Le Tango, a popular gay dance hall, is reopening after being close to closing

At night

From March 10 and after almost three years of closure, tango lovers can once again take to the wooden dance floor of the legendary gay nightclub on 3.^e district of Paris. Successive restrictions, followed by an announcement to sell the facility in early 2021, almost made it better. “chili box”. This was without the support of Paris City Hall, which bought the building for 6.7 million euros to save one of the Marais’ oldest dance halls. In addition to the renovated bar, regular guests will have a room “In his juice, with his old chairs,” Slides by Hervé Latapier, Tango’s historic owner, “very touched” by opening a discotheque.

on all sauces

11-13 rue au Maire is one of those places that knows a thousand lives. First cabaret in 1725, during the revolution of 1848 a barricade was built. At the end of the 19th century.^e In the 19th century, the hall became the headquarters of La Cabrette, the corporate association of Auvergne musicians, before being converted into the Musette Ball in 1896. Meetings of antique dealers, cemetery caretakers and other luminaries were regularly held there. It was during the interwar period that this festive and popular place experienced its golden age. In the 1980s, Parisian night king Serge Kruger turns Tango into a disco, where the crowd, now mostly Latin and West Indian, descends on the jungle for salsa and African nights.

full pipes

When Hervé Latapier took over the institution in 1997 at the age of 63, this LGBT activist, then a professor of economics and social sciences, reconnected with the history of the place: “I wanted to make a gay dance ball and rediscover the spirit of the popular French ball. » A huge fan of the accordion, he hates techno music and spends the first part of the evening focusing on ballroom dancing… until the night wears on to a more eclectic playlist, “With the hits of all eras”. box “moved” Deceptively hip, Hervé Latapie’s tango welcomes everyone: gay, lesbian and straight. “The night is important, He assures us. People let go, forget each other, trust… there is no time. »

At the mercy of the tenants

In addition to wild weekend nights, this new tango hosts “association parties and events during the week”, Hervé Latapie elaborates. These debates, shows and dancing tea “For those who sleep early” It becomes possible by renewing the operations in the form of an associative collective: “Now we are free to do what we want without being held accountable to the owner.” » The only downside: conflict with the landlord, who plans to convert the upper floors of the building into social housing. Tango therefore has to close its doors temporarily for renovations at the end of 2024, leaving Hervé Latapie out for a few months. “Convince City Hall that there are alternatives so that this building is not completely transformed.”