Tango is more than just a dance. To the tango fanatic, it is a religion, a drug and a way of life. There is something about the arcane rituals, the sense of belonging and the intense emotions of tango that attracts dreamers, the lonely, the curious, the restless, and those with nowhere else to go.

From an unlikely beginning in a dance studio in New Zealand, Kapka Kassabova quickly became hooked on the tango; her new-found passion took her to New York, Berlin, Paris, Edinburgh and, of course, Buenos Aires. Along the way Kapka had fleeting moments of ecstasy but more often experienced the aching feet, heartbreak and jealousy that go with being a true tanguero. The story of the tango is also the story of Argentina. Twelve Minutes of Love examines the dance’s mixed Latin, European and African roots, its journey from the slums of Buenos Aires to the dance halls of almost every town across the globe where she meets and befriends some unforgettable people. The world of tango is rife with schisms and here Kapka is our guide to the esoteric but all too human conflicts that rage throughout every tango community.

With warmth, wit and a keen eye for the absurd, Kapka takes us behind the scenes of a global subculture and puts her own emotions, motives and 10-year long obsession with the tango under the microscope. More than a dance odyssey, this is a generation-defining story about what it’s like to be at once a cosmopolitan and a lost soul in the 21st century.

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www.twelveminutesoflove.com

BTS Von Wong Photography – Tango from Pakdi Decnud on Vimeo.

Alexander Richarson & Sandra Naccache www.alexsandradance.com

Some of the final shots here

Danse(s) from Sosh on Vimeo.

“The secret of tango is in this moment of improvisation that happens between step and step. It is to make the impossible thing possible: to dance silence.”
– Carlos Gavito