Twelve Minutes of Love: A Tango Story by Kassabova, Kapka - 2011

UK: Portobello, 2011. 600g & 324pp in great order. About the book >> To the uninitiated, tango is just a dance, albeit a dance with an exotic and sensuous allure. To the true tanguero, it is something akin to a religion, attracting the lost, the lonely, and the fanatical with its formal rituals, its sense of belonging, and its intense emotions. Kapka Kassabova first set foot in a tango studio ten years ago and, from that moment, she was hooked. With the pulse of tango thruming through her body and the music filling her head, she’s danced through the night, from Auckland to Edinburgh, from Berlin to Buenos Aires, suffering blisters and heart-break, as well as forging lasting friendships and experiencing all-too-brief moments of dance-floor ecstasy. Here Kapka takes us inside the esoteric night-time world of tango, to tell the story of the dance from its afro roots to its sequined apotheosis in 'show tango', exploring its cultural and emotional pull and enticing us to join her at the milonga. From the international reviews of Twelve Minutes of Love: 'She gives us a clear account of the history of tango and her own emotional journey on and off the dance floor. Kassabova gets the drug-like quality of tango across, with ferocious vividness ... I find myself lilcing [her] a lot.' Independent & Kassabova skilfully weaves her evolution as a dancer around the history and meaning of the dance as well as around her private dramas ... Her narrative, bubbly and brisk as it is, will entertain fellow dancers and fellow wanderers' TLS (& on the site,same name as book, you can itune the tango listings referred & I'm personally recommending you get a copy of the movie "Mad Hot Ballroom" & enjoy it with a cool sangria. . Hardcover. Excellent/Excellent. 22cm.