"I began dancing these two dances at the same time in 1986. Since then I have never felt I enjoyed one more than the other. I find the two dances quite different in technique and of course music, but in their essence, I always found the two to have profound similarities.      In the Salsa music styles which I favour, I have always heard a sadness, underlying the outward joy of the music. In Tango I have found a joy which underlies that sadness we hear. It's a joy which celebrates the performing of an exorcism of sorts, in expressing life's hardships. In Salsa, expressions such as "Azucar" which we hear yelled out during a piece, have become expressions of joy, yet their basis is an expression of slavery in the cane fields of Cuba, since Asucar in Spanish means sugar. These seem to have been expressions of freedom, celebrations of identity despite slavery.      In the rest of Latin America it hasn't been difficult to embrace such sentiment. Colonialism and the migration experience hasn't been unique to black slaves in Cuba. Colonialism hasn't been it's only impetus. The political difficulties throughout Latin America have made the migration experience a real part of their recent history. Many say that's the basis of the essence of Tango. Tango was said to be born during an influx of immigrants from many cultures (black slaves included), around 1870. And I do believe it is this common thread existent in both these dances, which I am close to." Visit Susana's Tango website at: TangoVancouver.com