"ptitetoile's Nijmegen Page" Nijmegen by ptitetoile

When I came there for the first time in august 2002, I knew nothing about this town but I was very impressed that it was so great! The atmosphere in town was really cool with all the cafes and terraces in the centrum (well it was very sunny and 30 degrees Celcius)...the town is a paradise for the customers because there is a lot of shops...there are modern shopping centers like the "Marikenstraat" but also the oldier shopping street of The Netherlands : the "lange Hezelstraat" with old little shops with an nice decoration.

But Nijmegen is above all a very international place for the tango scene. Every month, there is a special tango weekend organized by El corte. And in the summer, it is very great to dance outdoor in the parks!

The first doble-ocho international tango festival celebrated the
16th birthday of El corte, which is very famous in the tango world for beeing a fanstastic meeting place for tangueros from all parts of the world. El Corte has been created by Eric Jorissen, and since 16 years, he gave together with his crew the opportunity to experience extraordinary tango adventures to a lot of tango dancers. Mine began in August 2002 and then in November 2002...Since then, the tango is not the same anymore and the passion has been growing non stop. That is why I could not miss that event! The aim was to offer a festival with the same spirit as El Corte : a place for meeting old and new friends, experiencing new music, talking all languages (I love it!), playing with new inspirations and of course dancing all night long!

My friend Corine an I came to the festival on Saturday and after a short check-in in the B&B Mesdag and a walk in the town, we went to the Tango Cafe in de Vereeniging, concert building of Nijmegen, where I had a nice first tango taste (well known but always deliciously shivering :-) The Gran Baile took place in the biggest room (ING-zaal), one of the nicest of The Netherlands (that is what they say) with a high ceiling and very nice decorated walls. The show performed by the tango couples Kelly and Facundo and Demian & Carolina was very nice. I was impressed by the intensity and the expression of Carolina.

In the beginning of the ball, while the orchesta was playing, it was quite crowded but after that, the dancers went also dancing in the other room (Keizelkarelfoyer) and every one had enough space to move. From a certain time, a new DJ came in this smaller room to play special tangos and enabled dansers to develop their creativity... till 5 o' clock... and I loved it!!!!

On Sunday afternoon, there was a special workshop for beginners... where I saw my VT-friend Paul (Pavlik_NL) for the first time! Being a dancer in the heart, he made a surprise to his sweetheart Irina with this great experience that is the tango (I am quite proud... he is my first VT friend to try tango, maybe because of all the things I wrote!!!!) I guess he will tell you himself on his page of Nijmegen how this first tango lesson was!!!!

In the afternoon, a "Kroegentocht" (tango cafes tour) was organised, it means that there were 4 cafes in the neighborhood called Bottendaal where tango was played and where you could dance in a very great atmosphere! I stopped in the first one : de Kluizenaar, there were the most dancers and the nicest terrace :-)

On Sunday night, it was the closing milonga of the festival in El Corte itself. A great moment! Every ingredients that made this place so wonderful : great dancers, cosy atmosphere, great music (thanks wonderful DJ Cor!!!). In the middle of the evening, Lucien Lecarme, the organizer of the festival made a little speech and organized a distribution of flowers to thank Eric and all the volunteers. We finished the evening at one o'clock with my favorite comparsita version...A very nice way to finish this wonderful weekend!
And the day after in the car back to Brussels, the radio played on every station "Het is wel over maar nog voorbij" (of Marco Borsato & Do)