Music: The Heart of Tango - La música: el corazón del tango
As air is life to our body, music is a driving force in the mind while dancing Tango. Music is heard in the present moment, a tangible reminder of our present yet impermanent existence amid the continuum of time and space. It reminds us to Be Here Now while dancing Tango. It is known that Buddhists use mantras, the chanting or the repetition of a word or phrase as a tool to maintain concentration and awareness. Through music, our mind and body can be harmonized so that there


Tango Zen: Meditation and Traditional Tango /Tango Zen: Meditación y Tango Tradicional
Tango Zen Journal — November 28, 2025 “Tango Zen: Meditation and Traditional Tango” “Tango Zen: Meditación y Tango Tradicional” Leer en Español Hello friends, I’d like to invite you to visit the newly updated Tango Zen website. It has been a long journey to arrive at this point — to define clearly what Tango Zen is, and who can benefit from it. After completing the film and revisiting the many layers of this work — my life story, my dance, the people who shaped me, and the
Two Bodies, Four Legs, and One Heart - Dos cuerpos, cuatro piernas y un corazón
When two partners embrace to dance Tango, the connection has to be established and sustained throughout the dance. Zen invites us to experience Oneness by transcending all the differences separating two opposite sides. In Tango, we should have no room for Separateness, which is opposite to Oneness. Between partners, when we embrace and dance, we must strive to become One, dancing along in the Universe in harmony. Excerpt from Tango Zen: Walking Dance Meditation, Bilingual Edi


Tango Your Life in Europe — A New Chapter in the Film Series/Tango Your Life en Europa — Un nuevo capítulo de la serie
Tango Zen Journal — November 21, 2025 “Tango Your Life in Europe — A New Chapter in the Film Series” “Tango Your Life en Europa — Un nuevo capítulo de la serie” Leer en Español When I arrived in Europe in 2012—shortly after directing and producing my first film Tango Your Life , a documentary born from my years of dancing in Buenos Aires—I naturally wanted to continue the journey. The film had just been released, and having relocated to Switzerland, I launched a new project


Tango Is Life — 34 Days in Buenos Aires/El Tango es Vida — 34 Días en Buenos Aires
Tango Zen Journal — November 14, 2025 “Tango Is Life — 34 Days in Buenos Aires” “El Tango es Vida — 34 Días en Buenos Aires” Leer en Español Since I arrived in Buenos Aires on October 13, this trip has unfolded with an intensity and fullness that even I did not expect. For the past 34 days, I’ve danced almost every night—skipping only a few Saturdays, one Friday, and most Sundays. Night after night, in the embrace, something softened in me. As a close friend told me recentl


“You Saved Me Ten Years”/“Me ahorraste diez años”
Tango Zen Journal – November 7, 2025 “You Saved Me Ten Years” A dancer’s words from the Tango Immersion in Buenos Aires “Me ahorraste diez años” Palabras de una bailarina tras su inmersión en el tango en Buenos Aires Leer en Español Virginie, originally from France and now based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, arrived in Buenos Aires on October 21, just before the world premiere of Tango Zen: Returning to Tradition. Like many tango dancers, she came with the desire to experience someth


Meditating in an Embrace - Meditar en un Abrazo⠀
⠀ In the embrace, the ground disappears. Two bodies move as one, following a pulse that comes from the chakras.⠀ ⠀ Eyes close, and the music stops being sound, becoming air, breath, a shared heartbeat.⠀ ⠀ The tango happens there, in that invisible space where nothing needs explaining. There is no plan, only intention — just listening, surrender, and a silence that moves.⠀ ⠀ Thought dissolves. The embrace, the connection, and the music.⠀ ⠀ Tango is meditation. ________________
𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨 - 𝐃𝐞𝐣𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐫
Whatever feelings and thoughts arise while dancing Tango— let them pass with no attachment to anything. Zen teaches us to open our minds and see things as they are. Be ready to let feelings and thoughts come and go without engaging them. Resist the impulse of analyzing or judging them. However, don’t push them away or avoid them either. Just listen to the music and dance. ⠀ Excerpt from Tango Zen: Walking Dance Meditation, Bilingual Edition published by Editorial Kier in Buen


The Temple of the Embrace - El templo del abrazo
Two bodies meet. From the solar plexus, energy flows outward, reaching the partner’s heart, which receives it and returns it. They move together, not following learned steps, but guided by the energy that passes between them. The music leads. The embrace is both bridge and breath, their shared intention sets the pace. Each moment is contact, each gesture, surrender. The dance does not end: it is energy, embrace, music, a journey of silence and connection. ___________________


What Is the Sound of One Hand Clapping?/¿Cuál es el sonido de una sola mano aplaudiendo?
Tango Zen Journal – October 31, 2025 Leer en Español What Is the Sound of One Hand Clapping? In Zen tradition, this koan—“What is the sound of one hand clapping?”—is not meant to be answered with logic. It’s meant to break logic. To shake the student out of habitual patterns of thinking and open the doorway to direct experience. To listen beyond what is heard. Lately, I’ve begun to understand this koan in a new way—through my tango. For years, I’ve danced with awareness, wit


Tango Zen Has Come Home /Tango Zen Ha Vuelto a Casa
Tango Zen Journal, October 24, 2025 Tango Zen Has Come Home. Tango Zen Ha Vuelto a Casa. Leer en Español This Wednesday in Buenos Aires, something profound happened. The premiere of Tango Zen: Returning to Tradition wasn’t just a film screening. It was an experience—a living exhibition of the magical art of storytelling, guided by the masterful hand of director Juan Cruz Varela Juan Cruz Varela and I first met many years ago during the making of Tango Your Life. When I retur


Do You Dance with a Heart or with Your Head? / ¿Bailás con el corazón o con la cabeza?
Tango Zen Journal – October 21, 2025 Do You Dance with a Heart or with Your Head? A reflection from Buenos Aires—where embrace begins with the heart—on what most dancers elsewhere still haven’t discovered. Leer en Español Recently on Facebook, someone referred to me as a guy who “maintains that there is something to Buenos Aires dancers that is unique—some kind of essence, maybe in the embrace.” That comment stayed with me. Because yes—there is something. But it’s not just i


I Almost Cried / Casi Lloro
Tango Zen Journal – October 17, 2025 Leer en Español I Almost Cried A Reflection from Buenos Aires Before the Premiere I arrived in Buenos Aires on Monday. It’s been a busy week—not just with daily milongas, but also handling many things behind the scenes. On Wednesday, I danced at La Milonga de Marta , El Rodrigues, just as I had announced last week. Friends gave me thumbs up, encouraging glances, warm greetings. But something really interesting happened. As soon as the m


Tango Zen: Walking Dance Meditation - Tango Zen: Caminar y Meditar Bailando
Dear friends, I am happy to share with you passages from Tango Zen: Walking Dance Meditation, the bilingual edition published by Editorial Kier in Buenos Aires. Each week I will post a short excerpt for reflection and inspiration. I hope you enjoy the journey. Abrazo, Chan ======= How to Practice TangoZen Although it is almost impossible to completely describe the Zen moment in words, there are some exercises that can help interested Tango dancers meditate and align


An invitation to a dance beyond distance / Una invitación a un baile más allá de la distancia
Tango Zen Journal – October 10, 2025 An invitation to a dance beyond distance One dance. One embrace. One presence — shared with you. ...


Tango Zen Exercises – Dance Here, NowEjercicios de Tango Zen – Bailá Acá, Ahora
⠀ 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐨 𝐙𝐞𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 – 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐄𝐣𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐬 𝐝𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐨 𝐙𝐞𝐧 – 𝐁𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚́ 𝐀𝐜𝐚́,...


Tango Zen Journal, October 3, 2025-Dancing Beyond Matter/Bailar Más Allá de la Materia
Recently I introduced the concept of the Five Tango Zen Principles. Since then, many friends have asked what this really means. I’d like...


𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐝𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐝𝐨
Meaning is not chased; it is revealed. It appears in the embrace, when two hearts beat together and music flows like a quiet river. In...
Volviendo a la Tradición: Una invitación personal 26/09/2025
Tango Zen Journal – 26 de septiembre de 2025 Volviendo a la Tradición: Una invitación personal Queridos amigos, La semana pasada hablé de...
Tango Immersion in Buenos Aires 09/26/2025
Tango Zen Journal – September 26, 2025 Tango Immersion in Buenos Aires Hello friends, Last week, I spoke about the Third Wave of Social...


























