Tango @ MIT

Thank you for Unleashing the Duende with us on Sep 23

Join us for upcoming performances of BEETHOVEN'S TANGO at Kresge Theater on Sep 25, 26 & 27!

We are honored to partner with world-renowned tango performer, teacher, and artistic director Fernanda Ghi, together with Latin Grammy musicians Alfredo Minetti & Richard Scofano to present this original production.

The Club is deeply grateful to the Council for the Arts at MIT for supporting this project.

Featuring an original score by Latin Grammy artists Alfredo Minetti & Richard Scofano, Beethoven’s Tango celebrates the composer’s relentless drive to create. The show invites the audience to meet Beethoven during his most private struggle, incubated in solitude, forged by desire, resilience, revelation, and unstoppable creative force. Classical music and Argentine tango intertwine, not as fusion but as tension: they confront, resist, and transform one another. 

About the Performance

Every act of creation is born from an inner tension.

Throughout history, artists, poets, and musicians have tried to understand the mysterious force that drives the need to create. 

Beethoven’s Tango invites the audience on a journey into that invisible territory, exploring three creative forces that shape the artistic process and, in different ways, exist within every human being:

The Muse – The Angel – The Duende

Some forms of inspiration come from the outside. The Muse represents beauty, attraction, and the spark that awakens imagination. 

The Angel symbolizes guidance, protection, and a higher presence that seems to lead us from beyond ourselves.

The Duende, a concept deeply rooted in Andalusian tradition and closely connected to the spirit of tango, is something entirely different. It does not come from the outside—it rises from the deepest part of the human soul. It is visceral, unpredictable, and transformative. It lives in vulnerability, passion, struggle, and truth. It does not seek perfection or comfort; it seeks authenticity.

In this work, Beethoven becomes the symbol of the artist confronting these three forces. His increasing deafness, isolation, and inner battles lead him toward an extraordinary emotional dimension, allowing him to transform suffering into timeless art.

MIT Tango Club is dedicated to Argentine  Tango.  We offer classes taught by professional master instructors, made accessible to MIT students at an affordable cost.  Our classes focus on solid fundamental technique, which is an essential foundation for all tango dancers.  They are taught by experienced maestros who understand that Argentine tango is not about mimicking steps and figures, but rather about training the body to produce an authentic quality of movement.  Over time, students learn not only how to move their own bodies, but how to embrace and partner others with grace, generosity, elegance and purpose.  

In addition to our class schedule, the club offers access to guided practice sessions (called ”practicas") and other events at prices discounted for MIT students and students in general.  

MIT Tango Club is a non-profit student organization.  We value the rich history of Argentine Tango, which is now a global cultural phenomenon that helps people to connect and build welcoming communities.  In our classes and events, we seek to integrate this cultural context alongside education of the social etiquette which accompanies the dance.  Our gala milongas on campus are a fun way to socialize and meet fellow dancers.

To volunteer for MIT Tango Club, or to learn more about our activities, please subscribe below.

Student volunteers enjoy special benefits like free entrances to MIT Tango Club classes, milongas, workshops, and events!