Dragan Ranitovic

Teaches at You Should Be Dancing

Dragan, a native of Serbia, has been living in New York City since the early 1990s. A dance professional with interests and teaching experience in many styles – International and American Ballroom, salsa, hustle, West Coast swing, tap, jazz, ballet – he became attracted to tango which was just beginning its revival at the time. He participated in the nascent tango scene in New York City, and witnessed its many changes as new dancers and teachers brought new styles and ideas and the dance and its community evolved. Around 2005, he decided to devote himself exclusively to Argentine tango. Why Tango? For the same reasons many today are drawn to it: the music, the passion, the elegance, the natural embrace, the freedom of movement and expressing oneself, the lifestyle, an affinity for others who are taken with the dance. Dragan teaches ongoing weekly group classes, monthly workshops and daily private lessons at YSBD. He also teaches pre-party classes at some of New York’s most prestigious milongas. He is hosting his own milonga, “Tango Para Dos,” at YSBD every Tuesday night. Twice a month he is a guest teacher in Pennsylvania (at two different locations) where he conducts an ongoing workshop series. Dragan is also becoming known for his deejaying, especially for the “Alternative Tango rooms” now found at several popular milongas. He seeks a blend of American and International popular songs along with Tango Nuevo music including now classics (such as Piazzolla) and recent tracks. This adds new horizons for tango dancers to explore, as they also continue exploring the emotions and charms of traditional tango.