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Twelve Minutes of Love: A Tango Story
 
 

Twelve Minutes of Love: A Tango Story [Kindle Edition]

Kapka Kasobova
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

Digital List Price: £16.30 What's this?
Print List Price: £18.99
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Product Description

Review

'Sharp, clever and engaging, it vividly depicts a world full of beauty and heartbreak, of love and loss' --Independent on Sunday

'Warm, witty and deftly written ... reveals much more about tango's allure and enigma than any more distanced study might' --Time Out

'A sexy step through the myths around tango and its physical, emotional and psychological layers' --GQ

'A beautiful book, beautifully written ... an exquisitely written story'
--Dance Today

'Conveys more than enough of the delirious highs of tango to make you ache for an evening of ochos and boleos'
--Metro

'A mesmeric memoir of love, lust and tango ... Kassabova relishes the painful blisters as much as the seductive bliss' --Marie Claire

'A touching and insightful chronicle of a ten year obsession that dragged her around the world by the heartstrings' --Scotsman

'A comprehensive history ... Upon reaching the last page I realise I'll miss this lively voice' --Herald

Product Description

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.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 720 KB
  • Print Length: 348 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 184627284X
  • Publisher: Portobello Books (3 Nov 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B005XBLS98
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #28,986 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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More About the Author

Kapka Kassabova
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Customer Reviews

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By L
Format:Hardcover
Came back from Buenos Aires last week with a broken heart, I picked up this book because the title mentioned the words "Love" & "Tango", the two which I began to curse. Then I spent the whole weekend reading the book, almost non-stop!

It feels very intimate, like an old tango friend who sits at a table of a milonga where Piazzolla is playing, sharing with me what she has been through all these years with a glass of red wine. I can't recall when was the last time I felt this way reading a book.I understand Kapka, I resemble her, if you dance tango, you probably will do too. On Sunday night I brushed my dancing shoes, went to the milonga where I used to go again.

I appreciate the journey that the author has shared with me. I will definitely check out her other books!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Sofakat
Format:Hardcover
For those of us who found and fell in love with tango the journey was/is never easy. You think it's just a dance, but it's not. You make all kinds of assumptions, expect everything to fall into place and fit you, but it doesn't. All teachers must be good. No, they're not. some are charlatans, other mad egotists! Even those of us who are ex dancers, who learn quickly and can adapt, find tango frustrating, elusive, complex and at times irritating beyond endurance.

And then there are the tango people - the very good, the bad and the plain mad. I read this because I was hoping that some of what I experienced whilst learning tango was not my imagination running riot. I wanted someone else to tell me her story. Was I seeing things? Did every woman feel like this?

If you love tango, read this book. Kapka Kassabova is a wonderful writer - direct, honest, funny, beguiling and very observant. She writes beautifully. Her descriptions of milongas are fascinating: you will recognise some of the characters with a sigh - or maybe a groan. Women will read and think 'oh, I know that man. It's not just me then' and feel vindicated. You will recognise what we all do when we find the perfect leader, that elusive connection that just simply works, even though it comes such unlikely partners, and often when we least expect it.

I loved her descriptions of Buenos Aires, Marseilles, Paris and Berlin - all the places I have ever wanted to dance. I don't want to recap the story or tell you about the journey. Discover it for yourself. I just want to say, read this book and you'll see why I am recommending it so highly, as another tango addict but also another writer. And God knows we're fussy about what we read!

This book is wonderful.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Yo no soy Tangoista! 19 Nov 2011
By Lindsey
Format:Kindle Edition
I loved this book. I loved the rhythms, cadences, pauses, colours of language. I loved the way it made me feel; smiling, searching, longing. I loved its teaching on Tango and on love. I loved the way it helped me to learn about Tango and about being, and about love. I love that it taught me that in my heart I am a dancer. It was difficult to put this book down, even when Saturday evening came around and "Strictly" beckoned. It's a must read book which I can't wait to return to and start all over again!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Just as peomised
The delivery was perfect as always with amazon. The book is just as promised-entertaining read, engaging imagination, a micture between documentary and emotional fiction. Read more
Published 1 day ago by Stanislava
Tango - the Dance of Exile
Have you ever danced at a Milonga? Do you know what a Gancho is? Ever had a Tangasm? If so, then it's very likely you're a Tango addict like Kapka Kassabova. Read more
Published 1 month ago by The Book Witch
Enigma.
Great read.Not for those wanting another book on tango technique. But tells the story of a tango fanatic's hectic life over 10 years as she travels across continents to one tango... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Caudeus
A beautiful, insightful pleasure
I noticed a review of this book in a newspaper on my way to work and was absolutely delighted to see the subject matter and that Kapka was the author having got to know her as a... Read more
Published 4 months ago by auscot
Very revealing!
Coming to Argentine tango from ballroom and latin to medal standard, I was
drawn by the beauty and challenge of the dance. Read more
Published 5 months ago by jonquil
A total gem
I adored this book (and I've never danced tango). It is about tango and it is about life. It has so much insight and so much illumination and honesty and wisdom and joy. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Simonphoto
Brilliant
Brilliant, the best book about Argentina social Tango. If you are just starting Tango, you will find out what is waiting for you. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Emil Jankulovski
captivating, inspiring, delightfully witty and heartbreakingly intense
I came across this wonderful book eleven days ago. Got hooked instantly and consumed the pages with uncontrollable intensity. Read more
Published 6 months ago by gwovatska
View from a non-tango male
The other reviews here and perhaps the title would suggest this book could only be enjoyed by tango loving females who have had difficulties with men. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Rn Graham
Spot on!
This is a wonderful book! A must for any tango-holic! May also be a useful read for those non-dancing friends of a tango-holic (provides full explaination of why you friend has... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Charlotte
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Popular Highlights

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&quote;
Tango traffic is always anticlockwise. The couple itself must also turn anticlockwise. &quote;
Highlighted by 4 Kindle users
&quote;
Tango is meant to be a perfect balance between desire and control, hello and goodbye, intimacy and distance. &quote;
Highlighted by 4 Kindle users
&quote;
Tango Argentino made tango look sexy and modern all over again, and for this we must thank the first great couple of show tango  Maria Nieves and Juan Carlos Copes. &quote;
Highlighted by 4 Kindle users

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