FAIRBANKS - Galen Cook has had a long relationship with swing dancing, but when he was introduced to the Argentine tango in Washington a few years ago, he fell in love.

“It’s a very complex, complicated dance,” he said. “I call it the ultimate balancing act for two people on the dance floor, in which the man and the woman wear a paintbrush on their legs and they paint the floor to their design.

“It’s truly artistry on the dance floor.”

Tango is more than a dance, it inspires great emotion. In his essay, “History of Argentine Tango,” Mike Higgins writes: “More than anything else, the tango is about a connection, an empathy between two people, the need to embrace, and be in the arms of another, to escape, albeit for just a brief moment of time, and in that moment, to live a lifetime …”

Cook took tango lessons when he was in Washington and Oregon and returned to Fairbanks determined to create a community of Argentine tango dancers. He collaborated with Sheri Merdes, owner of The Artisan’s Courtyard, and started teaching tango classes. Cook said he had enough of a background to teach beginners the basics, and some dancers soon surpassed their teacher in skill.

“It is truly an art form on the dance floor,” he said. “It allows the dancers, once they learn the mechanics of the dance — I call it the Argentine tango toolbox — they can dance without having to know any particular pattern.”

Barb Lorz is one of the dancers who also felt the pull of the tango. Her daughter was on the Lathrop High School ballroom dance team that went to national competition. She said she was home sitting on her couch one evening and decided she needed to do something more interesting. So she started to learn ballroom dancing and then progressed to the Argentine tango. “You learn a little bit of everything and then you can go anywhere,” she said.

Lorz said there is a definite difference between American tango and Argentine tango. “It’s more ornate in how it’s danced,” she said. “It’s a deeper feeling between partners.”

With a growing group of dancers who needed a place to practice, Cook started looking for venues. One afternoon, while drinking tea at Sipping Streams Tea Co. on College Road, he noticed the back room, which looked like it would make a good dance floor. Owners Stephen and Jenny Downer agreed to host the group, which began meeting on the second and fourth Fridays of the month in April. Jed Demientieff, a music major at UAF, is the group’s unofficial disc jockey.

The group has grown since then and surpassed 30 people in November. It can get a little crowded at Sipping Streams, but Cook said the couples rotate in and out and everyone has a good time.

“Since the Argentine tango is danced fairly close to your partner, it needs a smaller area for dancing,” he said. “(The Downers) really love our Argentine tango group and they’ve been extremely generous in letting us dance there.”

About half of the group comes from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the other half from the dance community at large. The group’s official name is Argentine Tango del Norte, but Cook said they seldom use the formal title.

“We call it ‘Tango and Tea,’” he said. “We’re kind of a ragtag bunch of Argentine tango dancers. Rather than form an official club with officers, we just get together and dance.”

The Friday night dances are generally from 7 to 9 p.m., but the group will start at 6:30 p.m. in January so they can spend half an hour teaching beginners the basic dance steps. At 9 p.m., when Sipping Streams closes, many of the dancers head over to Azucar Fina, a Latin restaurant in Campus Corner Mall. There, owner Freddie D. Anthony welcomes the group, the tables are pushed back and couples can tango until 1 a.m.

Cook said he hopes to work more closely with the Argentine tango group in Anchorage next year and invite more instructors up. Lessons will start at The Artisan’s Courtyard in mid-January and the group will continue to meet on the second and fourth Fridays of the month to dance.

“This dance has kind of worked its way into the community with the help of people who also love to dance,” he said. “They invite us in with open arms.”

Contact staff writer Julie Stricker at 459-7532.
IF YOU GO

What: Argentine Tango Social

When: 6:30-9 p.m. Friday

Where: Sipping Streams Tea Co., 3535 College Road, continues at Azucar Fina, 3677 College Road (Campus Corner Mall)

Cost: $3 per person

Info: http://www.fairbanksdancecentral.com/