European Milongueras - Céline Devèze

Preface: 

I know, that the term „Milonguera“ was in earlier times often used pejoratively to describe women of questionable moral conduct, who frequented the Milongas. (Please have a look at Cherie‘s historic definition.) But nowadays, a big majority just uses the word as the feminine form of Milonguero: a women, spending all her spare time at the Milongas, living for the embrace in a traditional setting - in contrast to a professional show-dancer, who strives for choreographies or impressive moves. This change of meaning is proven by the fact, that some of the most popular Milongas in Buenos Aires organise special „Noches de las Milongueras“ to honour the women, who have dedicated their lives to Tango. So please allow me to use the term „Milonguera“ in the same positive way.

I would like to introduce today‘s honouree with her own words, translated from French:

„Argentine Tango is a universe that comes to life though the body of your partner, the embrace of the couple, mutual exchange and respect. It is a magical moment, a pure emotion full of vibrations and poetry, that we long to relive indefatigably.“

I encountered Céline Devèze 2007 in Lyon, when she participated in some of our classes with her former partner Philippe Gonella. She is a very refined French young lady with a taste for luxury and an elaborate language, that she uses to describe her passion for Tango. And from the beginning, she struck me as a very sensitive and emotional being. Even during class, she would give in completely to the embrace and the feeling - in a way that infatuated all the guys. And still does. You already met Céline in my former post, dancing with Andreas Wichter, who‘s a big fan of hers. ;-)

Céline lives in the south of France, in Grasse, a historic town up the hills near the white beaches of the Côte D‘Azur. She started dancing almost 10 years ago and took classes with Pablo & Béatrice Ojeda, Thierry Lecocq & Véronique Bouscasse, Térésa Cunha, Graciela Gonzales, Géraldine Rojas, Silvina Vals, Maria Plazaola and Aurora Lubiz amongst others. She once told me, that Veronique Bouscasse was her most important influence in the first years.

You can tell, that Tango conquered her life completely. Very early in her career as a Milonguera, Céine co-founded the Tango association „Cariño Tango“ and started giving classes with Philippe Gonella. She travelled to all the events in reach and became a fixture in the Milongas in Nimes, Marseille, Lyon, Montpellier... Nowadays, her radius has expanded as she frequents the traditional Milongas and Encuentros in Italy as well as in other countries like the UK, Germany, and Scandinavia. In the last few years, you often see her name amongst the DJs of a traditional Festival. Once a year, she organises a big event in her home region - La Pasionara It takes place at carnival and features workshops, demos and sometimes life-music. Céline‘s latest passion is photographing and filming. So, when you do not see her dancing at a Milonga, she‘s most likely pointing her camera at you to capture all the lovely embraces, that mean so much to her. And after the event, she‘ll compose a beautiful video, that makes you want to cry. She‘s obviously a women of many talents! I guess, the last year, when she was unfortunately unemployed , must have been one of her best years ever - because she had the time to travel to all the great events without having to fit in a tiring business schedule.

When it comes to dancing, her passionate embrace is unrivalled and all the best dancers are lining up to dance with her. The women admire (and sometimes envy) her elegant moves and understated decorations. So, Céline dances and dances and dances... I have never seen her leave a Milonga before the end - no matter how late it is!

I am going to show you three videos:

The first one shows her performing with Philippe Gonella.

The second one is a film about her big event „La Pasionara“. Check out all the great social dancers, who Céline manages to bring together.

The last video shows impressions from her „Milonga Linda“ and tells us, what Tango really means to Céline.

I proudly present a European Milonguera: