Champion Germán Cornejo: 'I wouldn't do Strictly - they do movie-style tango'

Former world tango champion Germán Cornejo says tango is often assumed to be only sensual, but its deeper meaning is connection, empathy, and responsiveness between partners. Speaking in Buenos Aires, where he prepares his company for Tango After Dark—a show built exclusively around revolutionary Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla’s music—Cornejo frames improvisation as a dialogue: like a “chess game,” where a dancer’s move creates an answer and a new question. The production plays at Sadler’s Wells in London from 5–9 November. Cornejo directs, choreographs and dances, and he also designed the costumes, drawing on his experience touring the UK and even collaborating with Karl Lagerfeld.