Transformations: The Healing Power of Tango
6-8 Sept 2024, Berlin
Exploring the effects of Argentine tango on mental and physiological health across different disciplines
Tango Connects Conference invites people from various disciplines to share and expand their knowledge of the transformative potential of Argentine tango. Through its transdisciplinary approach, the conference aims to empower tango professionals with insights into the physical, mental and holistic health as well as personal growth dimensions intertwined with tango practice. It also opens a space for professionals from health related and personal development fields to explore the profound positive impacts of tango on the human mind and body.
Physical Health
Are you a medical professional, a sports coach, a bodywork or a somatic practitioner interested in meeting tango dancers and sharing your knowledge? Do you work in physical reeducation or rehabilitation discipline? Share your wisdom with the tango community!
Tango is known to significantly improve physical well-being. Because it involves a high level of technical difficulty and a complex vocabulary, learning tango requires cultivating body awareness, a strong sense of balance, and mastering precise techniques. Tango is shown to have a substantial positive effect on the health of people with Parkinson disease.
Mental Health
Are you a mental health expert who is interested in learning more about tango as a healing modality? Are you a trauma-informed care provider willing to share your knowledge with tango teachers to benefit their practice? Or maybe you are a tango professional looking to be more trauma-informed in your pedagogy?
Within the tango community, it’s widely understood that dancing tango often involves a profound transformative journey. Tango has an ability to confront us with our traumas, psychological blockages and insecurities, while simultaneously offering a relatively safe environment to address them. In some cases, tango has helped people to heal their trauma, gain more self-confidence and overcome social challenges. For some, tango literally changed their lives.
Personal Growth
Are you a life or a relationship coach, a group processes facilitator, a career mentor or a leadership coach using tango in your work or considering its potential? Our conference could be an ideal place for you to share your experience and expand your network!
Learning to dance tango often means going on a challenging journey of personal development and self-discovery. In recent years, an increasing number of professional life and career coaches, as well as collective process facilitators, have integrated tango exercises and tango related concepts into their work to convey insights into personal and social dynamics. Particularly, ideas surrounding leadership, connection and collaboration.
Holistic Health
Are you a neuroscientist, a psychology researcher or are you simply fascinated by these topics? Are you a specialist in psychosomatic therapy, holistic bodymind disciplines, meditation or spiritual practices? We want to meet you!
Studies show that improvised dance movements have a beneficial long-term effect on our brains. Mastering a difficult dance helps balance our dopamine system. Tango, known for its intricate synchronization between partners, contributes to keeping our brain healthy regardless of age. In a particular study, researchers discovered that dancing Argentine tango has an effect on people with depression comparable to that of sustained mindfulness meditation practices.
Would you like to attend?
Are you interested in learning about the healing potential of tango? Consider joining us at Tango Connects! All disciplines are welcome, whether or not you’re an amateur tango dancer, a professional tango instructor, an event organiser or not connected to the tango community in any way. It’s an opportunity to expand your professional network as a coach, therapist, or bodywork practitioner and connect with others who share a passion for holistic health. All the conference talks and workshops will be given and moderated in English.
Call for testimonials
Are you a tango dancer with a personal transformational story to share? Has tango been instrumental in overcoming trauma, catalyzing personal growth, or making a profound impact on your life? If you resonate with ‘the healing power of tango’ on a deep and personal level, we invite you to talk about it with us. We would like to use your testimonial as input for discussions and panels.
Program
The conference will start on Friday afternoon at 13hrs and continue till Sunday afternoon 13h. There will be key notes speakers, workshops, discussions, panels, drinks, snacks and of course… some tango dancing!
The main talks of the conference will be also streamed live!
Conference Venue
In 2024 NOU Tango will be celebrating its 20th anniversary as an emblematic social dance space in one of the most vibrant cities of Europe. And this time we want a very different kind of party! One that goes beyond the boundaries of social tango and brings together people from various fields of knowledge and interest to elevate all that the magic of tango entails: the Tango Connects Conference.
Nou Mitte, an urban social space in the heart of Berlin
Nou Tango Berlin was founded in 2004 with the aim of facilitating human encounters in urban spaces. Argentine tango as a social art form, based on the non-verbal communication between two people in a social context, is the basis of the company. This is the foundation on which Nou Mitte has grown as a centrally located venue in Berlin for dance, culture, human education and encounters. The diverse uses touch and fertilize each other. Acceptance and openness to the perspectives of others, respectful interaction with one another and the will to do good form the connecting thread of all uses at Nou Mitte.
Organising Team
People on our organising team are all connected to the world of Argentine Tango, be it as teachers, performers, event organisers, school directors, DJ’s, social dancers or photographers. Some of us are professionally involved in the domains of physical and mental health, yoga, psychology and psychotherapy.
Thomas loves the social realm of tango. He founded Nou Tango Berlin in 2004 and has led the school ever since. Besides teaching regular classes, and hosting milongas and events, he has been teaching inclusion classes since 2015. He is currently finishing a PhD with a dance study investigating the effect of Tango Argentino on cancer-associated fatigue in breast cancer patients. More about Thomas. Contact Thomas
Veronica started dancing tango in 2000 and has been doing it professionally since 2007. She lives in Paris. Besides being an experienced teacher and performer, she is well known for her in-depth writings about tango. She has always had psychology, neuroscience, personal growth and spirituality as her special interests. More about Veronica. Contact Veronica
Juliana is a social tango dancer, TDJ and tango event organizer residing in the Rhine-Neckar region. She holds a PhD in quantitative research in industrial and organizational psychology focusing on competence, health and well-being. Her input to the conference originates from both professional and social life. More about Juliana. Contact Juliana
Almut’s professional career started with a state qualification as a speech therapist. Later she decided to study sports science and got the diploma in prevention and rehabilitation of sports, since then she works in health sports. 2014 also began her path as a yoga teacher, nowadays she runs a yogastudio. Tango found her in 2009, now she teaches, TJ’s and organizes tango events, together with her husband Stefan. More about Almut. Contact Almut
Stefan started dancing in 2007, DJing in 2009. As ‘Stefan OK’ he is an internationally traveling Tango-DJ. Stefan holds a doctorate in philosophy. He does research in sustainability science and social-ecological transformation. In tango he is looking for more sustainable concepts of personal growth, leadership and relationship. Together with his wife Almut and their two kids he lives in Halle (Germany). More about Stefan. Contact Stefan
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