About Richard Lipkin

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With great sadness, we announce that Richard Lipkin, the creator of this website
passed away on September 28, 2014. You can read about him on this page and
see photos of him through the years.

On Thursday, October 1, 2015, opening night of the New York Queer Tango Festival at the Consulate of Argentina, Friends of Argentine Tango (a New York-based nonprofit organization) presented recognition awards to tango teachers and activists who have made important contributions to disseminating tango and creating a thriving tango community. Among the honorees are Graciela Gonzalez, one of the foremost tango pedagogues today; Winter and Auriel Held, organizers of the first International Queer Tango Festival in the U.S., and the late Richard Lipkin, creator of the New York Tango calendar.

Richard was a pillar of the Tango community since the early days of tango in New York, a DJ,
an information center, a dancer and a friend to many of you and is now resting in peace.
His website, this website, will continue to be updated as a cornerstone to his legacy.
If you are a tango event organizer who used to send information to Richard personally,
please send it instead to info at newyorktango dot com

Richard Lipkin
~ August 4, 1953 - September 28, 2014 ~
Written by Richard's dear friend Shelley who gave his eulogy

This tango site was founded and maintained for over 15 years by Richard Lipkin.

We called Richard Lipkin "a man for all seasons" and a "tango aficionado."

Richard's parents were born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They came to the United States, lived in Flushing, NY, had three children and moved to Great Neck, New York.

Richard was an excellent tango dancer. He had interesting steps, musicality and rhythm. Everyone wanted to dance with Richard. He was an excellent leader and his dancing was seamless.

He became one of the most sought after tango DJs. He knew so many tango songs with their lyrics, and understoood the music of all the tango composers.

Richard was born with big blue eyes, somewhat shy at times; he had a cute smile that would turn into a hearty laugh. He had a great sense of humor and was frequently laughing. He had so many friends in the tango community.

He was an intellectual who was well read on so many subjects, and had an extraordinary personality. He graduated law school and passed the New York State Bar but decided to work in the family business with his father Ezzy. They were in the import / export business with a concentration of exporting auto parts to Argentina and Brazil.

Richard was stricken with stage 4 colon cancer. For seven and a half years he underwent treatment but let nothing stand in his way of enjoying his life, dancing tango, or fulfilling his other responsibilities. Sometimes he would be dancing three to four times a week while undergoing treatment.

Richard was a gourmet cook and enjoyed the foods that he prepared. He loved to work in his basement with his expensive saws on all types of woodworking projects. Each day he would read the entire New York Times and do the crossword puzzle. Before venturing on a trip to Italy [Ed: to see his dear friend Patrizia Chen!], he taught himself Italian. He already was fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, thus mastering fluency in four languages.

Richard loved his sister Alba and his entire family of nephews and nieces. He loved the entire tango community. He loved us, and we loved him, and we know his spirit is with all of us at the milongas.