Dancing Salon Style Argentine Tango
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
What's it like to dance the original Tango, the one from Buenos Aires? More than any other dance, the Tango is a dance of intimacy, passion, and connection. Two equals share one of the most intimate of relationships available in public.
You're close enough to feel each others body heat, close enough that your eyes can lock and look deeply into your partner's very soul. Close enough, that if you're not careful, it will ignite a passion you never knew you were capable of experiencing.
Salon Style Argentine Tango is a conversation, one without words. Yet it explores our deepest selves and brings our innermost passions and desires to the fore for all to see. It's not for wimps, nor is it necessarily the flash of stage Tango either. Salon Style Argentine Tango is all about the connection that forms between a man and a woman. To dance it well is to dance from the heart.
To dance Salon Style Argentine Tango well also requires being open to the moment, balanced, poised and able to move in any direction gracefully and easily. Other dances, like Viennese waltzes and polkas for example, have fairly rigid patterns of steps that repeat over and over again. But the Tango, the true Tango from Argentina, doesn't. It is a nearly a completely improvisational dance. The nearest thing to a requirement would be to take one step per beat of the music.
Because it's such a highly improvisational dance, Salon Style Argentine Tango is also a completely lead dance as well. There are certain basic steps to learn, like walking forward, walking back, side steps and pivots, for example. And, there is one set pattern to Salon Style Argentine Tango. It's called "walking to the cross." But once these fundamental steps are learned and mastered, Oh! It's magic!
In order to, briefly, explain "walking to the cross", the idea of tracks must be introduced. In Salon Style Argentine Tango, there are three tracks you can dance on: inside, center, and outside.
When dancing along the inside track, the man's right foot is to the right of the woman's left foot. Dancing the center track, the man's right foot is between his partner's feet. While dancing the outside track means that the man's left foot is to the left of the woman's right foot.
With most walking dance styles, you can dance forever along each of the tracks. Salon Style Argentine Tango is different. You can only dance a couple of steps along the inside track before the follower will cross her left foot in front of her right. She does this in order to resume dancing on the center track. And that's what is known as "walking to the cross."
Before anyone asks what the phrase walking dance style means, it means you walk around the dance floor with your partner. Generally everybody goes in the same direction, which from the man's point of view is counter-clockwise. Else you tend to play bumper cars. This is NOT a good thing. Waltz, polka, fox-trot, and one-step are all dances using walking dance style.
The other major dance style would be stationary. You and your partner stay in the same small area for the duration of the dance. Jitterbug is a stationary dance style, relatively speaking of course.
Salon Style Argentine Tango is actually a sort of a hybrid between being a purely walking style dance and a purely stationary style dance. Because it evolved in very small and crowded dance halls, couples typically could only walk a few steps along line of dance at a time. Then they had to stop and circle around each other because their right of way was blocked by other couples. Once traffic eased, they could resume walking along line of dance.
This is convenient because the tempo of a tango usually slows down then speeds up slightly while it's being played. The ebb and flow of the tempo coupled with the ebb and flow of traffic adds to the dramatic tension of the dance.
While Salon Style Argentine Tango is extremely improvisational, it's also a completely lead dance. There is a leader, usually the man, and a follower, usually the woman. It's up to the leader to indicate what's to happen next. And the follower, usually, complies.
However, the lead is very fluid. It can, and frequently does, shift from one partner to the other. When the nominal follower does something other than what the nominal leader indicates, she assumes the lead for a step or two. The nominal leader, if he's good, accepts and flows with the nominal follower, following her lead.
During the course of the dance, you mix and match according to your interpretation of the lead you're given. A useful maxim to keep in mind is: while the follower may not always be right, she's NEVER wrong. That's one of the things that gives the dance is power and grace.
Here's another useful idea for dancing well. Imagine there's a column of energy connecting each partner, heart to heart while dancing. This column acts almost like a coiled spring, accentuating the tension of the frame while simultaneously connecting the partners. If they drift too far apart, the spring pulls them together. If the partners move too close, the spring pushes them back to their proper places. The distance between the dancers' hearts should be roughly 4 to 8 inches.
For the woman, the challenge is to maintain the tension of the dance frame while simultaneously opening herself totally and just surrendering to the music and her partner's lead. For the man, the challenge is to maintain the embrace, entering into the woman's space while giving her just enough room to step into grace and beauty. It's a completely fascinating and intoxicating combination.
Generally, you learn how to be a follower first, before you're ever taught how to lead. One of the keys to being a good follower is simply to be fully present, vibrantly aware and alert. The focus of your attention has to be right here, right now, with no expectations and no worries. It takes a quiet mind and a peaceful soul to be a good follower.
It also takes a tremendous amount of inner strength as well, because it's more than simply submission. To be a good follower you have to willingly and totally surrender to the lead given. You have to allow it to penetrate your consciousness, accept it deeply inside, and then, finally, move into the step lead with abandon. No half measures, no hanging back and no second guessing.
The leader has to lead with confidence and assurance. He has to move with grace and power. And trust as well. The leader must trust his follower will dance with him, move with him, accept and respond to his touch willingly, eagerly and confidently.
For the follower, you need to be fully in your body and completely out of your head. You need to move from your center, while being thoroughly grounded and balanced. You need to be fully connected to your own sensuality, sexuality and passion. You must be willing to welcome your partner's lead, open yourself up, and accept him entering into your space.
While Salon Style Argentine Tango is a completely lead dance, the lead only applies one step at a time. The man provides a lead, the follower takes a step. The man provides another lead, the follower takes another step.
That being said, once the leader indicates a lead, it's up to the follower to step into it confidently, and purposefully. If she wants to be coy for a moment and flirt, that's ok. But once she commits to the step, she needs to step into it with her whole heart, soul and being. Part of being a good follower is only to take the step requested, then stop. At that point, you pause, waiting, open to the moment for the next request.
Then, however the woman chooses to interpret her partner's request, it's up to him to incorporate her response into the flow of the dance. He's dancing with her, not at her, or to her. Each partner acts as an equal co-creator of their conversation without words.
It's up to the leader to keep track of where his follower is, and only request steps that are feasible. It's also up to the leader to make his lead clear. It really detracts from the follower's experience trying to follow a mushy lead. While the leader can if he chooses map out a sequence of steps, he should only lead one at a time.
The leader can, of course, change his mind at anytime during his planned sequence and go from one possible progression to something else entirely. The follower takes one step at time, the step requested, usually. However, the follower has the same freedom as the leader. She can, if she chooses, improvise at any point during the dance and take her partner into an entirely new direction as well.
When that happens, the leader, if he's a good one, adjusts to the response given instead of the one anticipated. That's one of the things that make Salon Style Argentine Tango so challenging. It really forces you to be completely in the moment.
Therefore, the lead can shift from man to woman and back again. The man is primarily the leader, but also has to be willing and able to instantly shift into being a follower at a moments notice. The woman generally is the follower, but she can, at any time, assert a lead.
Because of that, the leader has to be very attentive to his partner and where she is, right here, right now. In return, the leader has the right to expect his follower be completely present and attentive to him while they dance as well. The emotional impact of that kind of total, focused attention is awesome. About the only other place you get that kind of attention is from your lover in bed.
When it works, it's magic. Salon Style Argentine Tango is an art form, an interpretation of passion through movement to music. The movements should be respectful while simultaneously portraying the passion and desire inherent in the dance.
You have to allow yourself to be carried by the music, intimacy, and sensuality of the dance to the very edge of your self control. But, you still have to hold back, just a tiny, tiny bit. Otherwise, the emotional impact would simply blow you away.
It takes a lot of practice to become fluid. Some people just do the most basic steps for years, while continually discovering subtleties in them. Salon Style Argentine Tango is such an incredibly rich dance because lets us reveal our innermost self.
To get anywhere with it, you simply have to let go, surrender to the music and trust your partner. The level of intimacy that develops is incredible. And it happens, BAM! Right here, right now, moving to the flow of the music.
Care to discover the magic that awaits?
You're close enough to feel each others body heat, close enough that your eyes can lock and look deeply into your partner's very soul. Close enough, that if you're not careful, it will ignite a passion you never knew you were capable of experiencing.
Salon Style Argentine Tango is a conversation, one without words. Yet it explores our deepest selves and brings our innermost passions and desires to the fore for all to see. It's not for wimps, nor is it necessarily the flash of stage Tango either. Salon Style Argentine Tango is all about the connection that forms between a man and a woman. To dance it well is to dance from the heart.
To dance Salon Style Argentine Tango well also requires being open to the moment, balanced, poised and able to move in any direction gracefully and easily. Other dances, like Viennese waltzes and polkas for example, have fairly rigid patterns of steps that repeat over and over again. But the Tango, the true Tango from Argentina, doesn't. It is a nearly a completely improvisational dance. The nearest thing to a requirement would be to take one step per beat of the music.
Because it's such a highly improvisational dance, Salon Style Argentine Tango is also a completely lead dance as well. There are certain basic steps to learn, like walking forward, walking back, side steps and pivots, for example. And, there is one set pattern to Salon Style Argentine Tango. It's called "walking to the cross." But once these fundamental steps are learned and mastered, Oh! It's magic!
In order to, briefly, explain "walking to the cross", the idea of tracks must be introduced. In Salon Style Argentine Tango, there are three tracks you can dance on: inside, center, and outside.
When dancing along the inside track, the man's right foot is to the right of the woman's left foot. Dancing the center track, the man's right foot is between his partner's feet. While dancing the outside track means that the man's left foot is to the left of the woman's right foot.
With most walking dance styles, you can dance forever along each of the tracks. Salon Style Argentine Tango is different. You can only dance a couple of steps along the inside track before the follower will cross her left foot in front of her right. She does this in order to resume dancing on the center track. And that's what is known as "walking to the cross."
Before anyone asks what the phrase walking dance style means, it means you walk around the dance floor with your partner. Generally everybody goes in the same direction, which from the man's point of view is counter-clockwise. Else you tend to play bumper cars. This is NOT a good thing. Waltz, polka, fox-trot, and one-step are all dances using walking dance style.
The other major dance style would be stationary. You and your partner stay in the same small area for the duration of the dance. Jitterbug is a stationary dance style, relatively speaking of course.
Salon Style Argentine Tango is actually a sort of a hybrid between being a purely walking style dance and a purely stationary style dance. Because it evolved in very small and crowded dance halls, couples typically could only walk a few steps along line of dance at a time. Then they had to stop and circle around each other because their right of way was blocked by other couples. Once traffic eased, they could resume walking along line of dance.
This is convenient because the tempo of a tango usually slows down then speeds up slightly while it's being played. The ebb and flow of the tempo coupled with the ebb and flow of traffic adds to the dramatic tension of the dance.
While Salon Style Argentine Tango is extremely improvisational, it's also a completely lead dance. There is a leader, usually the man, and a follower, usually the woman. It's up to the leader to indicate what's to happen next. And the follower, usually, complies.
However, the lead is very fluid. It can, and frequently does, shift from one partner to the other. When the nominal follower does something other than what the nominal leader indicates, she assumes the lead for a step or two. The nominal leader, if he's good, accepts and flows with the nominal follower, following her lead.
During the course of the dance, you mix and match according to your interpretation of the lead you're given. A useful maxim to keep in mind is: while the follower may not always be right, she's NEVER wrong. That's one of the things that gives the dance is power and grace.
Here's another useful idea for dancing well. Imagine there's a column of energy connecting each partner, heart to heart while dancing. This column acts almost like a coiled spring, accentuating the tension of the frame while simultaneously connecting the partners. If they drift too far apart, the spring pulls them together. If the partners move too close, the spring pushes them back to their proper places. The distance between the dancers' hearts should be roughly 4 to 8 inches.
For the woman, the challenge is to maintain the tension of the dance frame while simultaneously opening herself totally and just surrendering to the music and her partner's lead. For the man, the challenge is to maintain the embrace, entering into the woman's space while giving her just enough room to step into grace and beauty. It's a completely fascinating and intoxicating combination.
Generally, you learn how to be a follower first, before you're ever taught how to lead. One of the keys to being a good follower is simply to be fully present, vibrantly aware and alert. The focus of your attention has to be right here, right now, with no expectations and no worries. It takes a quiet mind and a peaceful soul to be a good follower.
It also takes a tremendous amount of inner strength as well, because it's more than simply submission. To be a good follower you have to willingly and totally surrender to the lead given. You have to allow it to penetrate your consciousness, accept it deeply inside, and then, finally, move into the step lead with abandon. No half measures, no hanging back and no second guessing.
The leader has to lead with confidence and assurance. He has to move with grace and power. And trust as well. The leader must trust his follower will dance with him, move with him, accept and respond to his touch willingly, eagerly and confidently.
For the follower, you need to be fully in your body and completely out of your head. You need to move from your center, while being thoroughly grounded and balanced. You need to be fully connected to your own sensuality, sexuality and passion. You must be willing to welcome your partner's lead, open yourself up, and accept him entering into your space.
While Salon Style Argentine Tango is a completely lead dance, the lead only applies one step at a time. The man provides a lead, the follower takes a step. The man provides another lead, the follower takes another step.
That being said, once the leader indicates a lead, it's up to the follower to step into it confidently, and purposefully. If she wants to be coy for a moment and flirt, that's ok. But once she commits to the step, she needs to step into it with her whole heart, soul and being. Part of being a good follower is only to take the step requested, then stop. At that point, you pause, waiting, open to the moment for the next request.
Then, however the woman chooses to interpret her partner's request, it's up to him to incorporate her response into the flow of the dance. He's dancing with her, not at her, or to her. Each partner acts as an equal co-creator of their conversation without words.
It's up to the leader to keep track of where his follower is, and only request steps that are feasible. It's also up to the leader to make his lead clear. It really detracts from the follower's experience trying to follow a mushy lead. While the leader can if he chooses map out a sequence of steps, he should only lead one at a time.
The leader can, of course, change his mind at anytime during his planned sequence and go from one possible progression to something else entirely. The follower takes one step at time, the step requested, usually. However, the follower has the same freedom as the leader. She can, if she chooses, improvise at any point during the dance and take her partner into an entirely new direction as well.
When that happens, the leader, if he's a good one, adjusts to the response given instead of the one anticipated. That's one of the things that make Salon Style Argentine Tango so challenging. It really forces you to be completely in the moment.
Therefore, the lead can shift from man to woman and back again. The man is primarily the leader, but also has to be willing and able to instantly shift into being a follower at a moments notice. The woman generally is the follower, but she can, at any time, assert a lead.
Because of that, the leader has to be very attentive to his partner and where she is, right here, right now. In return, the leader has the right to expect his follower be completely present and attentive to him while they dance as well. The emotional impact of that kind of total, focused attention is awesome. About the only other place you get that kind of attention is from your lover in bed.
When it works, it's magic. Salon Style Argentine Tango is an art form, an interpretation of passion through movement to music. The movements should be respectful while simultaneously portraying the passion and desire inherent in the dance.
You have to allow yourself to be carried by the music, intimacy, and sensuality of the dance to the very edge of your self control. But, you still have to hold back, just a tiny, tiny bit. Otherwise, the emotional impact would simply blow you away.
It takes a lot of practice to become fluid. Some people just do the most basic steps for years, while continually discovering subtleties in them. Salon Style Argentine Tango is such an incredibly rich dance because lets us reveal our innermost self.
To get anywhere with it, you simply have to let go, surrender to the music and trust your partner. The level of intimacy that develops is incredible. And it happens, BAM! Right here, right now, moving to the flow of the music.
Care to discover the magic that awaits?
