We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Pooja Kumar. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Pooja below.

Pooja, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

Guardia Vieja is a polysemic term. Literally, it translates to ‘Old Guard’. Idiomatically, it translates to ‘Old School’.

In terms of Argentine Tango, it refers to an older style of music that was peppier, faster, dirtier, less arranged, and often times, simply happier. For different historians the lines are hard to draw in terms of exact orchestras, but it is considered the beginning of Argentine Tango. It was a collaborative time when Argentine Tango was coming together as a recognized type of music.

At it’s heart, Guardia Vieja is ‘Old School’ and believes in many of the values that Argentine Tango was based on. Similar to it’s beginning, this new Guardia Vieja aims to bring together people and create a space that allows each individual to express themselves in harmony with one another.

While this company prides itself in integrity and high standards, it also believes in keeping things fun and lighthearted, like the music of the Guardia Vieja era.

Pooja, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started dancing tango in 2010. Shortly after graduating from law school, a close friend mentioned that he wanted to make a documentary about Tango and thought it might be a good idea to take a class if he was going to make a movie about it. He asked me to take the class with him. I agreed.

At the end of the first class, he said, “I still want to make a movie about this, but I hate doing it!” I replied, “Well, I didn’t know what I was getting into and now I love it!” He hasn’t made that documentary, yet, but somehow Tango chose me that day and almost eight years later, I founded Guardia Vieja, while living in Austin, TX.

I have spent several years studying Argentine tango. My formal dance training is primarily influenced by Ciko (Cigdem Tanik), Cecilia Garcia, Corina de la Rosa, Corina Herrera, Gustavo Naveira, Giselle Anne, Guillermo Cerneaz, Gaby Mataloni, and Mauro Peralta. In order to further enhance my dance, I engage in a number of different movement modalities, most notably the Garuda methodology of Pilates, Gyrotonics, and Feldenkrais.

However, I believe the true study of Argentine Tango comes from learning about the deeper social aspects of Tango. I have spent several years traveling, dancing, and DJing throughout the United States and Europe, and visiting Buenos Aires. These are the lessons I hope to share and experiences I hopes to recreate through Guardia Vieja in my hometown: Cleveland, OH.

Guardia Vieja creates memorable experiences by invigorating the Argentine Tango scene in Cleveland through a variety of art and culture events. With an emphasis on Old School Hospitality, Guardia Vieja curates every detail of these experiences, ensuring you feel cared for and free to fully enjoy Cleveland’s vibrant culture.

Our primary service offerings are Event Production and Film Production. When the company was first founded we specialized in unique pop up Tango events; however, once with the onset of the Pandemic, we had to pivot and developed a Film Production arm that focuses on documentary content in order to share stories of the contemporary Tango experiences that we are living through today.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

It may sound a little cheesy but what has helped me build my reputation within the Tango community both nationally and internationally is staying true to myself and to my brand. It was a lesson I learned early on and one I have not forgotten.

Guardia Vieja’s very first event was the El Cachivache Tango Experience. While this event was beautiful and financially successful, especially for a first time event, it was a difficult experience for me. I had partnered with another local business, because I was scared to do it on my own and I found myself having to make compromises to our registration and payment policies, among other things. Ultimately, I found myself crying in a parking lot, because an attendee had screamed at me due to dissatisfaction over a processing fee.

I knew right then and there that I needed to ensure I stayed true to who I was and the integrity of my own values. While there is nothing wrong with this approach, as it did lead to a successful event, for the partnering business the focus was volume over quality, so exceptions were being made left and right to accommodate clients. For me I needed quality clientele to not only create the types of experiences I was looking for, but to enjoy them myself.

The subsequent year, I went off on my own and created Cruzadito, an event concept that is 100% me and aligns with Guardia Vieja’s values. This event was unique and generated so much buzz and interest that even today, people ask me when the next one will be held. Given the intensity of producing this type of multi-faceted event, the event now happens every other year, with the next one in April 2024 and I am so grateful that some individuals already have their calendars marked off for it!

Staying true to myself and Guardia Vieja’s values has created a lasting reputation of an intimate and thoughtful experience, every time you join us!

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Setting the Table by Danny Meyer

If you are interacting with people, no matter what your business is, you are in the hospitality industry, and in my opinion this book is table stakes in hospitality.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.guardiaviejaatx.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guardiaviejaatx/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/guardiaviejaatx
• Other: https://vimeo.com/guardiaviejaatx

Image Credits
Please credit Amanda Hoffman Art for all photography.