Dario da Silva & Claire Vivo, Aix-en-Provence, France: owners of Aix-en-Tango, teachers and performers
I had heard a lot about this couple in the South of France. They had started a vibrant tango community out of nowhere in New York’s Capital Region in the early 2000s, then moved to southern Europe where their career took off. With a flourishing tango school and performances all over Europe, they have made a name for themselves in the world of tango. I was curious to find out what their situation in France was like.
“The first week, we were just relaxing,” said Dario over the phone. The second week, they started practicing. Claire began to take online-yoga and Pilates classes. But by the second half of April they were worried. Could they keep the school open? They don’t know about the future. “We have dark thoughts and are not sure what to do if we can’t open the school by September,” they said. In the meantime, like many others, they began to teach free online classes.
Claire’s and Dario’s business consists of two parts. One is their tango school Aix en Tango, which they opened in 2011 in Aix-en-Provence, a well-known tourist destination in southern France. They say they have about two hundred and sixty regular students, eighty of whom are from nearby Toulon. They teach eleven group classes a week. Together with special workshops this amounts to almost three hundred and twenty students a year.
The second part of their business consists of traveling as guest artists all over Europe to perform and teach. Last year, for the first time, they had fewer trips, but for 2020 their calendar had filled up. But since March, one after another, the trips were canceled. “The virus hit us really, really hard,” said Dario.
I asked them about their future. Given the uncertainty they said they try not to think about the long-term. “What would we do?”’ they asked. “We are tango teachers. We have invested in our business for a long time.”
For now, they focus on reopening the school and touring throughout Europe. They spend their days practicing and rehearsing, and they keep in touch with their students. They also spend a lot of time with Mia, their ten- year-old daughter, who when younger suffered from leukemia and twice went through difficult treatment. The French health-care system made it possible for Mia to receive the best care. “Had we stayed in the United States, we’d be bankrupt by now,” said Dario.
What about the social benefits in their current situation, I wanted to know. They say that they’re eligible for government support, which would be eighty percent of their regular income. However, Claire explained, this applies to employees, and it’s not clear whether as owners of their school they qualify for this kind of support. In any case, the administration in France has been slow to pay out. “The President keeps promising to help us so we can pay ongoing bills, but so far we haven’t received anything.”
They are now at the lowest point of their professional lives. Almost twenty years of ongoing success have come to an abrupt end. Dario’s tango career started in the early 2000s, when he traveled from Argentina to Albany, New York to teach tango. Argentina was in the midst of a major economic crisis and Dario’s objective was to make more money than he could at home. He had begun a tango community in New York’s capital region when Claire walked into one of his classes. She became one of his students, then his dance partner, and eventually his wife. When they wanted a family, it was clear that they would have to move to Europe.
Claire was from Paris, where her family still lives, and Dario’s parents had moved from Argentina to Spain. They started first in Barcelona, but: “Barcelona was hard,” said Claire. The tango community was not well organized; they found it difficult to connect with people and to find their market. They were soon working more across the border in France, and after three years decided to move. The move paid off. “We had the work planned before the move,” they said. They ended up working seven out of eight weekends and soon decided to open their own school.
But tango has changed. These days there is more competition and it’s not as easy to make a living as a tango teacher. “Everyone who has taken classes for ten years is trying to become a teacher,” said Dario. “To be competitive you have to speak at least three languages, travel a lot, and be well organized.” Nevertheless their tango career remained intact and profitable — until now.
Their biggest worry is the overhead for the school. They explained that their teaching schedule follows the French school-year, which begins in mid-September and ends in mid-June. Their students pay by the trimester, so they were covered until the end of March. But by the beginning of April the steady payments dried up and they had to start using their own money to pay for the rent: 3,000 Euros ($3,246 US) a month for their three hundred square-meter studio. They considered starting a fundraiser in order to help cover expenses. But fundraisers are not as common in France as in the United States, and the outcome is unsure.
When I talked to Claire and Dario the French government was planning to open certain businesses starting May 11. “We are at high risk,” they said,” and it’s not clear when we’re going to be able to open the school again.” They were hoping for mid-July. “If we don’t start in September we’ll have to think of something else,” said Claire. And then added with some sarcasm: “Now we’re in the strawberry season. Perhaps I should pick strawberries?”