May 11
10
Interview with Ney Melo – Part 1.
PDF “There will never be a step, sequence, or trick in tango that will come close to matching the power of the embrace.” I do not have to say more than that…NEY MELO
AM. When did your tango journey start and why did you choose argentine tango?
NM. I grew up dancing salsa and merengue. Later, I was a guitarist and singer in a rock band in high school. Aside from high school dances, my band actually got to play at the Supper Club and at the Limelight in New York City. Then I went to University, and I was told to “be more serious” so I received a degree in Accounting. This led to a 5 year stint with Lehman Brothers as a banker, a job I then lost after the September 11 terrorist attacks. I was there that morning, working across the street in 3 World Financial Center. I would have been in one of the Twin Towers on that morning if I had not decided to work late to finish and deliver a report the night before.
With my new free time and a new view of life, I decided to revisit my artistic interests. I was accepted into a salsa dance company and spent a lot of time in dance studios teaching and practicing salsa. This is how I saw a poster for a Tango “crash course” at the Dance Manhattan Studio in NYC. I decided to attend. I had seen tango in movies and I once accidentally walked into a milonga when I thought I was heading into the salsa room. The dance looked interesting enough (although I didn’t like all those ganchos and leg wraps) but what I really liked was the music. I FELL IN LOVE WITH THE MUSIC. And I didn’t fall in love with Piazzolla or that tango jazz stuff. I loved D’Arienzo. Just like the Clash used to say that they are “the only band that matters”, I say that “D’Arienzo is the only orchestra that matters!” I can talk all day about how great D’Arienzo is! But, of course, I love all the orchestras. And I love traditional tango because traditional tango has guts, it has feeling, it has love, hate, violence and redemption all wrapped up in one exciting 3 minute opera! What more do you need?
So since I had the time and no prospect for a new job anytime soon, I decided to further my tango learning by going down to Buenos Aires. I decided to live there for a while. This was a great time for a foreigner to be living in Buenos Aires, it was after the Argentine peso crisis so the city was very cheap and dangerous, and many of the great tango couples were still together.
AM. How and where did you meet your long-term partner, Jennifer Bratt?
NM. I met Jennifer at my first milonga during my first week of learning tango. I remember walking into the milonga and seeing her beautiful smile. The milonga is called La Nacional, it is the Thursday milonga in NYC. Jennifer was already teaching, performing, and traveling with Robin Thomas. I was just a beginner so I didn’t dance with her. I only said hello. Later, I was hired to teach salsa at a studio called Empire Dance in Manhattan and was able to speak with her more and soon we started dating and then dancing together. Our partnership is one that has lasted for over 9 years in many forms (as boyfriend/girlfriend, as just dance partners, always as friends). Most recently we have decided to become partners as something else……….parents! Jennifer is pregnant and due to deliver in October.
AM. Ohh, that’s great! Congratulations to both of you ! 
AM. How long have you spent in Argentina to learn tango and who are your teachers?
NM. Jennifer and I go and in live in Argentina for long periods of time since 2002. In those early days, many of the great couples were still together: Javier y Geraldine, Ezequiel Paludi y Sabrina Masso, Tete y Silvia, Pupi y Graciela, and Pablo y Dana. Tete Rusconi was still alive as was Gavito. I still remember that Mora Godoy’s studio was where the aspiring professionals went to learn and where Pablo Villaraza & Dana Frigoli were teaching. Mingo Pugliese and Gustavo Naveira would teach at Cochabamba 444 and Julio Balmaceda & Corina de La Rosa would teach at la Galeria del Tango in Boedo. Jennifer and I learned something from all of these teachers I mentioned.
AM. You have lived in NY, San Francisco, and South Beach Miami, which community was the most eager to develop its tango?
NM. New York and San Francisco are big tango towns. Jennifer and I always got a lot of support from those two cities. Miami is a smaller community but one that has alot of potential. I love the weather in South Beach and it was great fun living there.
AM. Do you want to open another studio like the TangoVida Studio in San Francisco?
NM. The TangoVida Project in San Francisco was an amazing 3 year episode. Jennifer and I opened a storefront studio solely dedicated to tango and we offered classes every night of the week. Before long, we built a following and we had students at a high level of tango dance. It got to the point where their technique was good enough for us to just work on advanced combinations. I would like to open another studio like this but it would have to be with pilates or yoga during the day and, at least, one other couple. It is difficult to just have one dance and one couple supporting the whole venture.
AM. Ney, you speak Spanish fluently, what is your cultural heritage?
NM. My father is from the Dominic Republic and my mother is Ecuadorian.
AM. You have a great selection of tango pics. Who took them?
We never had a professional photographer take our photos! Many of our photos (the ones with me in the white suit) were taken by putting on the camera timer and then striking a pose in front of the camera! Other photos were taken by either my sister Lissette or the tango teacher Isaac Ho, who I would invite to our apartment in BsAs for some mate and then trick into pushing the button on the camera!
To Be Continued….
For more information go to: www.studiotangovida.com
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