Category: STORIES AND INSIGHTS
Reflection on Tango Unity Project
By Milica Vukovic (young mentor from Buena Vista Dance School Podgorica)
My dance journey began with salsa, back when I was studying in Herceg Novi. I danced for several years, more as someone who enjoys movement than as someone who wants to stand in front of others. For me, dance was a space of freedom, but also of safe distance. I was present, but I didn’t seek the spotlight.
After returning to Podgorica, I spontaneously enrolled in tango classes at Buena Vista school. I had no plan – just curiosity and a need to move, to explore something new. Tango immediately attracted me. Its silence, depth, and the focus it requires – all of that felt close to me. It wasn’t just a dance, but a dialogue. A connection.
For years, I attended classes without any ambitions. I enjoyed the learning process, the music, and the moments when everything slowed down and became real. Then came 2020. The pandemic. Everything stopped. But tango didn’t. Occasionally, following all recommendations and responsibilities, we continued practicing in the studio. During those quiet days, my instructor Milovan Medojević asked me a question that caught me off guard:
“Would you ever try leading a class?”
Honestly, at that time, it sounded like complete absurdity. I couldn’t imagine myself speaking in front of people, explaining, leading. I immediately said “no” 😄
When I finally decided to try, I had no idea how difficult the beginning would be. The first classes were a big challenge. Although I had the full support of Ivan, Milovan, and the entire Buena Vista team, every class felt like a test before myself. It took me time to free myself from the idea that everything had to be perfect.
Then slowly, things started to change. From class to class, month to month, it all became more natural. I began to enjoy it. To truly feel how much I love being there – not just as a dancer, but as someone who shares knowledge, space, and music. Tango wasn’t just a tool to overcome stage fright – it became my path.
A few months ago, I had my first performance with Marko Popović, known as Crni. We are known in our school as the “Crni” team – two different people, but connected in movement. I still felt strong stage fright then, but it was followed by a performance with Milovan in Skopje – a completely different experience, with more stability and presence, and a deeper awareness of what tango really means to me.
In Skopje, I was also a tango DJ for the first time, which was a huge step for me. Technology has never been close to me, and everything new brings additional stress. But it happened – it went better than I could have imagined, leaving me with a feeling of pride that doesn’t fade easily.
Today, it feels natural for me to be both an instructor and a DJ. Not because the stage fright disappeared, but because I no longer see it as an enemy.
Skopje is one of my favorite cities, with the warmest people I have ever met. Wandering its streets, I discover something new every time. And I always like to return to Central Park, which is the most beautiful park I have ever seen. Everything is there in one place – forest, birds, open spaces, playgrounds for children, ducks, butterflies, flowers, bridges… Everything anyone needs to feel like they truly belong.
This project has taught me a lot, but learning never stops. I’m very happy that we (hopefully) managed to share our experience with young people, even though it’s never easy for us to stand in front of so many. I didn’t shy away from the spotlight, and with pleasure, I helped Crni lay out the linoleum while we prepared for the final performance. Maybe I’ve never seen such genuine joy and enthusiasm among young people because we ourselves aren’t always that energetic 😅
I can’t wait to come back to Skopje again! 🎶
Where words fail, tango speaks
Reflection on Tango Unity Project
by Ivana Stankova (participant)
Life was never meant to be understood, it was meant to be felt” is my definition of tango. Life is a game of improvising, isn’t it? Tango can be your tutor and lead you to your best way of life. Simply, trying to control everything causes an immerse amount of stress and anxiety in our ways of living. Tango- one move at a time, follow the flow and just be! The only way to live a happy life is to just be, because happiness, at the end of the day, is a decision. And if i had to use only one word to describe this presence is serendipity
[the fortunate finding of valuable or agreeable things by chance, or an aptitude for making such discoveries]
Communication is where the foundation lays, something that’s always in the back of my mind when I’m the follower, is the fact I learned once I just started. The men who are usually the leaders, they firstly learn to be the follower. This brings us to another aspect of life and that is all about communication. The definition stated “listen to understand, not to respond” is more than relevant. In life instead of thinking about what you’re going to say next while you’re having a conversation, you should just simply listen to the other person to really understand, and what you’re going to say comes naturally. The conversation that way is far more meaningful. On the other hand in tango, instead of thinking of the next step or ornament you’ll do, when you’re the follower, just understand what the body language of the other person speaks and your next move comes naturally! So tango is life, life is tango. You can find a lot of correlations and learn the one from the other. I heartily recommend to all the people in the world to at least try and see if they find themselves in tango. Or don’t, it’s a trap. Cause once you start you’ll never want to go back!
Lazy Montenegrin ‘Forced’ to Dance for his Own Good
Reflection on Tango Unity Project
by Marko Jovanovic (young mentor from Buena Vista Dance School Podgorica)
The stereotype for Montenegrins is that we are lazy, but I don’t think it can ever describe exactly how lazy we can actually be. Let’s just say I consider myself to be the pinnacle of laziness. Sometimes chewing food feels like a redundant activity, let alone walking to places or talking. That is why getting out of my comfort zone usually feels like the most annoying thing imaginable any time it happens. Even just getting out of my house and interacting with people feels like a chore most often, so any additional activity just adds to that and makes me feel like the protagonist of a tragedy. The particularly annoying part is that I know it’s good for me and that I’ll come out of it as an improved version of myself—whether in terms of knowledge, confidence, or just richer for an experience. That’s exactly what I thought the Tango Unity project sounded like a great opportunity to take a step forward.
It may sound a bit as if I were a shut-in weeb before this (I wish), but I had actually already been a dance instructor for a few years at the time this project came about. I teach both Cuban salsa and Argentine tango, and I enjoy passing on the skills I have to others. What I mean is that I was already no stranger to the social side of engaging with people or groups of people, but this experience still presented many chances to try something different.
For start, our meetings in Montenegro had way more of a serious vibe than our regular practice meetings or classes. The idea here was to prepare an original program that beginners—and particularly young beginners—would enjoy, as it can be extremely difficult not to annoy an unsuspecting young person to death when you tell them to just practice something for hours. We already had a working system before, but there’s always room to improve, and improving it is what we tried to do from the get go. The stereotypical laziness I mentioned before meant that it was difficult to have all of us focused and productive all the time, but it was still a considerably more engaging process and it was definitely a learning experience.
Within this project, I also had the horrifying experience of preparing a performance to do with just my partner. This was around the half-way point of the Tango Unity project, which was always intended to have a final, group performance as its culmination in June. However, I meekly succumbed to the persuasion that it would be a good idea to try doing a performance earlier on to make the latter one easier.
I purposefully exaggerate, of course. While it was really a difficult thing to do since it was my first time performing in front of a crowd, the practice that went into it was significantly more useful than any before it. When you know you’ll have to be a ‘performer,’ your brain is basically forced to take the preparation more seriously and to consider way more details than it normally would. It felt like I’d made more progress as a dancer in those 4-5 days (it was pretty ride or die) than I’d made in the 7-8 years before it. The fact that it was a local crowd that would’ve cheered no matter how poor we were surely also helped, but I did still feel like it was a step I would’ve regretted not making.
Shortly after, it came time to travel to Skopje. We’d had a couple of meetings in Montenegro already, but it was still kind of daunting to think about jumping into 40+ new people to practice together. I was quickly introduced to my wonderful partner for the group performance, Ivana, and, as it usually is, practicing with the group turned out to be way less complicated than I’d imagined. As with any learning process, it wasn’t perfect from the start, but everyone clearly enjoyed participating, and it felt like I was a part of a really fun activity together with a large group of enthusiasts I’d never met before. Even though we have a young active community in Montenegro, this amount of hyped peers was an unusual sight for me when it comes to Argentine tango.
After a bit of reluctant sightseeing through Skopje (and a few lost battles against the Sun), I caught myself being excited for the performance. Even before it was over, I was already thinking about how quickly the time had gone by, and how we’d already have to go back soon. The time came, but I didn’t feel any pressure or stage fright. The experience I’d gone through earlier had made me feel more confident, and now I had zero doubts that I would go through the entire choreography with no mistakes. I genuinely was surprised at how sure I was of that fact, and it felt satisfying to then live up to the unexpected high expectations I’d somehow placed upon myself.
And so it ended. We also managed to successfully do what somehow turned out to be the most complicated part of the whole performance—bowing to the crowd and gracefully leaving the dance floor. I regret not being able to stay at the farewell milonga due to having to rush to try to find some manga (my shut-in weeb dream lives on after all), but I am forever grateful for the opportunity to meet so many enthusiastic people and share a performance in the beautiful Skopje.
Reflection on Tango Unity Project
by Ignasio Jovanov (young mentor in Familija Tangovi Skopje)
I am convinced that in the times we live in — where everyone is running somewhere, rushing, and there’s no time even for a short pause and a pleasant conversation — tango is exactly what brings us back to enjoying the moment, to genuine communication, to coming together through shared connection, to the return of true human values, to an embrace, to a warmly spoken word, to surrendering to the moment that fills the soul with joy and a sense of uplift toward a better world.
I strongly believe that this project has made a change in the eyes of the younger generation, who will continue to spread that beautiful energy so that it reflects in their future and helps them face their everyday life challenges.
Reflection on Tango Unity Project
By Evgenija Jovanova (young mentor in Familija Tangovi Skopje)
Tango helped me meet a plethora of people with various backgrounds, various interests, yet the same goal—to connect, create and inspire. What really amazed me was the perseverance those lovely people had, practicing every simple step until making it nearly perfect. They were young and inspired, full of uplifting energy that one can do nothing else but join in. This project was an inspiring artistic experience that helped me become even more creative.
“Animae tangunt ante corpora.”
Reflection on the Tango Unity Project
by Stefanija Angelovska (young mentor in Familija Tangovi Skopje)
“Souls touch before bodies.”
Tango is not something you learn — tango is something you feel.
In a world where everything is fast-paced, measurable, and pre-planned, dance remains the last bastion of genuine feeling. With every step across the floor, with every glance and every hand’s embrace, tango tells the deepest inner monologue of the human soul.
As one tango instructor mentioned during the final performance — and gave me a unique inspiration — he said:
“There is no dance like tango… in it, closeness depends entirely on us. We stand next to another person, whether we know them or not, as close as we are willing to be, but the souls will meet much closer than the bodies. That’s when they speak… Tango is improvisation, not choreography. It’s an art created in the moment and disappears with the last note — never the same, never repeatable. And right there lies its true magic — in the unpredictable, the fragile, in what is born only once and lingers in the soul forever. That’s why tango is not just art for the stage — it is art for the heart.”
When I first entered the world of tango, it was through the intensive course organized by Familija Tangovi, and later as part of the Tango Unity project. I didn’t know what to expect, whether I belonged there or not, but a quiet voice inside me kept saying:
“There’s something special hidden here, something that is part of my desire to dance and share the magic of dance.”
And so, placed in the role of a “mini mentor” through the Tango Unity project, my wish came true. I met many new people and learned that true beauty isn’t found in perfection, but in the sincerity of movement.
To lead means to respect the other person’s freedom.
To follow means to trust.
From tango, I learned the silence that speaks louder than words, the patience to listen with my body, and the humility to accept that I’m not always the one who “knows.”
And from there, the desire to spread the magic of tango through knowledge began to grow — to share it with others.
As a person, tango taught me presence.
To be here and now — not in yesterday’s mistake, not in tomorrow’s worry, but in the heart of the moment.
To feel. To release. To believe that connection with another can happen without words, without expectations — through a gaze, a breath, and a step.
In tango, the leader and follower are not opposing roles — they are two people breathing as one.
You must know how to listen with your body, to feel without imposing.
Dance became a life lesson for me: how little it takes for us to feel truly alive, happy, and present.
Tango is art for the heart — and when we take a step from the heart, we feel alive. That’s a lesson I’ve carried with me beyond the dance hall.
I cannot describe tango fully, but if I had to define it in one sentence, it would go something like this:
A simple step forward, a gentle lead, a surrender… and a silence that speaks louder than anything.
Tango doesn’t just teach us how to dance — it teaches us how to live.
In its simplicity lies a complex truth: that life is not measured in steps, but in feelings.
Step by step, tango guides us through inner worlds, through touches that speak, pauses that weigh more than movement, and moments that last longer than time.
In the embrace of the unknown — where two pairs of eyes meet, and the music becomes the voice of the soul — as someone who loves art, I discovered that a person is strong precisely because they are vulnerable.
Rich, not because they possess, but because they feel.
And maybe, in tango, I found what I so often seek in life — a sense of belonging, without the need for words.
Belonging to the moment, to the other, to myself.
Because in the end, tango is not just a dance…
It is a touch of souls that, if only for a moment, become one.
For me, the Tango Unity project is more than a project — it is a place where I truly feel alive.
Here, souls touch before bodies, and every step carries trust, every embrace — sincerity.
Tango Unity will always remind me of:
“Connection, silence, and a soul in motion.”
Tango, Skopje and everything in between
By Anja Vukalovic (young mentor from Buena Vista Dance School Podgorica)
There’s a funny thing about long-distance projects: for months, we send videos, share ideas, give feedback and imagine how it all looks on the other side of the screen. It’s a kind of digital tango in itself with careful steps, hopeful signals, and lots of wondering: Is this landing? Are we in sync?
Then we arrived in Skopje and from the first moment, it was clear: no video can prepare you for the energy of being in the same room.
Suddenly, people I’d only seen through a screen were giving me hugs, sharing snacks, correcting my steps, and cracking jokes mid-rehearsal. There was warmth, chaos, and the kind of laughter that comes when nobody really knows what’s going on but everyone’s happy to be there.
Practices were long, lively and a bit of a beautiful mess: we’d dance, rewind, improvise, stumble, laugh, and somehow, day by day, we started moving like a real group. That is how tango teaches us life, not just through technique and a lot of repetition but through presence, trust and a subtle smile that says ‘You’ve got this’ even when you doubt yourself.
Off the dance floor, I did what I usually do when I travel: wander around half-lost, very curious, and always looking for something to eat. Skopje surprised me. It’s a mix of big, dramatic statues and quiet little streets with cafés that make you want to stay a while. I got lost more than once (sometimes on purpose, sometimes not), but honestly, it was the best way to stumble onto things like a street musician playing something so good I wished I had a dance partner, a cozy bookstore selling both manga and vinyls, or a completely unexpected salsa party happening in Cuba Café. Skopje really knows how to surprise you.
On the last day, we danced right in the center of Skopje surrounded by people, traffic, noise, and life. I have no idea if the choreography went perfectly (probably not), but it definitely felt real. There were nerves, excitement, a little chaos, and a lot of heart. It didn’t feel like just a performance but more like a celebration of everything we’d been through together. All the practice, all the learning and all the connections we built along the way.
And maybe that’s what made this trip special. It wasn’t just about tango mentoring or learning, it was about people, places, shared stories, and showing up, even when things are unpredictable.
Skopje wasn’t just a stop on the map. It felt like the start of something bigger, and I’m already looking forward to whatever comes next.
Reflection on the Tango Unity Project
by Klimentina Jovanova (participant):
When I first came to the tango workshop, I felt excited but also a bit unsure—I didn’t quite know what to expect. But from the very first moment, the atmosphere was warm and welcoming, and that helped me relax. I learned a lot about tango, but also about myself—especially how much I can step out of my comfort zone and actually enjoy it. There was a sense of warmth, spontaneity, and the feeling that everyone was welcome just as they are.
What I loved most was how tango connected us—not just through movement, but in a quiet, yet deeply meaningful way. The music, the touch, the silence between the steps… all of it taught me to be present and to trust the people beside me.
I discovered that tango is not just a dance—it’s a form of communication without words and a mirror in which you can see yourself more clearly.
By the end of the project, I felt full of energy—open, inspired. I left with more self-confidence and new friendships that I believe will last a long time. If someone is wondering whether to join, I’d say: just take one step. Tango will do the rest.
You don’t need to know how to dance—just be willing to move, to listen, and to be surprised by what you’ll discover in yourself.
Reflection on the Tango Unity Project
by Ivan Farenvald (participant):
I believe that this project was a wonderful idea for introducing young people to tango, which is not only a dance skill but also a powerful way to connect people. I had been thinking for a while about starting tango classes, and this project turned out to be the perfect opportunity.
At first, I was skeptical that I would be able to learn how to dance tango. I had seen videos of people dancing, and the steps looked very complex. But as the lessons went on, my perspective changed. I realized that with enough practice, the steps become manageable.
What I enjoyed the most about the project was the socializing, the new friendships I made, and the music, which always helped me relax and unwind. I learned that tango brings people closer together in a way that other dances don’t. I also discovered that both partners need to collaborate and stay in sync with each other for the dance to work.
By the end of the project, I felt much more confident because I knew enough steps to dance without hesitation. If someone is thinking about joining a project like this or starting tango classes, I would strongly recommend they go for it. Tango is not only great as physical activity, but also beneficial for mental health, thanks to the soothing music.
If I had to sum up the whole experience in one sentence, I would say that tango is a beautiful way to meet new people—and to get to know yourself better through music.
Finally, I want to praise the organization of this project. It was a great honor to be part of such an event, which was truly unique for our local community. I sincerely hope there will be more projects like this in the future.
Between Breath and Movement: Tango as a Living Emotion
Stefanija Angelovska (young mentor in Familija Tangovi)
In the world of silence and music—where words become unnecessary—tango is born as a whisper of the soul. In tango, there are no steps—only gliding, spiraling, transforming into breath that paints the invisible. Like a drop of ink spreading through the heart, tango absorbs the deepest emotions and turns them into motion. It is art in its purest form—unexplainable, unfathomable, yet deeply present. Two bodies, one energy. One breath, infinite meaning.
Tango is not danced with the feet. It is danced with palms that meet, with chests that draw near, with a heart that quietly chimes. It is an emotion that stretches through the body, becoming the voice of something left unsaid.
The steps are not numbers—they are verses. Every turn is a question mark, every pause—a sigh. Music is the air, and the bodies are the canvases that absorb its breath.
When two people meet in tango, they do not see each other—they feel each other. Sometimes with closed eyes, they don’t find rhythm in the music, but in the pulse of one another.
With every movement, they draw a map of the moment—not of the past, not the future—just the now. And this now lives like a butterfly, fleeting yet radiant, leaving behind a color that never fades.
Breath is the secret conductor of tango. It guides the pauses, colors the tension, caresses the silence between the movements. When dancers breathe together, magic happens—their bodies move not only in rhythm but in emotion. The dance becomes an intimate confession where even the smallest tremble speaks louder than the loudest applause.
And above all—tango is the pause. In those small, almost invisible silences, the strongest feelings hide. Like the breath before a tear, or the quiet before a kiss. It is not just the art of movement, but the art of waiting, of listening, of honoring the other body and its inner music.
The dance ends, the music fades, but tango remains—in the heart, in the thoughts, in the silences between words. It is not just an art to be seen; it is a feeling to be remembered. A living emotion, born in breath and ending in a step, only to be reborn with the next melody.
Tango does not ask to be explained. It asks to be felt. To be present—with a trembling breath and a soul that dances. Because tango is exactly that—a moment when life stops speaking and begins to be felt.
