose dancing left a big impression on me. His lead was so dynamic, creative and lyrical that I immediately asked him who his teacher was. Jean-Pierre Sighe, he said. And so I showed up at Jean-Pierre’s studio the following week and I have been a devoted student there ever since.

Jean-Pierre has created a warm, respectful and elegant salon that makes it fun and easy to learn alongside fellow tango enthusiasts. The studio is beautiful, the people are welcoming and the teaching is delightfully free flowing and deep. J-P teaches in response to whatever the students are currently experiencing in their tango, whether it be lead and follow technique, theory and foundation of improvisational dance moves, musicality, culture, history. All of these things were helpful to me, but specifically, learning to walk properly helped my balance. And learning to dance the “media vuelta” helped me gain fluidity and confidence, and these in turn led to relaxing more into a proper embrace.

Oh- I also want to mention that J-P teaches about the social dynamic between the masculine feminine energies. These are very personal lessons. I learned so much about how to gracefully navigate all of the personalities on the dance floor without losing myself.

I’m told that your first milonga is a rite of passage that is often accompanied by a certain amount of anxiety and self-doubt. In my case, I was able to join one of the outings that J-P organized for the school to attend as a group. I still had some trepidation, but I was grateful to be supported by my teacher and fellow students. It ended up to be a wonderful experience for me.

What I appreciate most is that J-P always brings it back to the understanding that when we truly dance tango, we are a unique and honest expression of our essence, including mind, body and spirit. This is no small thing. As the dance unfolds, we have the opportunity to express life itself. 

" 

 

 

Bravo JIN !!!!!!

We love your Tango journey!

Jean-Pierre & Oshalla