Conversations with Juliette Friedgen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Juliette Friedgen

Hi Juliette, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My husband and I opened The Tango Room Dance Center twenty years ago when we saw the need for a place where people who love Argentine Tango could take lessons and could enjoy milongas (social tango dance parties).

We had hosted our own milonga, called El Encuentro (the encounter) for the previous five years in a rented studio but saw that interest in the art of Argentine Tango was growing and felt strongly Tango deserved its own home. Consequently, The Tango Room Dance Center was the first studio in Southern California dedicated specifically to social Argentine Tango.

A SIDE NOTE: Social Argentine Tango is danced by millions of people around the world, regular people of all ages, all sizes, all socio-economic levels. Social tango is the polar opposite of staged, choreographed tango as shown on television and film. Social tango is a beautiful, subtle conversation between two bodies. “One heart, four legs”. It is like jazz in that it is improvised, like any conversation between friends. The leader proposes a movement with his body and the follower responds in such a way that the leader is inspired to create another movement. People think tango is very serious but we are having fun it’s just that we are totally focused on our partner and the music. I’ve been dancing my entire life and I’ve found that social tango is the most emotionally rewarding of all the social dances.

So back to our trajectory. My husband I have had the joy and honor of hosting El Encuentro every Saturday night for twenty-five years. Because my husband was born in Buenos Aires and grew up dancing tango, he was very clear that he wanted El Encuentro and The Tango Room to offer the experience of authentic traditional tango in a setting like one would find in Buenos Aires. So every Saturday night The Tango Room transforms into a tango nightclub and people from all over SoCal and even from around the world come to dance the night away. At least two times a month we have world-renowned performers dance for us. We are proud that The Tango Room has a world-wide reputation of quality and authenticity, offering the best instruction with an Argentine-born teacher in every class.

But probably the most important thing about The Tango Room is that we are the “Cheers” of dance studios. We are a boutique studio where everyone knows your name. Everyone is greeted the Argentine way, with a big hug and a kiss. All our students become part of The Tango Room family. Students make enduring friendships, even resulting in some marriages. We all feel like one big family connected through our love of Argentine Tango.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There is nothing easy nor smooth in owning an independent dance studio. Even before Covid it was a struggle because for the majority of people dancing is an extra-curricular activity so if the economy dips, dance classes are the first to be eliminated from their budgets.

But we are passionate about Argentine tango and the power it has to transform lives so we keep going. But then came Covid. While dance studios around us were closing, we were determined that our decades of work were not going to be destroyed by a virus. There went our retirement fund but it kept us going.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I was a television writer before we opened The Tango Room. Although my career was very lucrative, it wasn’t as emotionally fulfilling as I have found teaching tango to be. I have seen how tango can change lives, even save lives. I’m not exaggerating. I had a student for years who went from being the saddest human being I’d ever met to a motivated happy man living his dream life. At one point he confessed to me that he had been on the verge of suicide when by accident he stumbled into the Tango Room. I had convinced him to try a lesson. That one lesson began his salvation. He made friends, gained self-respect and found a reason to live, to thrive.
My husband and I have taught tango to the blind, to Parkinson’s patients and to brain-injured students.
When we see others lives enhanced through tango, it makes us love tango even more.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
My escape are historical fiction novels. And dreaming that someday I’ll make it to Jeopardy.

Pricing:

• Our classes are incredibly affordable.
• No contracts.
• No class over $25

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thetangoroom.com
• Instagram: thetangoroomla
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetangoroomdancecenter/
• Youtube: The Tango Room Dance Center
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/groups/505559859470410