The Beginner's Guide to Argentine Tango
(This is an edited version of information by Stephen and Susan Brown - http://www.tejastango.com/)
Welcome
Is Argentine Tango the Same as Ballroom Tango?
Is Argentine Tango the Stage Dance?
Argentine Tango Basics
Do I Need a Partner?
Tango Classes and Teachers
Attending Workshops
Taking Private Lessons
Practice, Practice, Practice
Tango Shoes
The Family of Tango Dances
Styles of Argentine Tango
Tango Music
At the Milonga (Tango Dance Party)
Useful Tango Terms
A Beginner's Checklist
Tango Yesterday and Today
Welcome to Social Argentine Tango
Argentine tango has been thrilling dancers for more than 100 years. Tango is loved by dancers and audiences for its beauty, passion, drama and excitement. Social Argentine Tango is currently danced in the dance hall of Buenos Aires and throughout the world. Argentine Tango Learning is based on improvisational movement and respecting your partner and the other dancers on the floor. The essence of Argentine tango is life and the relationship between a man and a woman. Graciela Gonzales, a leading tango instructor, calls the dance "the history of love-for three minutes." This guide offers an overview of tango, what to expect in classes, the various types of tango danced socially, the music, and tango etiquette. I've also included useful terms, a Beginner's checklist and some resources available through the Internet.
Is Argentine Tango the Same as Ballroom Tango?
Definitely Not!. All started out from the same roots, but location, time and the ever evolving nature of dance have made them separate dances. The American and International ballroom tangos you may see on PBS, are very different from the tango danced socially in Argentina. Argentine tango is different from the ballroom tangos in its posture, embrace, improvisation, movement, balance, steps, and music. It's completely different from the top of your head to the bottom of your shoes. If you have a background in ballroom tango, you will probably have to completely relearn what you know to become an Argentine tango dancer.
Is Argentine Tango the Stage Dance?
Argentine Tango Basics
Tango dancers travel counterclockwise around a floor. Dancers move within narrow lanes on the perimeter of the floor. If you were able to look down on a tango dance floor, you'd see dancers move as if floating down a river—flowing smoothly forward sometimes and occasionally stopping for a spin in a shallow eddy.
Do I Need a Partner?
Tango Classes & Teachers
As a beginner , attending a class is the best way to get started. If you don't want to commit to a tango class but want to find out about social Argentine tango, go to a local Milonga (a tango dance party); many have a beginner class just before the dance begins. Refer to the particular event announcements to be sure there is a class at the milonga you wish to attend.
The best tango teachers are those who teach social Argentine tango as it is danced in Buenos Aires. Be wary of teachers or inexperienced instructors teaching variations of tango and/or performance dance under the guise of Argentine tango. If you're not sure, ask the advanced dancers whom they recommend. If you can't dance at a local Milonga (tango dance party) with what you've learned from a tango teacher, seek out other teachers.
Take classes from several tango teachers, they are your best guide. In addition to teaching classes, they often arrange workshops with visiting instructors and have information about where to dance tango socially. Attend practices and dances. Find out whose teaching and dancing style you like and whose method of instruction works for you. Learning from several teachers will be helpful to you.
A good tango class should introduce you to the following elements of tango: walking, turning, stopping, navigation, musicality and some embellishments. Tango is a dance based on walking so you must practice this essential element. The good news is that you already know how to walk, you just need to practice taking a partner with you. All great tango dancers work on their walk.
Fundamentally tango is an improvisational dance... a dance you create on the fly with another person. It is not about memorized steps. Improvisation and interpretation of the music are the most beautiful aspects of tango and what makes tango endlessly interesting.
Attending Workshops
Ask your local organizers and dancers if the type of instruction, the style being taught and the level of dance experience expected in the class is right for you. If the visiting instructors are offering classes for beginners, check them out. You never know who will provide just the right information to make something clear.
It's useful to take workshops from as many different instructors as possible. It may seem confusing at first, but you will find certain instructors have a teaching and/or dancing style that fits your inclinations and you'll probably gravitate to them. There is an amazing variety of teachers and places to dance available to you—worldwide.
Taking Private Lessons
My recommendation regarding spending your money on private lessons is as follows (1) start learning in group classes to see if you like tango, (2) attend group classes for at least two months to begin to master the basics, and, (3) attend milongas (tango parties) and dance and watch. Then, see if there is a local instructor you'd like to schedule a private lesson with. Or perhaps a visiting instructor is coming. Visiting instructors often teach private lessons in addition to any workshops they teach. Keep in mind that different instructors may have different requirements for private lessons (such as requiring you to bring a partner) and may be in very limited supply.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Tango Shoes
The Family of Tango Dances
The word "milonga" has three uses in tango. It means, (1) the dance milonga, (2) the music you dance the milonga to, and (3) a tango dance party. It's possible for you to dance a milonga to a milonga at a milonga. That's a great thing.
Styles of Argentine Tango
As with any evolving art form, trying to pin down the rules is impossible. Every day, new styles come forward and dancers find ways to play with them and incorporate them into their dance. In the past few years, styles known as nuevo and liquid have appeared. Who knows what's coming next? All we know is that it's coming.
Tango Music
Tango music is probably most distinguished from other types of music by two things: the bandoneon and the lack of drums. The bandoneon is an accordion like instrument of German origin. In fact, the instrument was invented to provide organ-like music to church congregations unable to afford a real organ. Like a lot of immigrants to Argentina, the bandoneon found its way into the culture.
As noted above, there are no drums in tango music. The beat is kept on a bass and the lower register of the piano with bandoneons (usually), violins and the upper register of the piano providing the melody.
When you start dancing tango, you'll most likely be dancing to the most rhythmic music from the 1940s and 1950s known as the Golden Age of tango. Music from the late 1930s is also great for learning how to hear the beat and feel the rhythm. As you become more experienced, later music (including that of modern tango orchestras) with its more modern jazzy rhythms becomes very interesting to interpret.
The Milonga (Tango Dance Party)
What is a Tanda?
At a milonga, music is played in sets called "tandas." Usually three
or four songs are played by the same orchestra followed by the "cortina"
(the curtain) which signals the end of the tanda. If you ask someone to
dance and they accept, it is assumed that it will be for the entire tanda.
Cortinas are an interesting little detail at a milonga. A cortina is unique to each DJ. It is usually a clipped portion of a not tango piece of music and is short (about one minute). Some will select one cortina for an evening and some will use a different one for each tanda. Some are humorous; some are grating on the ears; some are simply beautiful music. In any case, the cortina is supposed to be a piece of music that people know not to dance to. It's your signal to smile, thank your partner and (possibly) change partners
Asking for a Dance (the Cabaceo)
Generally in USA, if you wish to ask someone to dance, you simply walk up to them and ask if they would like to dance. If you are comfortable, it is also acceptable for women to ask men for a dance.
In Argentina, men ask women to dance with a look - Cabaceo - a certain glance, movement of the head toward the dance floor or smile that says, "Dance with me?" This can take place from far across the room if the right eyes are caught. If a woman wants to accept a dance with a man, she smiles back and (most important) keeps looking at him while he approaches her. The slightest glance away is usually interpreted as meaning "I've changed my mind and don't want to dance." This system is unique, fun and full of pitfalls. What if the asker is looking at the woman behind you? Did you really see a "yes" or a "maybe?"
Because many are purist of this Argentine art form, the practice of asking people to dance with the eyes is also followed to some extent here in USA. In many areas of the world, however, you may ask someone to dance simply by asking them or with your best Argentine eyes. As in the dance, practice makes perfect.
Accepting a Dance or Saying "No, thank you"
Accepting a dance is as simple as saying "yes." You can do this with
your eyes - Cabaceo - or by
accepting a direct invitation.
It is also perfectly acceptable to say, "No, thank you." If you accept a dance, it is assumed it will be for the remainder of the tanda, up to three or four songs if you start at the beginning of the tanda
However, if one of you decides that one or two dances is enough for whatever reason, either person can simply say "thank you" at the end of any given song and ending your dance with that person. It is understood in the tango community that once you say "thank you" to someone in a polite manner, the dance with that person is over.
Dancing at a Milonga as a Beginner
As a beginner, you'll either be eager to dance with everyone or hesitant
to be seen as a beginner. If you're eager to dance, go for it. Just remember
that tango is danced in lanes that keep moving and the more experienced
dancers tend to stay toward the outside. I can guarantee
you that everyone in the room has been a beginner at one time and understands
how nerve wracking it can be to look around and see everyone gliding by
when you only know three movements. Even someone who has been dancing for
only two weeks longer than you will look like they've been at it for longer.
The way to become a good dancer is to show up and dance. As Woody Allen once said, "98 percent of success is showing up."
Useful Tango Terms
| adornos | embellishments |
| amague | a fake |
| arrastre | a drag |
| barrida | a sweep |
| boleo | no translation (a particular embellishment that can be done high or low) |
| caminar | to walk—the basic walking pattern of tango |
| cruzada | the cross |
| corrida | a rhythmic run (double-time walking) |
| enrosque | a twisting movement during a turn |
| freno | a brake (blocking a foot) |
| gancho | a hook (a type of embellishment) |
| giro | a turn |
| lapiz | literally means a pencil (to draw a circle on the floor) |
| mordida | literally means a "bite" (used when the feet form a sandwich) |
| ocho | an "eight" (part of a turn) |
| parada | a stop |
| salida | literally means "exit," but in tango it's a basic entrance to the dance |
| sacada | a displacement |
There are considerably more terms than this short list.
A Beginner's Checklist
For Leaders:
1. Know how to ask someone to dance
2. Follow the line of dance and stay in your lane
3. Walk smoothly
4. Keep your own balance
5. Keep the rhythm (even at the expense of executing fancier steps)
6. Be aware of where you and others are on the floor
7. Know how to walk, turn, stop and lead a few embellishments
8. Know how to interrupt a step to keep from hitting another couple
9. Know how to put basic elements together to make a dance
For Followers:
1. Know how to accept or decline a dance
2. Wait for the lead
3. Walk smoothly and walk to the cross well
4. Keep your own balance
5. Keep the rhythm
6. Be aware of others on the floor
7. Know how to walk, turn, stop and execute a few embellishments
Once you have mastered the elements on these lists, you will begin to feel more comfortable on the dance floor. As a tango dancer you will work on how to dance more musically, how to improve your posture and balance, how to interpret the music on a more sophisticated level, and how to combine many basic elements to form new dance steps or perhaps create your own.
Tango Yesterday and Today
Argentina was undergoing a massive immigration during the later part of the 1800s and early 1900s. In 1869, Buenos Aires had a population of 180,000. By 1914, its population was 1.5 million. The intermixing of African, Spanish, Italian, British, Polish, Russian and native-born Argentines resulted in a melting pot of cultures, and each borrowed dance and music from one another. Traditional polkas, waltzes and mazurkas were mixed with the popular habanera from Cuba and the candombe rhythms from Africa.
Most immigrants were single men hoping to earn their fortunes in this newly expanding country. They were typically poor and desperate, hoping to make enough money to return to Europe or bring their families to Argentina. The evolution of tango reflects their profound sense of loss and longing for the people and places they left behind.
Most likely the tango was born in African-Argentine dance venues attended by compadritos, young men, mostly native born and poor, who liked to dress in slouch hats, loosely tied neckerchiefs and high-heeled boots with knives tucked casually into their belts. The compadritos took the tango back to the Corrales Viejos—the slaughterhouse district of Buenos Aires—and introduced it in various low-life establishments where dancing took place: bars, dance halls and brothels. It was here that the African rhythms met the Argentine milonga music (a fast-paced polka) and soon new steps were invented and took hold.
Although high society looked down upon the activities in the barrios, well-heeled sons of the porteño (port citizen; people living Buenos Aires) oligarchy were not averse to slumming. Eventually, everyone found out about the tango and, by the beginning of the twentieth century, the tango as both a dance and as an embryonic form of popular music had established a firm foothold in Buenos Aires. It soon spread to provincial towns of Argentina and across the River Plate to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, where it became as much a part of the urban culture as in Buenos Aires.
The worldwide spread of the tango came in the early 1900s when wealthy sons of Argentine society families made their way to Paris. They introduced tango into a society eager for innovation and not entirely averse to the risqué nature of the dance or likewise dancing with young, wealthy Latin men. By 1913, the tango had become an international phenomenon in Paris, London and New York. There were tango teas, tango train excursions and even tango colors—most notably orange. The Argentine elite who had shunned the tango were now forced into accepting it with national pride.
The tango spread worldwide throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The dance appeared in movies and tango singers traveled the world. By the 1930s, the Golden Age of Argentina was beginning. The country became one of the ten richest nations in the Music, poetry and culture flourished. The tango came to be a fundamental expression of Argentine culture, and the Golden Age lasted through the 1940s and 1950s.
Tango's fortunes have always been tied to economic conditions and this was very true in the 1950s. As political repression developed, lyrics reflected political feelings until they started to be banned as subversive. The dance and its music went underground as large dance venues were closed and large gatherings in general were prohibited. The tango survived in smaller, unpublicized venues and in the hearts of the people.
The necessity of going underground combined with the eventual invasion of rock and roll sent the tango into decline until the mid-1980s when the stage show Tango Argentino opened in Paris. Once again Paris was ground zero for igniting tango excitement worldwide. The show toured the world and generated a revival of tango culture in Europe, North America and Japan that continues today.