Life & Work with Daniela Borgialli

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniela Borgialli.

Hi Daniela, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
When I was 10 years old I declared that I wanted to be a choreographer. I would put on my mother’s records and dance to them: a blend of classical music, classic jazz, and opera. I remember putting together dances on my front lawn. I took my first “modern” dance class probably when I was 12 or 13, and I enjoyed performing with my local theater group.

In high school and in college I continued dancing informally by taking a few classes and performing when possible. I was a very enthusiastic, untrained dancer and choreographer at this point. During my undergrad in Boston, I finally started formal dance training and continued to choreograph and perform when an opportunity arose.

After I graduated with a BA in French Language and Literature and was no closer to knowing what I wanted to do with my life (or so I thought), I continued to take modern dance classes while working administrative jobs. I moved several times – to San Francisco and New York. In 1997 I was accepted into the master’s program to pursue an MFA in Dance and Choreography at Arizona State University.

During my 3 years at ASU, I stumbled into an Argentine Tango class, and little did I know that that would be the beginning of the rest of this chapter. I fell in love with Argentine Tango and went to Buenos Aires on several grants to study the dance and culture. It also gave me an opportunity to connect with my Argentine roots in a brand-new way.

Although my father is Argentinian, he never danced, and I never connected to Argentine tango through my family. Argentine Tango was birthed from immigration, from a melding of music, ideas, and cultures, and now it’s a worldwide phenomenon becoming a modern-day melding of ideas, cultures, and music.

In 2003 I returned to Arizona after living in NYC (again) and started teaching Argentine Tango in a couple of the local community colleges and then in 2005 at Arizona State University where it all began. 
I created the curriculum for the for-credit Argentine Tango class (versus an extracurricular on-campus club), and then it grew to include another level of Argentine Tango.

There were 2 levels of Argentine Tango being taught at a major US University. These were the first, if not only for-credit courses in Argentine Tango in the country. Along with teaching at the university and community colleges, I also taught within the community, inviting world-renowned maestros to the Phoenix area to share classes and workshops with the community.

In 2015, I left Arizona to spread my wings. I went to Europe and was based in Berlin to dance and teach. I was fortunate to teach in many countries and to enjoy the close distances to so many beautiful communities to explore all the tango scenes!

I returned to the US and, in 2020, spent the year in Buenos Aires – basically in lockdown. I thought my tango life had come to an end. And in some way, that version of it had come to a close. In 2023 I returned to Arizona and started the International Argentine Tango Academy to teach the curriculum that I had developed and also to support the students and growing community in learning about Argentine Tango dance, music, and culture through classes, events, and workshops.

Argentine tango is an accessible dance form that has the possibility to teach people so much about themselves, about interpersonal relating, and connecting to a global community. I look forward to growing the Academy’s presence and continuing to share this dance.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road.

1. “You can’t be a dancer or choreographer; you have to start that at a young age. Find something else to do. What about computer programming?”. I heard this from the start. Which was strange coming from an artist mother, and I was clearly an artistic child who played piano and liked to dance and express through music and movement. This was a challenge and yet, I keep stumbling back into the studio and into creative spaces.

2. Because I was a “dabbler’ and not a trained dancer, I had a bit of catching up to do. I took class every day for many years. Often through tears of frustration as I couldn’t figure out the choreography in class, or I couldn’t get my leg higher or jump higher, or whatever it was! I just wanted to dance!

3. Changing countries was a challenge. I thought, oh, with my credentials, how many Argentine tango dancers and teachers have an MFA in dance (maybe 5 of us!), and all my years of teaching experience, and my network of people who knew me that I would find work that would sustain me easily.

Nope! Being another woman teacher, any man standing nearby in line or not would be offered teaching jobs over women with qualifications and experience. Not being a couple – I was rejected for not being a couple, for being “another woman teacher,” and sometimes even for being American or Argentine. They didn’t know which I was, but sometimes being either worked against me!

4. On some level, I have been an entrepreneur most of the last 10 years, and yet, forming an LLC has brought a whole new level of challenges. I find that I actually need assistance!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an Argentine Tango instructor. I also have a background in a biomechanical model for body alignment, I have an MFA in Dance, and I have studied somatics extensively. I tend to deep dive into the “why” – why does this work like this or like that? And I’m like this with tango. I am interested in integrating the whole body into the learning experience and also interested in body safety.

It is important that when we start to become active, we become aware of how our bodies are moving and to be able to move them safely to avoid unwanted injuries. I bring this knowledge to my classes. I do not introduce tango with patterns as many instructors do. My goal is to get you dancing and to fall in love with this dance; a pattern is not the way to do this. I break down the dance into bite-sized pieces.

I am alternating between what you, as a leader or a follower, need to do in your own bodies, what you need to connect with the other, and then the “HOW” to move together. Then on top of that, we add the music. It sounds like a lot, and it can be, which is why I break it down into bite-sized pieces.

Argentine tango really is a dance that involves body, mind, and spirit, and being attentive to this is also important. I am so proud of all my students. The greatest reward is to see students of mine traveling the world or teaching or performing. They took the solid foundation that I gave them, and off they went! That is the most amazing feeling.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love our weather for most of the year! I love that I am able to teach and reach people through the arts in the community college, at the University, and in the community at large. We are a very large city but also feel very small at times. We are close to nature – some beautiful hikes and lakes. What I like least is all the driving I do on a daily basis!!!

Pricing:

• 8 week course is $275 for a single person or $500 for the couple
• Private lessons can be arranged in packages for a single or a couple and range

Contact Info:

• Website: https://internationalargentinetangoacademy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/az_iata
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/azinternationalargentinetangoacademy
• Youtube: @danielaborgialli

Image Credits
Byron Medina
Ericka Paul