Tango Show

As many of you know, I am a ballroom dancer and have danced with the BYU ballroom team for many years now. Tango is my absolute favorite dance and it has always been a dream for me to see an Argentine tango concert. Not only did I get to do that this week, but I am experiencing the Argentine tango more than I ever imagined I would!

For my birthday, the Lindahls offered to pay for me to have private tango dance lessons! A ward member here gave me a recommendation of someone who she says is the absolute best tango dancer in all of Mendoza. In arranging lessons with him, he invited me to come see him and his partner perform at a local outdoor show so I could get an idea of what it was all about.

I went with the Lindahls and my friend Sofia. The show was part of an outdoor art festival which included vendors with their portable tents, LOTS of food and various performances of singers and, of course, the tango dancers.

We got there just in time to see my teacher and his partner perform with one other couple. It was beautiful! It was "espectacular" as they say here. I just kept thinking - I am IN Argentina, watching THE ARGENTINE tango. Classic.

But it got better. After their performance, students from the studio danced, my teacher danced again and THEN they took people from the audience! My soon-to-be-teacher saw that I had come and took me out to the dance floor in front of everyone. Now, I may be a ballroom dancer but I had no clue how to dance the Argentine tango. I had no idea what I was doing but pretended like I did. NOW in my head head I was thinking "I am IN Argentina, DANCING the Argentine Tango with a handsome Argentine Man. What a dream!

After my experience, I couldn't wait to learn. My teacher is Iban Martinez. He is a professional dancer himself and has a studio where he teaches lessons. Because I am only here for a short time I opted to have private lessons rather than join a group. He comes to our apartment building where the first floor has a room with a nice wooden floor. We do two hours, twice a week and I come out of every lesson beaming! I didn't realize how much I have missed dancing! Being the novice and dancing with a professional, I feel like I am on dancing with the stars or something!

As many of you know, I dance ballroom which includes the tango. Many have asked me why I would be taking lessons. Didn't you learn that at BYU? Argentine tango is very different from international ballroom tango. My teacher reminds me that every lesson as he tries to break some of my habits! Here are somethings that I have learned about Argentine tango from my one week:

For one, the dance position is distinct in both the shape and the feel. While ballroom requires that the dancers upper bodies stretch away from each other and maintain connection at the hip, Argentine tango moves the upper body inward, in an embrace often times with the heads touching or near each other. Most of the leads come from the connection through the arms rather than through the body. Most importantly, whether open of close, an Argentine tango embrace is never rigid or stiff, but relaxed.

The show that I saw was choreographed and practiced previously and specifically for the stage. Therefore, their moves were a bit more dramatic than what I am learning in my class! They had lifts and hits that went with the music.
Although performers will often do a routine, tango is innately a social dance requiring leading and following. Communication is very important between the partners. There is only one basic step and all other steps are variations of that movement. Wikipedia (yes, I consulted Wikipedia)described it well: "Argentine tango is not a set step, but is a completely improvised dance combining various steps in a spontaneous manner, as determined by the lead"

One of the hardest habits for me to break is that there are no set rhythms or timing in Argentine tango. In ballroom we count "slow, slow, quick, quick" etc. but for the Argentines, the music entirely dictates your movements. Tangos are generally written in 2/4 time but the speed and the intensity vary within one song so much that each step is entirely determined by the leader. One moment we are stepping slowly and softly and the next minute we are briskly turning and sharply sweeping the entire dance floor.


I am learning so much and really loving this new form of dance. My teacher says that on my last day we will have to dress up and film it. If that is the case I will post it for sure!