By Gabriella Payne
It may take two to tango, but it doesn’t matter whether you’re alone or with a partner for prima Russian dancer Ninelle Salem’s tango classes, where everyone is invited to come down, slip on their dancing shoes and learn the ‘dance of love’.
Ms Salem will be sharing her vast dancing experience in a special series of classes run on Monday nights at the Narre Warren Bowls Club, in a collaboration with Carlos Argentina, founder of Tango Gippsland.
Having started her dancing journey as a professional ballerina in Russia, Ms Salem is no stranger to the stage and has studied and performed a range of different dances all over the world.
After immigrating to Australia in the late 1990’s, Ms Salem opened up her own pilates studio and fell in love with tango, going on to travel and teach others the art of the dance.
Mr Argentina said that Ms Salem’s vast “technical skills” made her an incredibly talented teacher and he encouraged people of all ages and abilities to come down and try a class, stating that “if you can walk, you can tango”.
“Ms Salem teaches the technique which is the foundation of dance,” Mr Argentina said.
“Her peers and students hold her in very high regard and after a few weeks of classes, you too will be on the road to being addicted to tango.”
The 90 minute classes are running every week at 7pm on Mondays at the Narre Warren Bowls Club, with beginners receiving their first class for free.
Ms Salem will be teaching a range of core tango skills, including how to both lead and follow, balance, weight change, respect and axis and some improvisation as well.
Mr Argentina said that although he would love to be running the classes himself, he was very excited to work with Ms Salem and is looking forward to enjoying the classes with the local community.
“The beauty of tango is that you can go anywhere in the world and dance,” Mr Argentina said.
“Even though you might not speak the language of that country, you can have a dance with a stranger. Tango is just a language of its own.”
Mr Argentina said that it would take more than one class to learn the ‘dance of love’, but if people “put in a few miles on the dance floor”, then the results would speak for themselves.
“Every week you will be having fun and learning new things – and getting fitter at the same time,” he said.
Mr Argentina encouraged older residents to give tango a go as well.
“Tango is a walking dance and somebody is always supporting you. The music is like a heartbeat and I’ve seen it bring a smile to many faces – it’s just amazing,” he said.
New dancers of all skill levels are always welcomed, with no booking or commitment required and classes cost 15 dollars per session after the first free lesson.
For more information visit https://www.tangogippsland.com/
