First of all, I’d like to thank all of you for coming here tonight to dance and have a good time. I hope you have all been enjoying yourselves. If there’s anything you need, let me know.
There are two people I need thank for inspiring and encouraging me on creating Luxe milonga. They are Indian leader: Gandhi and my husband Brian. Gandhi has this famous quote: “Become the change you want to see!”. I have always been thinking woulnd’t that be nice to have an All-nighter milonga in Portland… His saying finally got me and I decided to “be the change” and my husband brian showed great support!
Jenna and I created this milonga so we could have a fresh take on the tango dance experience. We wanted to have it in a place that felt light, modern, and open, where friends could gather, have fun, and meet others to share a drink, some food, and perhaps a dance.
It took a lot of people to make this night happen and I just want to quickly mention them.
Thank you to Julio for working with us to create a great night of tango for Portland. We want to support and promote Argentine tango to Portland with this and other milongas, and we hope to continue working with other milonga organizers to make this happen.
I want to thank Jay Rabe, Wayne Williams, Mike Naus, Jim Labbe, and Christopher Duff for making the promotion and logistics of this event (and the floor) run so smoothly. We appreciate your help so much.
Thank you, Meng Wang, for your generous contribution, as a teacher, DJ, and dancer. You are becoming a permanent fixture for Portland dancing, and we cherish you dearly.
Thank you to Momo Smitt for sharing your world of tango lyricism. You are an amazing artist and bard, and Portland is so grateful for your stunning talent and warm presence. And Janalee Swain, thank you for sharing your smooth vocal stylings with us.
A huge thank you to Alex Krebs, a true ambassador to all things tango. Your support and generosity mean the world to all of us. You have touched the life of almost every person here in your quiet yet warm way, and we are so happy to have you here tonight.
Thank you to all the volunteers for your time, incredible effort, and your car. 🙂 You have made this night a great event, and we are so grateful to you for your help.
Jenna and I created this milonga so we could have a fresh take on the social tango experience. Our mission as to create an all-night party that people near and far could attend, in a place that felt light, modern, and open, where friends could gather, have fun, and meet others to share a drink, some food, and perhaps a dance.
Again, thank you all for coming and sharing this night with us. We are planning to have our next event April 30th, so mark your calendars and pick up a flyer at a table. We hope you enjoy yourselves tonight and want to share another terrific evening with us.
Now we will have our artists come out tonight to give us their wonderful gift of live music: Please welcome some of our most talented innovators of tango music in Portland: Momo Smitt on the mike, Janalee Swain on vocals, and Alex Krebs on the bandoneon and saxophone!