About the project

The Argentine tango dancer and cultural scientist Cristian Javier Castaño, who lives as a migrant in Dresden, knows the mechanisms of exclusion and feels the cracks in our society. He wants to counteract these abuses, bring together people of different social and cultural backgrounds, encourage them and show them how to use their bodies as an artistic medium.

Dancing offers opportunities for expression for those who have no voice, dancing strengthens self-confidence and a sense of community, therefore dancing overcomes boundaries.  Tango in particular has emerged from a multitude of different cultural influences and, like no other dance, is open to new styles and practices. Interculturality and exchange is inscribed in this dance.

Tango-Courses

Under the label "Tango - open and colorful" Cristian Javier Castaño tours all over Dresden and offers free tango courses for people in disadvantaged neighborhoods, for young people, refugees, migrants or for LSBTTIQ. In addition to tango learning, the courses always deal with eye-level interaction and social proximity to other people. We offer these courses without charging any fee so that no one is excluded. In addition, the courses are deliberately designed in such a way that everyone can participate (even without previous knowledge) and contribute their own artistic style.

Company Tango – open and colorful

At the beginning of 2018, Cristian Javier Castaño founded the Company Tango - open and colorful, an international dance ensemble with which he creates choreographies which the group regularly performs.

Financial Support

The Cellex Foundation finances Cristian Javier Castaño so that he can implement his project. We support him in making contacts in Dresden, building up a network of interested parties and finding rooms in which the courses take place. We take over Castaños trips through Dresden and the costs for press and public relations. For us as a foundation, it is important to promote genuine participation and to be able to influence social processes with our own ideas and thus also to improve the climate in this city.