Emphasizing the 'social' in social dance since 2014…
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TangoHappyHour ~ Tuesdays!
6pm drop-in tango lesson (newbies welcome!)
7-9pm milonga w/ live tango music
$20 lesson + dance, $10 dance only
(cash, Venmo, credit card)
Harissa’s food & drinks all night!
VENUE:
Harissa Mediterranean Cuisine
2255 NE 65th St
Seattle, WA 98115
MUSIC LINE-UP:
March 2026
March 3 ~ Mirta Wymerszberg & Sebastian Quintero
March 10 ~ Jamie Maschler & Gabe Hall-Rodrigues (Creosote)
March 17 ~ Stuart Zobel & Ben Thomas
March 24 ~ Ben Thomas & Gabe Hall-Rodrigues
March 31 ~ Jamie Maschler & Stuart Zobel
CLASS TAUGHT BY:
Gabriela Condrea & guest teachers
Drop-in Class at TangoHappyHour
Class at TangoHappyHour is always open to drop-ins (no pre-registration or experience required). We’ll start a new intro series the first Tuesday of each month.
Taught by Gabriela Condrea, and occasionally a special guest co-teacher.
GUEST TEACHERS:
May 2023: Gabriela Condrea w/ special guest co-teacher Andrew Brown
June 2023: Gabriela Condrea
July 2023: Gabriela Condrea w/ special guest co-teacher David Huh
August 2023: Gabriela Condrea w/ special guest co-teacher Andrew Brown
Sept 2023: Gabriela Condrea
October 10-31, 2023: Gabriela Condrea w/ special guest co-teacher Andrew Brown
November 2023: Gabriela Condrea w/ special guest co-teacher Marc Becraft
10/28/25 & 11/25/25: special guest teacher David Huh
* A big thank-you to our generous guest co-teachers! *
THURSDAYS ~ CLASS SERIES
Thursdays, March 12 - April 16, 2026 (6 weeks)
Phinney Center, Seattle
7pm TANGO II SERIES
Level: Adv. Beginner/Intermediate Level
Theme: Close-Embrace Turns & "Footsie"
Delve deeper into the basics and refine/fine-tune social tango moves, with a special focus on turns in close-embrace and some fun "footsie" foot play
1-hour classes = 6 hours of instruction
*option to take Tango Basics Series, too!
8pm TANGO BASICS SERIES
Level: All Levels. No experience or partner needed!
An introduction or re-introduction to the fundamentals of Argentine Tango.
1-hour classes = 6 hours of instruction
DETAILS & REGISTRATION:
https://spring2026tango.eventbrite.com
Photo by Adrienne Yvr, Berkeley Encuentro, 2017
Guided Práctica
w/ David Huh & Gabriela Condrea
Thursday, February 26th 7-9pm
Phinney Center, Seattle
Get feedback, tips and help trouble-shooting from David and Gabriela, with a combined 30+ years of tango experience, including many trips to Buenos Aires. For people with some experience dancing tango.
Details & Registration:
https://guidedpractica2-26-2026.eventbrite.com
drop-ins welcome. save by pre-registering!
Photos courtesy of Josh Lieberman. If you share/post them, please include photo credit.
See the whole album here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjACgY5
Our TangoHappyHour Story…
it all started One Tuesday…
2013. The original Tango Happy Hour™ began as a drop-in tango dance lesson + happy hour weekly event organized by Gabriela Condrea, author of WHEN 1+1=1 & founder of Tango is About the Connection™ (2010) at Amber Lounge in Belltown, Seattle. The first one was on Tuesday, November 5, 2013. The idea was to create a welcoming space for people with all levels of tango experience and to make the dance accessible and visible to the public. People would often stop outside the wall of windows that face onto 1st Avenue and watch our group dancing. Some would even come in and join us!
2014. Having had the benefit of a class + practice space in the milongas porteñas and the Dinzel Studio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Gabriela encouraged her students to stay after to socialize and practice their moves. In May of 2014, she teamed up with Amy Allison to officially add a social tango dance after the class with DJ’d traditional and alternative tango music. Amy helped get the práctica going and went on to other projects (thank you, Amy!).
2015. Our TangoHappyHour Crew has always been one for celebrations and special occasions over the years, most notably our Holiday Parties and TangoVersary. We even had live music by the Folias Duo when they came through Seattle on tour in June 2015.
2016. One Tuesday in July, we got notification that we were being booted by a special event at Amber at the very last minute. With little time to plan, we took our party to the pier! It was a glorious evening dancing into the sunset and that summer working with Harlan Glotzer (Chicharra Tango), we held pop-up events with live tango music around town. Our Tango Party on the Pier (and in the Park) became a summer tradition for years to follow, and at the end of that first summer, on August 30, 2016 in collaboration with Harlan Glotzer and one of the owners of Amber, Ryan Lewis, live tango music (in the form mostly of duos — with a cameo of musicians and singers when we’re extra lucky!) became a new tradition at TangoHappyHour. Over the years, our talented tango musicians became an intrinsic part of our event — now we couldn’t imagine it without them!
2018. All good things must come to an end — or at least adapt. When it came time to look for a new location after nearly 4.5 years at Amber (5 since the very first class), Gabriela was determined to find a space that would embrace the live music tradition. Our Holiday Party on December 18, 2018 was our last event at our original home Amber Lounge, made even more special because that evening Billy Brandt filmed the music video for his song “Tango Happiness” — inspired by our event — with our TangoHappyHour Crew, amazing musicians, and the skilled eye of photographer Alexander Lawrence Carter.
2019. The perfect new home came in the form of Orfeo Restaurant with Terresa Davis and Chef Kevin Davis. We happily settled into this elegant space hosting our first special pop-up edition of TangoHappyHour there on New Year’s Day 2019.
2020. You all know what happened in 2020. Sadly, March 3rd was our last in-person TangoHappyHour at Orfeo before events started shutting down to help curb the spread of COVID-19. But our musicians are so awesome that we only missed one Tuesday before we started learning how to live-stream their beautiful music in an effort to keep our community connected even while apart. As shutdown restrictions increased, it became apparent that duos were no longer an option for most of our musicians, so we started a Solo Performance Series in April and are so grateful for their willingness to adapt and take on this new challenge to keep uplifting us with their harmonies, even during this crazy time.
2022-Present. When things were starting to open up and it was time to celebrate our 8-Year TangoVersary in May 2022, we ventured to Harissa Mediterranean Cuisine in the Ravenna neighborhood of North Seattle, where we found a stage, a dance floor, and delicious food & drinks and ambience created by owner Walid Alabtan. It’s been our TangoHappyHour “home” ever since, where you’ll find us each and every Tuesday, except for a short Winter Break for the holidays and some time off during the summer — for our outdoor pop-up Summer shenanigans!
Many connections, friendships and collaborations have taken place over the years. Our TangoHappyHour Crew has been a huge supporter of the TangoStride™ “Dance to Walk” Program for people with mobility challenges — even before it officially launched in 2016 — as well as our annual fundraiser for the nonprofit that supports it, Hugs that Empower. Each person who joins us, including on our live-streams, makes up an important part of this truly special community.💗
Contact Info
206.778.3239
tangoisabouttheconnection [at] gmail.com
Tango is About the Connection
P.O. Box 55082
Shoreline, WA 98155
