On March 8, the Gelvin Noel Gallery, located in the heart of the Krannert Art Museum, will not be filled with the contemplative silence often associated with museums. The famous paintings will still hang proudly on display, guards will still be on duty, but a live band and dozens of tango dancers, from novices to experts, will be added to the museum mix.
A few times each year, the museum opens its doors to the vibrant tango community within Champaign-Urbana. For a few hours on a Saturday, anyone who wishes to can strap on dancing shoes, walk into the gallery and dance amongst the works of art that line its walls, free of charge.
This tango event was created and continues to be planned and operated by Melih Sener and Chantelle Hougland with assistance from Anne Sautman, the director of education at the museum. Sener, a biophysicist, and Hougland, a communications specialist for a research firm, are two very different people united by their passions for tango, the local dance community and bringing people together.
“Human intelligence evolved about 30,000 years ago,” Sener said. “That is also the same time frame when the first musical instruments were found. We have become smart just to dance. We are here just to dance.”
As far as dancing goes, Sener and Hougland said that the community in Champaign-Urbana is a hard one to beat.
“In terms of dancers per capita, Champaign is one of the most jam-packed places,” Hougland said. “On a typical night when you go out dancing … you’ll probably see about 50 people. That’s about as many people you’d see in a Chicago milonga (tango dance). It’s about as vibrant here as it is in some of the major cities.”
Though the dancing community in town is well-established and very much alive, Hougland and Sener have spent their time here working to “move beyond which has been done,” Sener said.
“Over the years, I’ve tried to create events that are unique in some way, whether it has an art component or a live music component,” Sener said. “So there’s a little bit of a history and an evolution, but the culmination which today is Krannert is probably the most mature of these events because of the people who put their passions into it.”
The passion at work during Tango at Krannert Art Museum goes beyond the dancers. Live music is provided by an ensemble called Tangotta, which includes musicians Armand Beaudoin, Dorothy Martirano, Chris Reyman and George Turner.
“They’re long-term, brilliant musicians who are committed to local music,” Hougland said. “They’re powerhouse musicians and powerhouse community members in the arts as well.”
The music provided by the performers is improvised for the audience, resulting in “songs, musicians, and a community … that evolves from week to week,” Sener said.
Hougland said the environment of tango at Krannert is also an uncommon one.
“We’ve danced in front of Rauschenbergs and we’ve danced around Warhols,” Hougland said. “The music is art, the environment is art, you’re making art with your dance partner. There’s nothing like it.”
Sautman said the event also helps community members form a different, more interactive relationship with the local museum.
“It breaks down the stiffness with which a lot of people think about museums,” Sautman said. “The guards talk about it, too, how nice it is to have something lively happening in the museum.”
The “openness” of the event extends beyond the physical space it occupies.
“One thing that is a defining characteristic of Krannert as host to a tango event is that it strives to be more open, more inclusive,” Sener said. “It is the kind of environment where people show up with their children and they run around and dance with each other, and that’s fine! No one will judge anyone because what they’re doing is not quite appropriate as tango etiquette.”
Hougland added: “There’s the very conservative and very liberal (way that people interact during tango), and we are definitely on the very liberal side. It should be open!”
Hougland and Sener, along with the rest of the local dance community, work enthusiastically to share their passion with others. Though many individuals shy away from the challenging intricacies of tango, Sener encourages them to reconsider.
“Tango, I think, is the simplest dance because it comes from the very simple idea of an embrace,” Sener said. “All you need to do is have the willingness to embrace somebody and just contemplate each other for a moment. … You ask this essentially in movement, you ask this in breathing, you ask this in intention.”
Hougland emphasizes the expression of the individual voice that tango welcomes.
“In my view, approaching tango like you would approach a dance with steps is a little bit like the difference between teaching someone how to talk and teaching someone how to speak,” she said. “I can teach you how to say words in a language that are real words, but they’re not your words. Learning tango is about learning how to speak.”
Hougland said she encourages anyone and everyone interested to attend the event.
“The event is free and the music is brilliant,” Hougland said. “Anyone with a soul will appreciate the music. Tango is beautiful and interesting to watch, and if they want to try it out, the best thing to do is just to come and ask someone who knows how to dance to dance with them. It’s the experience. And if they fall in love with it, they’ll join us.”
Tango at Krannert Art Museum will be held next on Saturday, March 8 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.