Love & Connection

Brenda & Horacio: Buenos Aires, Argentina to Buenos Aires

Brenda dances tango from a wheelchair due to spina bifida. Horacio is her partner of life and dance. Together they challenge what tango 'should' be - and prove that passion transcends physical limitations.

Street Tango Dancers

San Telmo

Lifelong

6 min read

Source: Vía País Editorial

Key Highlights

•Brenda dances tango from wheelchair due to spina bifida
•Horacio adapted traditional steps for her movements
•Perform on streets of San Telmo
•Challenge critics who say it's 'not real tango'

## On Wheels and Without Limits

Brenda Holtz and Horacio Tolosa are a street tango couple from Buenos Aires. They could be two more dancers connecting pedestrians with the passion of Argentine tango - but their dance has no creative limits, because Brenda dances from a wheelchair.

"With Brenda it's a dance that is beautiful, but it also has no creative limitations," explains Horacio. "What is the expression of the bodies, what is the flow while dancing... on the contrary, it is much better."

Brenda's Journey

Brenda has used a wheelchair since birth due to spina bifida. But she always loved to dance. "Each time the occasion presented itself, I moved my wheels and my body to the rhythm of the melody."

In 2008, she convinced herself to train more professionally, finding opportunity at the National University of the Arts of Buenos Aires. Tango came later - there were only "a couple" of academies for people with disabilities.

A friend taught her the basics four years ago. Now she takes classes with a teacher who adapts the steps to her movements.

The Critics

When Brenda attends Buenos Aires milongas, some people say what she dances isn't tango because "she doesn't have the real hug" of this dance style.

Her response? "I don't need to hug if I feel the tango. I dance what I feel and how I feel it. While there is feeling, there is dance. Point!"

"The other person has to open his head to you to do the same, but in a different way."

Horacio's Adaptation

The first time Horacio saw Brenda dance at Plaza Dorrego in San Telmo, he thought it was "strange." They still danced together.

"I felt uncomfortable, afraid of hurting her, because I was used to dancing in a very different way. But I never thought that he could not adapt - everything is adaptable!"

Tango Queer

Brenda is a resolute advocate for Tango Queer - where men and women learn both roles and bring people of the same sex to the track. "I dance when they take me, but if I want to take you, I also take you."

The dance of Brenda and Horacio - passionate, tender, and mischievous - is a reflection of the sincere love they express for each other.

The Feeling

"It is a mixture of feelings, of passion, of trust, of security... it is a mixture of so many things what we feel when it comes to dancing," Horacio says after a deep and tender sigh.

On Brenda's wheels, there are no complexes nor limits. One more dancer. A different dancer. She gives the 'play' and she feels that she flies, that she is lost.

"There is only music, Horacio and I."