Looking for a new way to let off some steam? It seems some members of the AU community have the answer, and it's right on campus.
Enter the AU Tango Club, an intercultural dance club dedicated to bringing the exciting (and surprisingly large) world of tango to the inexperienced student dancer.
"We're all very in to tango," Alexey Khripunov, a graduate student in the School of Communication and president of AU Tango, said. "It's a very popular dance and there are tango clubs at colleges around the country. When I came to AU, there was no tango club."
Khripunov, along with wife Julia Schiptsova and tango enthusiast friend Liz Borodkin, decided to start one.
"We registered the club and wrote a constitution," Schiptsova said. That was the start of the American University Tango Club.
After the club was officially formed in fall 2006, Khripunov, Schiptsova and Borodkin did their best to get the club's name publicized.
Jill Grinager, a 2000 School of International Service graduate and a graduate student admissions enrollment specialist in SOC, said she first encountered the club while working at SOC.
"Alexey was coming around talking about the club," she said. "And I thought, 'I'll check it out.' I'd never done any dancing before."
Learning the dance
The club's basic premise is to teach interested students how to tango. Classes are held every Tuesday for two hours. The first hour is dedicated to beginning tango students.
"We start by giving them some basic skills," Schiptsova said. "It gives them some basic steps to get them moving."
The next hour of class focuses on intermediate and advanced students.
"The second class is about honing their skills and learning interesting, new steps," Schiptsova said.
Grinager said she quickly learned how much she loved the dance.
"I feel like I was hooked from the first class," she said. Just a few weeks after the club was founded, she was the named the unofficial treasurer.
Borodkin's first brush with tango dates back seven years, when she first took a class on a whim.
"I went to a Latin dance studio and hated it at first," she said. But she stuck with it for a few months and learned to love it.
Today, Borodkin teaches her own tango classes. Schiptsova and Khripunov brought her on board as the AU Tango Club instructor.
Students have loved their teacher so far.
"She's very clear and concise," Grinager said of Borodkin. "She is really caring for the students, too."
A global - and local - community
Borodkin's commitment to tango is nothing new for people familiar with the huge network of enthusiasts around the country and the world.
"It's a worldwide community, it really is," Grinager said.
"People always look up tango information on the Internet," Schiptsova said. "You can make new friends around the world."
Students are often surprised to learn that tango can be found right in their own backyard.
"Some of the best tango people in the world are in D.C.," Sean Blanchet, a senior in SOC and the vice president of the club, said. Blanchet said few people realize how huge the communities are around the country, including in the District.
Blanchet got started with the club when he saw a film about it in SOC Professor Iwan Bagus' class. He said photography lab manager and tango enthusiast Soko Hirayama also encouraged him to check it out.
Blanchet began attending the weekly meetings and learned that he, too, loved to tango.
Blanchet is not alone. College campuses around the country have started their own successful tango clubs, including clubs at the University of Pennsylvania, Duke, Princeton, Harvard and George Washington University.
Borodkin said tango's popularity on college campuses is no surprise.
"Young people are very open-minded and get it right away," she said.
Dancing off campus
In the fall, the club went to Midnight Breakfast, a tango showcase at GWU, Grinager said. Grinager also went to a tango festival in January, and the group goes to Columbia Heights tango hot spot Rumberos on Tuesday nights after class.
"It's definitely not just centered around the class," Schiptsova said. "We try to take them dancing outside of class. It's a very welcoming environment."
Despite a modest budget, the club is doing its part to boost its image on campus. "We're doing all we can to promote the club," Schiptsova said. "We want people to come."
Borodkin has been happy with the growth of the club so far.
"AU students are the ones going out and making an effort," she said. "They are young, enthusiastic and fresh people. They keep coming back."
Asked why she loves tango, Schiptsova beamed brightly.
"This dance really helps to connect people," Schiptsova said. "It's like a dialogue with no words. It helps you understand people better."
The AU Tango Club meets every Tuesday evening between 7 and 9 p.m., usually in the Bender lobby. Locations are subject to change. For more information, e-mail autango@gmail.com.
To get a creative glimpse at tango, visit blogs.theeagleonline.com to watch an original film by SOC Professor Iwan Bagus and share your own thoughts on the tango.
So you want to tango? The American University Tango Club meets every Tuesday at 7 p.m. But finding out more about tango in D.C. is surprisingly easy, according to SOC Professor Iwan Bagus. "It's an underground culture," he said. "But it's getting bigger and bigger." According to SOC Photo Lab Manager Soko Hirayama, there are many places to choose from. "There is a tango night every day someplace in D.C.," she said. What follows is a list of some of the best tango hot spots in D.C., according to Jill Grinager, AU Tango Club treasurer.
Meze Adams Morgan 2437 18th St. N.W. (202) 797-0017
Rumberos Columbia Heights 3345 14th St. N.W. (202) 232-6006
Divino Lounge Bethesda 7345-B Wisconsin Ave. (240) 497-0300
Eastern Market Capitol Hill/Eastern Market 7th Street and North Carolina Ave. S.E. (202) 544-0083
