OSAKA -- Yoshiko Nishibayashi first got interested in Argentine tango after watching the movie "Evita" in 1997. Three years later, she returned from Buenos Aires as a professional tango dancer -- the first in the Kansai region with an Argentine partner.
Without any dance experience or knowledge of Spanish, Nishibayashi flew to Argentina's capital in December 1997 because she "fell in love with every aspect of tango, including the music, songs, dance and history."
"When I first watched tango in the movie, I was very attracted to it, wondering what it was. Soon I wanted do it myself," said Nishibayashi, 31, who was looking for an aim in life before she turned 30 years old.