Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jennifer Borcea. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Jennifer thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Learning the craft of tango is an ongoing process of self discovery, humility, artistry, creativity, and ultimately co-creation. Tango is a magical dance that involves improvisation between 2 people, the music, the floor, and the space over time. It teaches you a deeper understanding and awareness of yourself – meaning deeper consciousness of your body and how it moves, as well as how it expresses music and interacts with another creative in real time. It’s a beautiful teacher and I fall deeper and deeper into the tango spell more each year that I interact and engage with it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up as a dancer with over 15 years of classical ballet background and other dance forms. When I first found Tango I fell instantly in love and felt I had never experienced another dance quite like it. It drew me in and I fell into a Tango Rabbit hole of sorts – pouring myself into videos, classes, music, steps, teachings, teachers, shoes, clothes, events, travel, and more.

Today I have grown into a deeper version of my Tango Artist Self. I started teaching Tango classes grounded in my love of sharing this dance with others who I think will love it too – Tango del Alma (website and social media) is where you can sign up to try out your first ever tango classes and learn about the wisdom this dance has to offer from scratch. Both in person with me in Los Angeles, as well as online over zoom!

I’ve also grown into a Tango Organizer and host a Milonga in Los Angeles which is every 3rd Saturday of the month called Milonga del Alma (you can find it on instagram) – it’s hosted at an amazing venue located in Hollywood with a magical dance floor, beautiful lighting, and a new tango dj each month where we invite local and international dancers to come attend, dance, and have a wonderful time.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist and creative is being able to be living, breathing, and expressing different aspects of life throughout the day. I think there’s a level of honesty and expression that you are both granted with and challenged by when you take on being an artist and creative full time.

Truly one of the most rewarding aspects is the freedom you can feel of expressing different experiences, emotions, thoughts, ideas, and expressions through the depth of your craft and dance.

And also being able to share it with others.

I’m grateful to the teachers who I’ve learned from and who are granted the ability to spend full time in these areas, to be able to discover new things and share it with others. It’s how we are able grow as communities and individual artists.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The loss of my mom to cancer in February of 2020 was a very intense and difficult experience. It was at the beginning of the pandemic as well, so I experienced that grief also through an outer world of turmoil and fear.

Through many difficult experiences I’ve learned to use dance as a vehicle to move through and process different types of experiences and emotions.

When all there was at the time was isolation, fear, loss and uncertainty – I found myself again in Tango. I was lucky to find different maestros and teachers who went to teach online during that time when they normally don’t and I poured myself again into Tango. I took countless classes, took videos of my progress, practiced solo, and threw myself at any virtual event or class I could find. It made me feel better to move my body, to focus intently on something complicated and work through it. To research videos and search through any information I could find about the best and different historic Tango Couples and Maestros as inspiration. I even used a wall and a ballet barre to practice different movements by myself when I didn’t have a partner or someone else to practice steps with.

Tango has always felt like such a healing beautiful dance to me from the beginning, even before I needed it or ever knew I truly would have it by my side through one of the most difficult times in my life. It reminded me of the resilience I’m capable of and we all are through that time, and how dancing and consciously co-creating with others I think is one of the most beautiful ways you can spend your time.

Growing and moving with tango through that time has brought me to different parts of my artistry and understanding of it and continues to grow in new ways still.

Contact Info:

• Website: tangodelalma.com and jenniferborcea.com
• Instagram: @tango_del_alma and @dancingjennifer
• Facebook: Tango Del Alma
• Youtube: Tango del Alma

Image Credits
Shesha Marvin – 4lightsphotos Jaime Ballesteros