Lured into farming as a lad by the prospect of proximity to the farmer’s two daughters, and having later developed a successful career as a Northland farming advisor during the 1970s, Tony Lane has since become internationally known as a world-class tango dancer and instructor.

Tony Lane — from farm advisor to world-class tango dancer

“I began dance in my late forties when you really should start at age six. Now at 63, I wear colours and clothing which would have upset many farmers, and I teach dance around the world.”

Tony is the creator and dance co-ordinator of GlobalVillageDance.com, an international dance event designed to bring different sorts of people together through mutual enjoyment of dance.

“As a dance form, tango came out of the brothels of Buenos Aires in Argentina and was much looked down upon. When dance exponents introduced it in Europe, it was picked up with abandon, so much so that eventually the Argentinians reclaimed and continued to develop the form.

“The joy of partner dance is in the moment,” he says. “You leave nothing except hopefully a residual feeling of pleasure and goodwill. I started by doing as much partner dancing as I could; ballroom, latin, jive, swing, salsa, sequence and more, but soon realised Argentinian Tango was the best and most sophisticated form of partner dance. You really do have to understand how to connect, to lead and to follow. I also do quite a bit of swing, and still continue with ballroom.”

Being fit and supple are important for a dancer and Tony works through a set of exercises most days as well as running, walking and cycling. In London he dances 30 hours a week.

Tony’s first full-time job was sharemilker’s assistant. Worked so hard that he was deprived of a social life, he says, “I thought there had to be a more appealing way to work myself into a farm so I went to Massey University and studied agriculture, earning a B.Agr.Sc.

After seven years as a farm advisor, Tony accepted an Aid and Development position in Peru for sheep farming. The two-year contract was followed by another project, this time on Peru’s altiplano, followed by others in different parts of the world.

He says, “To continue, after many years on Aid and Development projects, as a farm advisor, I would have needed to spend a lot of time updating my knowledge of the current NZ farming environment; prices, policies, as well as research and practises. Instead, I chose something completely different.

I loved agricultural life but there was a side of me that I could more easily express in London and which took into account a very different part of my nature, so I moved to England.

“I maintain a strong interest in agriculture, but this part of my life is for dance. Tango is like writing. You’re never finished with it, just as a writer has never learnt all there is about writing.”