17 June 2024

Dance moves in public spaces in Vienna - from tango to Afro-Haitian dance

Last Saturday, Fashion.at came along the bridge 'Kleine Ungar Brücke' in the Stadtpark, where about ten couples were dancing tango. It was a warm late evening. The experience of the atmosphere in and around the outdoor dance floor can be described as standing in a capsule of vibrating coolness and relaxed mood with a cushioning effect from the world around. Not that Vienna is very noisy, especially not in the city park, but the very precise, mostly slow steps with accentuated faster turns reinforced the silence of the expressive dance movements of the couples, who were obviously highly concentrated on each other and on the notes of the music. The public dance event is called Latinanza - Tango Milonga Vienna and is organized during the warmer months in the Stadtpark on several days a week. You have to pay a fee to shake your dancing shoes. Latinanza isn't the only event where people can join others to dance and move their bodies to the rhythm of music this summer in Vienna.

The international dance festival Impulstanz is currently organizing a series of 'Public Moves' throughout the city and, for the first time, in other Austrian capitals - Klagenfurt, Linz and Salzburg. The Public Moves series started on June 8 and will continue until August 9. Fashion.at looked through the printed folder where the program is listed chronologically. Today, for example, Karine LaBel's course 'Afro-Haitian Dance' with live music will take place at the U-Bahn station Seestadt in Aspern, the city's largest urban development project. The program can be found online at https://www.impulstanz.com/en/calendar/publicmoves/, where the 'Public Moves' events are also listed in chronological order, but with more information than in the printed folder and a direct booking option. In the case of Karine LaBel's course, the announcements of the upcoming events - on June 29 at the Museum der Moderne Mönchsberg in Salzburg and on July 12 at the Schwarzenbergplatz in Vienna - are practically added to the brief description of what awaits the participants. Impulstanz' Public Moves classes are free of charge, but registration is required one day in advance. In case a class is already fully booked, it's recommended to try to get a place on the spot.

Image courtesy of Impulstanz: The picture shows Karine LaBel at the event series 'Public Moves' of the international dance festival Impulstanz in 2020 in Vienna. Photo: © yakoone.