Oscar Wright recalls as a boy, a great aunt in Mexico who would recount, with sweet nostalgia and glazed eyes, while listening to scratchy 33 LPs, the tango dances she attended in the 40s, “those days were magical...the elegance, the music”., she would muse
It is here that he began to love tango
Back in Texas, his father would take the family to Spanish language outdoor cinemas and among that potpourri of films were included some of the classic Argentina tango films.
At the age of 16 years he eagerly awaited every Thursdays at 7:00 PM for his favorite radio program being broadcast from a super station in Mexico called, “Reminiscencias Del Tango”
He would watch as his mother engaged in mesmerizing solo improvised tango dances
UNIVERSITY DAYS - INTRODUCTION TO ZEN
It was at the University of Texas that he began to study yoga and had his first exposure to Zen Buddhism. He engaged in a study of various dances. He eventually received a degree in Philosophy with a concentration in Epistemology.
Many years later, following a lifelong dream, he moved to Florence Italy where he finally began a serious study of tango with Argentines Igancio Elisari and Luciana Andres. He continued his studies in private lessons with competent teachers in France, Germany, Italy as well as other teachers from Argentina including some of the renown names customarily cited for credibility, i.e., Pablo Veron, Gustavo Naveira, Ricardo Barrios, Luis Castro. However, he eventually crossed paths with Mariachiara Michelli who would be his most influential teacher
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Mr. Wright began teaching in 1998 in Florence, Italy...he later taught in a number of cities in Italy including Milano and Rome….Later he returned to the United States where he taught in a number of cities including Austin, San Antonio, San Marcos and New Braunfells
He has taken his Zen Tango seminars to United States, Denmark, Romania, Germany and France, New Dehli India, Tuscany
LOVES TO DANCE !
But his success as a teacher is almost exclusively the result of lots and lots of dancing in milongas with dance partners of different sizes, ages, types, styles and abilities and applying classical methods of analysis,
“what makes a good dancer”,
“how do people learn”,
“what is the main problem in learning to dance tango”,
“what are the psychological impediments to learning to dance”,
“what is the essence of dance”,
“what is the essence of movement”...
PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING
He began to apply various psychological methodologies to help students overcome mental blocks in learning to dance especially the classical “performance anxiety”.
To this key problem he began to reflect on how certain psychological approaches might assist in this endeavor; in particular those of Carl Jung and Rudolf Steiner.
PRINCIPLES OF ZEN TO ASSIST IN LEARNING
He began to apply certain principles of Zen Buddhism like breathing and visualization, being in the present, meditation.
Eventually, these studies and reflections evolved into Zen Tango including key axioms like:
“you are already a dancer inside”,
“each dance step is in perfect equilibrium, in the present, in a pause”,
“your body is like the fine brush of an artist and in its movement you create colors”
EINSTEIN’S THEORY OF RELATIVITY
Mr. Wright reflected on how key concepts of physics might explain and assist in attaining excellence in tango movement. This included Einstein’s theory of relativity, both the special theory and the general theory to give insight into a tango movement in a period of space and time.
My Wright combined this with classical American principles of motivation in particular those of Zig Zieglar whose seminars he attended
WELL BEING THROUGH TANGO
Mr. Wright began to reflect on how these concepts might help turn tango into a whole system of mental well being reflecting on the nature of:
“what does it mean to be happy”,
“what does it mean to be serene”,
“how does one attain self confidence”.
Over the years, his Zen Tango evolved into a successful method eliciting comment like, “I had tried a number of times to learn tango with other teachers finally succeeding only with you”..
.He applied his method in teaching tango to people with Parkinson’s Disease
INVITED TO TEATRO COLON
In the fall of 2013, while dancing at a milonga in Rome, in the audience happened to be the reknown Argentinean orchestra leader and composer Armando Kreiger (friend and acquaintance to some of the legends of tango like Astor Piazzolla).
They soon became friends and Maestro Kreiger invited him to do a series of performances with the dance company of Arena of Verona and eventually (c. spring of 2015) to do a performance at the legendary Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires of which he is musical director.
In May of 2015 Maestro Krieger invited Mr. Wright to do a performance for the Embassy of Argentina at a major event at the Country Club Gandolfo near Rome
Maestro Krieger has invited Mr. Wright to dance with his orchestra in a forthcoming tour of various cities in the world
ONGOING STUDIES
Mr. Wright continues his studies through observation and reflection on the nature of tango and dancing and body movement; on the power of tango to ascertain:
ever more effective methods, principles expressed in metaphors to bring out the maximum excellence in a tango dancer
One major key is understanding human nature and how to motivate
