TRANSCRIPT ~ EPISODE 4

EPISODE 4: A friendly obsession, with Nick Thompson

Producer/Host: Liz Sabatiuk | Music: "Después del Carnaval" by J. A. Amuchastegui Keen, performed by Osvaldo Fresedo y Su Gran Orquesta Argentina with Ricardo Ruiz | Image from C’est la Vie milonga in Xi’an, China (photographer unknown)

[MUSIC]

LIZ ID INTRO:
I'm Liz Sabatiuk and this is Humans of Tango, where we explore what tango has to teach through the experiences of those who dance it.

LIZ SCRIPT:
Nick Thompson is one of the only people I've met through the D.C. tango community who actually grew up in D.C. - but his tango journey started on the other side of the United States, when he went off to college at Portland State University.

[MUSIC FADES]

NICK:
Coming from DC, like, Portland was the most different - like I don't know anybody here and, you know, just start fresh, you know, make some new friends and see what you can come up with, so... I just chose it, I just went with my gut and just went for it.

You know, I started finding the, the school clubs and trying to get involved in everything. I tried out a couple of different ones, like kickboxing, the basketball clubs, which I was more comfortable with those, but I wanted something more different and something I wasn't familiar with. So I went to the dance studio one night and opened the door and there was tangos. I was like, "Oh, okay, this is different. I've never seen this before." And it was, like, the most inviting club I've ever been to. I think one is, like, you know, they're just also really friendly in Portland. I don't know if you guys-

LIZ: Just, like, everybody's super friendly in general?

NICK: Yeah, everybody's super friendly in general, yeah. But this time it was like, you know, there was more ladies than guys. So, like, if there was a guy showing up, they're like "Oh, please, please come dance."

And there was actually a PE tango class as well. And so now I had like this combination of the tango club, the PE class, and then after, like, you know, making friends and going out a couple nights with some of the students there to the local milongas, every day I could go dancing. You know, it's college and people are like going out to their own little parties, but, like, I would rather go to the tangos because I would get a lot more out of it. I would still hang out- you know, I balanced the two, like, with my friends and then my non-tango friends.

LIZ: So you had a life outside of tango. You weren't, like, completely obsessed from the first day.

NICK: Well, it was like a hidden obsession. You know, I wouldn't-

LIZ: You were trying to play it cool. [LAUGHS]

NICK: Yeah. Everybody's like "What are you doing tonight?" "Oh, you know, I'm just, uh... just got to do some errands and then probably go out somewhere." I wasn't very specific, but it would be tango, usually.

Back in D.C., it's like, you know, I lived with my family. So I was- like, if I went out at night, they're like, "Where are you going?" You know, like, there was always that question. And so this time it's like, I could go anywhere I want. I'm going to go, you know, make some friends, make some adventures, experience something and try to learn something, so, yeah, I think I was into that moment of freedom.

LIZ SCRIPT:
It turns out that Nick's gut had taken him to a city where tango was thriving. For a little anecdotal perspective, I first heard about the Portland tango scene way back in 2007, when I was living and dancing in another hemisphere in Montevideo,  Uruguay, the co-birthplace of tango across the river from Buenos Aires. At that time, Portland was already home to an international tango festival called Valentango, where Nick would volunteer just a few years later. According to the website for Valentango 2022, which you can find linked in the show notes along with a little more history about Portland tango, Valentango is the largest and longest running tango festival in North America. For anyone new to the concept of tango festivals in general, they're usually multi-day events that draw geographically diverse dancers together for social dancing classes and performances. For new dancers, a festival like Valentango can offer a tantalizing glimpse of the world of tango beyond their local community.

NICK:
It was, like, kind of like seeing like an all-star game of like the best dancers from all over and, you know, they came all the way from, you know, their country to here in Portland of all the places. But I know when I saw the performances, I saw another level to the dance. It wasn't just, you know, walking, weight changes, and cross.

LIZ SCRIPT:
Nick was smitten, and he was ready to go to the place where his beloved had come from.

NICK:
I just had, like, enough passion at that point that I looked up as- what's a way I can get to Argentina after, you know, dancing for a year. I saw this program that said, "Oh, study abroad in Argentina or Spain," you know, and I was like, "Oh, well, obviously I'm going to go to Argentina." My mom's side of the family is Dominican. But, you know, like if you're in the U.S., like you don't speak as much Spanish, like, with your friends, you'll speak English and then in the house, you'll speak Spanish. But I had enough Spanish to to speak fluently. It made the- going over there easy. It was just- but also the Argentine Spanish is a little bit different-

LIZ: A LITTLE bit different? [LAUGHING]

NICK: They use so much of the "sh" sounds. I remember I went to the airport and I was like, oh, yeah, I'll be fine. I don't need any instructions. I can find my way. I went to the front desk and I was like, oh, yeah, I'm trying to go get this bus. And then they were like, "Okay, what's your name?" And I was like, I was like, oh, yeah, my name is Nick. I said, "Me llamo Nick." And they're like, "Qué?" I was like, I was like, me llamo Nick. And they're like, "I don't understand." I was like, "Ok, me [sh]amo Nick. And they're like, "Oh, okay, okay, this way. I was like, they could not they could not understand if I didn't have a "shush" in there. I was like, "Okay, this is going to be a little bit challenging."

I went to Rosario; it wasn't Buenos Aires. So it's, like, probably the third largest city in Argentina. It was nice because it wasn't like a huge tango scene. It was more of, like, a local tango scene. People know each other. They take friends very seriously. And I had a host mom, too. She was really nice. She treated me like her own son. She still talks to me today. She cooked a couple of meals for me. I told her I was interested in tango. She said, "Oh, yeah, I used to dance tango in school." And I told her, like, "Oh, I'll probably go out late at night, you know - don't get mad at me." And so she kind of like, you know, mapped it out for me where I can go for tango. So that was very nice.

I don't think they opened until like really late. So I think I took a nap first, woke up later on and then started my adventure to my first milonga. And that one was kind of, uh, an experience 'cause I stayed there till about two o'clock. And then I had, like, "Okay, I got to get back to class." I think I was walking back to my host mom's house. And I had long dreadlocks, so I guess, I- people could see me from far away. Like,"Oh, like, you know, this person is not from here."

LIZ: Not a lot of dreadlocks in Rosario when I was there, yeah. [LAUGHING]

NICK: Yeah. So, I'm very noticeable. So these uh, police- this one police car saw me, like, walking and then they, like, they sped
up really quickly. Turned- like, made a huge U-turn. And they like came right up in front of me and stopped and they both got out the car. And I was like- of course, I stay calm. And they're like, like, they're like, "What are you doing here?" right? In Spanish. I'm like, "Oh, no, I'm just walking back home." And they're like, like, "Really?" I was like, "Yeah, here. I got a flyer. I was at tango. This is it." They're like, "Oh, you were at tango." And they, like, kind of, like, laughed it off. And then they, they let me go.

But, you know, I think as long as I kept it cool, it wouldn't have, like, escalated. You know, people were telling me, like, "You know, you might have problems being, you know, being Black there and walking out on your own and stuff like that." But I was like, you know, "I'm not gonna let that, you know, ruin my trip."

LIZ: But that was your first time going out dancing that that happened?

NICK: That's my first time going out. But I was like, you know, I just- everything was fine and they, they went off. And so I kept walking. And I think I went out to the next milonga I could get to, like two nights later. So I was not letting that, you know, stop me from going out.

That first milonga, I had to like, you know, sit a little bit, see how people danced and try to work my way into the crowd as I usually do in a new place. But, you know, at the end of it, I knew people. I'd go to milongas. They'd, like, invite me to sit down.
They invited me to, like, sit afterwards and drink with them. And, like, I love the whole culture of it.

Very different than experiencing it in D.C. or Portland, 'cause, you know, they start later, they have their dinner first and they have some drinks later on and then they'll dance until like 6 a.m. sometimes... Sometimes even 7. I was like, "Oh, man, I can't go out that late. I got class. I got homework." But, um, but that was like a new exposure to me and I liked that experience.

I did hit Buenos Aires after my program was done and I got two nights in there. And I actually met some people from Portland, like, at one of the local markets there. And they were performing at one of the milongas. And they're like, "Yeah, yeah, just follow us and we'll connect you and we'll go to the milonga together. Another little milestone of, like, why I love tango so much is like, it's like an instant connection to wherever you are.

[MUSIC]

LIZ SCRIPT:
Nick kept dancing and studying. And then one day he was a college graduate headed to China to teach English as a foreign language.

NICK:
The city I was in was called Xi'an, so- and it's, and it's home to the Terracotta Warriors. Like, it's in the center of China, but it's considered Northwest China. I did a year contract with one of the companies. I'm learning the language there while I'm there.

[LIZ ASIDE] Nick was studying Mandarin and picking up some words of the local dialect here and there.

NICK: I'm not sure what I'm gonna do next, but this one person finds out that I do art and was asking me if I wanted to do like a collaboration for an art show. I got another contract with another company so I could stay like a whole 'nother year. So the art show, it was nice. We had like, you know, there was probably 500 people there. Also, I have my girlfriend there and, you know, I taught her some tango. So we got some music together and then we did a performance for all these people and that kind of sparked the interest for doing some more tango in the city.

I brought it up to one of my schools I was teaching at... "Why don't I, you know, do like a little Intro to Tango class? You can also learn English while you're learning how to dance." And so that was the interest for them and I did that class. The first place we got a gig with was with a cafe and they kind of just opened up and didn't have a lot of business, but had an agreement. And we got some tango classes going on there. And then another place popped up, which was called Mexico Bar. It was in a really nice area by the city wall and bridge. And that place, we probably had like 30 students there in this one little bar trying to learn tango and, you know, we did the best we could in that small space.

People started hearing and people wanted to do more stuff. So yeah, now we have like five nights of tango a week. And then we started getting noticed by some of the neighboring tango communities. And so they want to like come over and check out the tango scene in Xi'an now, 'cause it's a new place. You know, Beijing reached out like, "Hey, we'll come over and help you out." This other guy said, "Hey, I want to put your events on our calendar." And so, like, China was like super supportive of trying to start something [in] the tango community as well.

So now I guess I have to extend another contract for like two more years. And we got it up to like a really solid community. We had a core group of students that we tried to make them be like assistant teachers so that, you know, if I wasn't there, they could jump in and, you know, assist with teaching. So I had, like, my whole tango life back again, you know? Like, there's festivals now. We have teachers, I have tango all over me-

LIZ: I see.

NICK: -surrounding me. So, like, I would have no problem staying there, you know, even longer, because now I have the tango community.

LIZ: And then what happened? [LAUGHING]

NICK: And then life, life just throws all these curveballs at you. Yeah, we find out we're having a kid and then we had to, like, rush back to the States and I guess the world was, you know, was on pause for a little bit.

[MUSIC FADING IN - LYRICS IN SPANISH]
Fue una noche que lloraban los violines
un triste tango de promesas olvidadas…
Mientras la luna plateaba los jardines
un beso ardiente en la noche palpitó.

Mas el encanto de aquellas horas,
al morir Momo se disipó.
Y con mi dolor a solas
lloré la muerte de mi ilusión.

[MUSIC FADES]

LIZ SCRIPT:
Becoming a parent has changed Nick's life - but it hasn't dampened his passion for tango.

LIZ:
One of my questions when I was gonna call this podcast The Relationship-

[LIZ ASIDE] Yep. An early imagining of this podcast was called The Relationship: A Tango Podcast.

LIZ: -was, have you ever broken up with tango? Like, was there ever a time when you kind of took a break from it?

NICK:
Yeah. Before it was like, if I couldn't get to it, then, you know, I was away from it, kind of? Like, that, that was the only kind of break it was.

LIZ: Okay. So it was only like a long distance relationship every now and then. [LAUGHS]

NICK: Yeah, yeah. Like, if I, if I could reach it, I would, I would, I would go for it, but, [LAUGHTER] but if it was nowhere around, it's like, you know, then I can't do anything. Um, but like, even when I, when I went to China, like, there was no tango there, but Jade was there, so, like, we got some, you know- I was still around tango and- um, and I also listened to the music-

LIZ: So you just brought your own. You just brought your own tango.

NICK: I brought, I brought my own. They always ask me when I'm coming back. I'm like, well-

LIZ: Aww. Do you ever think about it?

NICK: Yeah, I do. I want to go back. Um, I think when, when is a good time? Well, I guess after COVID, of course, um, is all calmed down and then I could save a little bit and we can go. I am a little bit happy here though. Like, just like the, you know, somewhat- a little bit of an uncertainty over there and, um, yeah, I think I want to, like, build myself here a little bit 'cause it's like, I know it's like, if I keep moving, like, you know, stuff will like start to build, but then like, then like incomplete, right? So I want to, like, try and complete something and have it like self-sustaining before I, like, move off again and abandon, abandon people, tango lives. [LAUGHS]

LIZ SCRIPT:
Back in his native D.C., Nick teaches, DJs, organizes, and tries to dance with everybody.

NICK:
When I go out, I dance with like almost everybody that I can. That's how, you know, I was inspired 'cause when I was a beginner, especially as a leader, it was hard to get dances with anybody 'cause you don't know what- you have to lead to, I guess, navigate and, you know, not everybody's going to give you a chance to dance. And so the people that gave me a chance kind of like pushed me to keep going, so beginner-beginners, I'll try to dance with, all ages. Usually, like, I'm the youngest person at some milongas, um, but you know, I dance with everybody and uh, not just the people my age or younger, so... I think that really grows the community and keeps them there.

LIZ SCRIPT:
In his local community, Nick focuses on paying forward the warm welcome he experienced as a beginner in Portland. He also respects all the quirks and nuances that make different tango communities unique.

NICK:
I would say, like, in Portland and the West coast people are definitely, like, really super friendly, like overly friendly there. And it's easy to like venture around and, and meet people.

And then on the East coast, I remember, like, each time, like, I would go there. If nobody knows you, it was, like, hard, like trying to get in. I think I was going to New York sometimes and it was like, like a reset button. Like, if I stayed for like a week, for example, like first night, it's like, "Okay, this is going to be a loss, but I got to like make my face shown and then dance with a couple of people and, oh, I'll get you next time." The next day I'll go, I'll come in and I have like a better flow of dancing. And then the third night it's like, people are friends and like, "Hey, come back soon." And then I don't come back for like a year and all those people are gone. And then I'm like, okay, reset. So I got to do it all over again.

So China, I would say is- they're all kind of inviting. A little bit, like for traditionally, they wouldn't dance so close, like to have them like do like close embrace kind of breaks their, um, what do you call that? Like their norm or-

LIZ: Cultural norms, yeah.

NICK: Like, I even, I even had a lesson for, for close embrace that I put, like, balloons in between them. Like, I blew up some balloons and like, "All right, we're going to do close embrace, but you can have this balloon for right now." And like, they put it between their chests-

LIZ: So they get used to having something touching their chest.

NICK: Yeah. And then, like, you know, eventually like pop the balloons and all right, now you guys got to actually come together now. Okay. You got your little icebreaker practice in.

LIZ SCRIPT:
Nick's come a long way since that first Valentango back in college, but tango festivals still give him a special thrill.

NICK:
I remember going to the festivals and, like, I would get this tango high, right? Like my tango level, like it would like increase like really high for like a good amount of time. Then when the festival was over, it's like, I would keep it for a little bit and then it would like trickle, trickle back down a little bit. And then like the next festival would come up, like, it'll go back up and I would have it again. And then the same pattern would go again. So, you know, even-

LIZ: Can you try to describe the high? Like what, what, what did that feel like?

NICK: Oh, it's like, um, it's like you're kind of like on, like, I don't want to say steroids, but [LAUGHS] it's like, uh, like you, you level up or something. Like, you're in a video game and you, like, you eat that mushroom and then you're like bigger now. [LAUGHING]

LIZ: Like you can do things that you couldn't do- like you can reach the coins that are really high up.

NICK: Yeah. And then you get the star. You know, you hit the box and you get a star and then, like, you can go through anything like that's, that's, that's how it is. And you don't want, you don't want that to leave, but it's like a time limit until it runs out. That's how I kind of feel when I'm on that. So- and I mean, I know there's some people that are like, they hop from like festival to marathon and they just keep that high going. But I could never do that 'cause- I mean, also, I mean, I forgot to say, like, when I was first starting tango, like, I was a college student and you know, no money, I didn't have money for tango shoes. I had to like get some old shoes, put some duct tape at the bottom of it, and that was my, you know, suede for my, my shoes. And you know, shoes are falling apart, but, like, I still made it work. You know, I just made my way through there. Even- I have some tango shoes that were passed down from an old teacher. He's like, "Hey, this is passed down from me. So I'll pass it down to you since I see you like your commitment and everything," so... I still use those shoes today.

LIZ SCRIPT:
Ultimately, as a dancer and an organizer, Nick values connecting with others above all else.

NICK:
You know, you can go somewhere and have, like, a lot more accomplished in one night, dancing tango than going to the bar, maybe get into a fight with somebody and, you know, having a hangover. I'd rather like, you know, make a meaningful friend or something at the end of the night and have these amazing connections with people in the dance as well as like outside of it too.

LIZ SCRIPT:
Thanks to Nick for never giving up on tango - even when he had to bring his own - and for turning that hidden obsession into a friendly one, to share far and wide through life's twists and turns.

The song featured in this episode, thanks to the Internet Archive is "Después del Carnaval," written by Jose Amuchastegui Keen and recorded by Osvaldo Fresedo y su Gran Orquesta Argentina with Ricardo Ruiz.

[MUSIC]