The one lesson that we learned after 11 years in the event industry, is that events create a huge impact on our lives. Not just attendees, but thousands of event professionals that we came across, have been able to find their salvation in events by making the world happening. Here is one such instance.
About Ilona Glinarsky
Ilona Glinarsky is a Ukraine-born Argentine Tango dance educator, who carries an experience of 25 years in dancing, teaching, coaching, and producing events. After having a bitter divorce and losing her mother to cancer, she added dance to her life at the age of 33 and has been creating a huge international extended dance family since then. Till now, she has been a featured guest Tango instructor for the Music Center for 15 years which is one of the largest Tango event in the country.
What she does?
She brings dance events to the neighborhood where hundreds of new and seasoned dancers come to take lessons and dance their hearts out. Even during the tough times of the Ukraine war, she dedicated her signature event, Tango Flashmob, to the people of Ukraine, who were fighting to save their homeland and reclaim peace and freedom of democracy.
Ilona firmly believes that dance connects people and is a tool for personal growth as well as community building.
How did things start to go downhill?
In 2020, Tango became life-threatening. Because Tango is a dance form where a pair of dancers would be in intimate contact with each other for hours. Things were difficult for everyone and the spirit of dance was fading during those times. “Meditation and nature walks were a boon”, said Ilona. Though things were hard and there were a lot of restrictions, keeping peace of mind was something that one could count on.
How did she keep the dancing spirit alive?
To keep the boat from sinking, she salvaged the need for connection between her fellow dancers and created a Mindfulness Reset Gathering via Zoom. Except for the part where endless hugs and lots of space to dance were not present, the event was successful enough to relieve stress and anxiety among the dancers.
When things started to settle down, Ilona tried to reopen her monthly tango event Milonga LAX. She dreaded that people won’t come because there were too many restrictions imposed on gatherings, but they say revenge is sweet. People came in droves and danced their hearts out! The fear that people would forget the connection with dancing faded slowly.
You can catch up with her at Dance DTLA at the Music Center, where she is being invited as a guest Argentine Tango instructor and community partner for the July 29th event. Here dancers can take free lessons and dance under the stars.
We’ve seen over and over again that the quest for authentic connection is way stronger than any pandemic! Nothing can keep us, humans, apart. Today, the work of an event planner or event producer is more valuable than ever. Keep on creating fun, inclusive, safe and community conscious opportunities for this human connection to thrive!”
– Ilona Glinarsky of www.LivingTango.com | www.tangotosuccess.com
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