Below are just a few of the tributes that we received this week honoring the
memory of Bette Runge. It's hard to imagine anyone now being the center of
the DC tango community, as Bette was in the early to mid-90's and Leon was
in the late-90's, by opening their home with warmth, grace and generosity,
given the competition, diversity and enormous number of dancers, organizers
and instructors that DC now enjoys.

The Capital Tangueros

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Guillermo Alio saluda a la comunidad tanguera de Wash. y hace honor a la Sra
Bette con el mejor de los recuerdos, mi corazon esta muy apenado por esta
noticia pero hare en su honor un momento de silencio con mi alma , Guillermo
Alio
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In the mid nineties I knew Bette's phone number better than my own. She was
the one to call and she called everyone. She was Tango in DC.¡¡ Before the
days of cell phones and before most people were on line, she thought nothing
of calling 100 people in a day to tell them about the latest tango workshop
at her home on Harrison St. which was the place to be. Her¡¡house seemed
always¡¡overflowing with people, the mixed sounds of Spanish, English... and
Tango music. It was a mysterious warm place where¡¡all were welcomed and
encouraged in the ways of Tango. Her¡¡comfortable living room was¡¡both
party room and waiting room for those scheduled for privates or small
intimate workshops with out-of-town teaching masters she tireless
promoted¡¡and graciously hosted. I can recall workshops in her sunny studio
by¡¡Fabian Salas, Lorena Ermocida, Jorge Nel, Rebecca Schulman, Mariella
Franganillo, Pablo Pughliese and Esther, Daniela Arcuri and Armando Orzuza,
Carlos Gavito, Milena Plebs.¡¡And Bette was always there welcoming, teasing,
matchmaking, joking, making a special place for us. Mucho Gracias Senora
Bette

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In the mid-90s in Bethesda, there was a small upstairs dance studio
called¡¡Dancers that was host to a number of varied dance forms. Once or
twice a¡¡month, Bette Runge and Jorge Pereyra conducted a short lesson
before the¡¡Saturday night Milonga. Some of us had the hots for Pereyra, but
all of us¡¡had a passion for those deliciously difficult steps that Bette
and Jorge¡¡showed us. We walked and danced and walked some more, to rid our
bodies of¡¡the joined-at-the-hip ballroom form. Lord, when will this come
naturally,¡¡we asked ourselves? So, we practiced at the Library on Saturday
afternoon,¡¡and walked and danced our hearts out on those Saturday nights at
Dancers.¡¡Thanks, Bette, for introducing to us to, and helping us
understand, that¡¡beautiful artform. The success of the Tango in Washington
is the result of¡¡your selfless effort and your addiction to dance.

I can picture Bette's very beige living room, with some Chinese accents
and¡¡red pillows, and all those street shoes and shoe bags lined up at the
door¡¡or strewn across the carpet. You see, even the carpet was beige, and
we¡¡did not dare to bring in street dirt when The Capital Tangueros'
committee¡¡meetings were being conducted at Bette's house. Or when we lined
up to¡¡take a private lesson with a visiting Tanguero at her house.

Before Bette convinced her husband to build that fabulous dance¡¡floor at
the¡¡back end of her living room, private lessons with the visiting
Tango¡¡instructors were conducted on a concrete surface. That surface was
the¡¡enclosed porch, the roof of the one-car garage attached to the house.
It¡¡was hard on one's feet to take an hour private lesson, but we did so
with¡¡gusto. For a time, it was the only place in town where one could learn
the¡¡right stuff from the right instructors. Bette fed us and shared her
house¡¡with anyone who loved to dance. She was our Tango Mama, but she
was¡¡ageless to the end. She invigorated us with her love of dance, and
we¡¡returned her friendship with affection.

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REMEMBERING BETTE

When Dianne and I moved here from New York in 1990, there was no
tango¡¡community. But there was Bette Runge. And it's because of her that
tango¡¡now thrives in this area, as she lives still in our hearts.

Fifteen years ago, Dianne and I could find no classes here like the ones
in¡¡downtown Manhattan, no milongas like the ones in the obscure "Wedding
&¡¡Party Center of Queens," no suggestions even from the Argentine
embassy¡¡about where to look around here.

Then one summer's night at a park amphitheater, we saw Jorge
Pereyra¡¡perform tango and folkloric dance, and he gave us Bette's phone
number. We¡¡made a date for a lesson, showed up.and then had to follow her
car speeding¡¡northward from D.C. (for this lady so light on her feet had a
pretty heavy¡¡foot on the gas pedal).¡¡And so in Kensington, MD, we took our
first local tango class - in a beauty parlor, with the operators' chairs
pushed away across the tile floor.

Soon enough Bette opened her own home for Jorge's lessons.on her
sun-porch,¡¡dancing on the hard red concrete floor in a space so cramped
that Jorge had¡¡to build a U-turn into any combination longer than a couple
of bars ¨C maybe¡¡12 feet.¡¡ Students used the family bathroom upstairs,
before Bette¡¡thoughtfully installed a more convenient first-floor john
under the¡¡stairway.¡¡ Many years later came Bette's beautiful studio
addition at the¡¡back of the house, with its sprung floor and mirrored
walls. But from the¡¡start, students came to Bette's in increasing numbers.

Students also turned out for the first tango-only weekend of classes at
the¡¡Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, where Dianne and I met some wonderful
people who¡¡were becoming the nucleus of the Capital Tangueros - Suzi Daley,
Dan Fish,¡¡Sherry Selevan and others. Students who met at that first
workshop, Liz¡¡Selinger and George Tressel, joined in the group's
organizational meetings
(and joined as a couple - still!). Together we sponsored visiting
teachers,¡¡and practice sessions, and more-or-less frequent milongas, and
maintained a¡¡growing mailing list, and produced a regular newsletter.

But growth was slow. To give people another place to tango - in those
days¡¡before D.C. dancers enjoyed so many clubs and other venues, back when
dance¡¡studios had tango events only occasionally - Dianne and I hosted
milongas at¡¡our home. The first included all of eight people - including
the two of us.¡¡But soon we were over 50 dancers, spilling out onto the
deck. Leon Harris opened his home, too. And then Viviana and Isidoro
Levinson¡¡arrived on the scene to expand our horizons. Anne-Sophie Ville
launched her¡¡own wonderful roster of tango events. All of these people were
part of what¡¡we called the Capital Tangueros' "steering committee" - along
with Joe
Petrisko, and Pat Wood, and Melinda Bates, and other dedicated souls as
time¡¡went on. Eventually, we knew tango was established when at one point
three clubs¡¡along just one block of 14th Street were offering tango at
least one night a¡¡week.

None of this would have happened without Bette. Her sun-porch and
dance¡¡studio introduced us to some of the world's best tango teachers ¨C
like¡¡Fabian Salas, who at one point seemed almost another son to Bette in
his¡¡regular stays at her home. I'll never forget one class when Fabian
taught a particular lesson about¡¡grace to novice dancers whose expensive
shoes seemed to embody our hope that¡¡a click of just the right heels could
somehow magically transform us into¡¡tangueros and tangueras: Fabian came
down tired after a late night with¡¡admiring dancers, but gave a perfect
lesson - wearing rubber flip-flops!¡¡Another time, when dancers just
couldn't seem to catch the tango rhythm, he¡¡raided Bette's big-band music
and gave a tango class to Count Basie's
rhythm.

The Capital Tangueros' committee often met in Bette's living room, and
we¡¡all benefited from her warmth and encouragement - though first always in
her¡¡caring was her dear husband. We followed her travails of
maintaining her¡¡beach house, we celebrated her birthdays with dancing and
with a rich¡¡assortment of cakes she provided, and we delighted with her
great good humor¡¡at the passing parade of friends.and some occasional
fools: She did not¡¡suffer them gladly, but she did amuse us with her tales
of which S.O.B.¡¡committed what half-assed idiocy. Bette was wonderfully
funny and vulgar¡¡and sweet all at the same time - one more reason to love
and admire her.

She had such class. She was a role model, in her vitality and good humor, of
how to get older without getting old. She looked amazingly youthful,
she¡¡seemed tireless, and she never lost her enthusiasm and energy. Until
now.

We have lost her; the area's tango community has lost its founder
and¡¡long-time inspiration; tangueros and tangueras have lost a good friend
to us¡¡all, though in fact many new dancers never had the good fortune to
meet her.¡¡Sadly, we have had our last tango at Bette's.

As we extend our condolences to her family, for herself Bette would,
I'm¡¡sure, want us not to mourn a death, but to celebrate a life, as we
remember¡¡her encouraging us: "Get up. Be brave. Try again. That's better.
Now dance -¡¡bravo!"

And so we will, with a final bravo to you, Bette. Gracias, dear
friend.¡¡From our hearts, adios.