I was born and raised in Moscow, where I studied fine arts. While living in Russia I knew next to nothing about Argentine tango but I have always been interested in dance. As a little girl, I watched ballet, mesmerised, and practiced dance steps in the living room.
The beginnings
I first came in close contact with tango some years after moving to The Netherlands. In that period I was dancing modern, jazz and contemporary dance, but when I saw Argentine tango something inside me said: this is what I have been looking for all along. There just was something about this dance that struck me as a potential life purpose. I still remember that moment vividly, watching people on the dancefloor, feeling goosebumps, hypnotised by what I saw.
“This path is yours to walk and it can feel very lonely at times, but trust me: the further you go, the greater the view.” From Why sometimes you learn nothing from the best teachers
I started dancing tango in 2000 and then spent several years intensively learning this dance, traveling to events around Europe to take workshops with Argentinean maestros and also going to Buenos Aires for intense weeks full of daily classes and nightly non-stop dancing. Then, kind of organically, I myself slipped into teaching and performing in 2007.
Before becoming a full-time tango professional I have worked as a user interface designer, while also dedicating some of my time to literature and writing. Being a user interface/interaction designer caused me to develop an acute interest in psychology, cognitive sciences and the human brain. If tango and dance is my primary passion, I can say that my second main interest is everything to do with the human being, be it brain, movement, emotions or perceptions. I have always been a reader and dance made me dive into literature about the neuroscience of movement, anatomy and motor skill development. One student once called me “a professor of tango” because I like to not only explain how to do an ocho in my classes, but also what happens in your brain when you do it and how your nervous system manages movement.
While dancing tango, I continued to dance modern and contemporary dance, started ballet classes and a regular practice of yoga. All this allowed me to build a solid technical basis in tango, further enriched by my experience with bodywork techniques such as Pilates, Gyrotonics, Alexander and Feldenkrais.
What I do and where I live right now
Since 2007 I have been living in Paris where I am one of the co-founders, teacher and art director of Tango Mon Amour. In Paris I teach followers technique workshops, couple workshops with my partner and I also started a new initiative, namely, special leading workshops for women.
In tango I have worked with various partners, performing and teaching in France, Sweden, Norway, UK, Italy, The Netherlands, Cyprus, Greece, Germany, Czech Republic, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, USA and Canada. My fluency in seven languages allows me to teach in many countries in my students’ native languages. Right now I am collaborating with an exceptional female leader, teacher and DJ Asya Moiseeva, a Russian born dancer who also lives in Paris. We teach and perform together since the summer of 2021.
In 2013 I started writing about tango and this makes me also a tango blogger. My essays on tango are translated in eighteen languages and some of them are published on various online platforms. I have so far published two books of writings and I am sure tango will keep on giving me food for thought.
Contact me
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Or send an email to vero@tangomonamour.com
Veronica Toumanova 