These articles are listed with newest at the top.
Lounge Tango – Tango Salon
Christine and I have been lucky enough to continue dancing tango during lock-down, albeit in a much smaller space, so I thought I’d write this post relating our experience of ‘lounge tango’ (or tango salon), just to show that with a partner, there is tango life after milonga. What is lounge tango? Well for us … Continue reading “Lounge Tango – Tango Salon”
Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Eight
In the previous post on Musicality in Tango, we looked at the mixed rhythmic/lyrical style of Osvaldo Pugliese. In this post we travel a bit further along the time line to look at Astor Piazolla and his music. If you find early Piazolla from the 1940’s, then his orchestra will mainly be playing music composed … Continue reading “Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Eight”
Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Seven
In the previous post on Musicality in Tango, we looked at the rhythmical style of Juan D’Arienzo, and in this post we look at Osvaldo Pugliese. I finished off the previous post with the perhaps slightly unfair comment that Pugliese chucks in odd extra notes. This is not quite accurate. He was of course a … Continue reading “Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Seven”
Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Six
In the fifth part of this series I looked at a popular tune ‘Motivo Sentimental’ recorded by the Carlos Di Sarli Orchestra in 1944, and the lyrical style of Di Sarli in his hay day. As I promised in Part 5 (a long time ago – thanks for the ‘nudge’ to get part 6 written, … Continue reading “Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Six”
Your body changes? Your tango changes! But not for long
Recently my partner and I went on holiday to Austria, had a great time of course, but as is often the case, we picked up a virus on the way back. My partner had tummy problems the day before we flew back and by the time I was sat in the car at Stansted Airport … Continue reading “Your body changes? Your tango changes! But not for long”
Learning tango in the group dance class environment
On our Frequently Asked Questions page, often we get asked ‘Does it take long to learn Argentine Tango?’ or ‘How long does it take to learn Argentine Tango?’. As stated there, this is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string. It depends on so many different things such as how often … Continue reading “Learning tango in the group dance class environment”
Milongas (social dances)
OK, yes it is confusing using the word ‘milonga’ 🙂 Are we talking about a tune, or a dance style? Well, no we’re talking about a type of social dance for Argentine tango dancers. In fact you can dance a milonga (style) to a milonga (tune) at a milonga (social dance). How did this all … Continue reading “Milongas (social dances)”
Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Five
In the fourth part of this series I looked at a popular tune ‘Mimosa’ recorded by the Francisco Canaro Orchestra in 1929, and proceeded to break down the structure of the tango tune in some detail. I showed how the structure broke down into musical phrases, sections, and other components, and how these components repeated … Continue reading “Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Five”
Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Four
In the third part of this series we looked at the Orchesta Tipica, the instruments and how they express different elements of the music. Now we can look at the structure of a tango tune in more detail. I will look at one popular tune ‘Mimosa’ recorded by the Francisco Canaro Orchestra in 1929, hence … Continue reading “Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Four”
Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Three
In the second part of this series we looked at which elements of a tango tune could be expressed in your dance, and in order to look at those elements in more detail we need to first have a quick look at the orchestra, the instruments and how they express different elements of the music … Continue reading “Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Three”
Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Two
The Argentine Tango music which tends to be played at the majority of social dances is traditional music from the period between the 1930’s to mid 1950’s (often called Golden Age music). While it is possible to dance the tango to more modern music (known as Nuevo from the 1960’s onward, and ‘Alternative’ which is … Continue reading “Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part Two”
Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part One
In this series of articles about the important subject of musicality I will look at elements of music and some basic terminology (this article), followed by articles on Orchestra instruments, the structure of tango music, and then I’ll take a look at some famous Tango Orchestras and tunes and how the arrangers changed a tune … Continue reading “Musicality in Tango Dancing – Part One”
Can you Learn Tango from Videos?
As a tango teacher I occasionally come across people who are trying out ‘a move’ they’ve seen on {insert your favourite internet video service here}, or they ask me to teach them ‘that move where I do this and she does that. It’s on {insert your favourite internet… you get the idea}’. Hmm… well for … Continue reading “Can you Learn Tango from Videos?”
How long does it take to learn tango?
Recently one of my new students asked this very reasonable question. However the answer is not easy to state. It’s a bit like asking how long is a piece of string. Even if you put some ‘way points’ in the question such as ‘how long does it take to become average/good/excellent…’ you are still left … Continue reading “How long does it take to learn tango?”
The Anatomy of the Tango Embrace
El Abrazo – The Embrace. Even the name conjures up nice, warm, comfortable feelings 🙂 It is an important aspect of Argentine tango. It is the channel through which a leader communicates intent, silently, with their partner. Many tango teachers and dancers will talk about ‘connection’. Sometimes they refer to the physical connection, and sometimes … Continue reading “The Anatomy of the Tango Embrace”
To Cabeceo or not to Cabeceo…
In the world of Argentine tango, there are some milongas whose rules of engagement prohibit any form of asking a person to dance, unless it is done by ‘cabeceo’. The whole idea of cabeceo (‘the pitch’ or leaders invitation) and ‘mirada’ (‘the look’ or followers response) is that a leader can ‘ask’ a follower to … Continue reading “To Cabeceo or not to Cabeceo…”
When worlds (and tango dancers) collide
There you are, whizzing down the motorway and you come across a car in the outside lane doing 67 miles per hour, no more , no less. Traffic is building up behind, but the driver just does not move over. Then people start overtaking on the inside lanes, making the situation dangerous. Or you’re passing … Continue reading “When worlds (and tango dancers) collide”
How to Make the Best use of Practicas
If you want to improve your tango dancing, you have to practice, of course. Many people go to practicas and just dance, and that’s OK as far as it goes, but sometimes they just dance the way they always dance, without really thinking about what needs improving. It may be more useful if you practice … Continue reading “How to Make the Best use of Practicas”
How to dance more musically
Musicality in your dance is 50% of the work. Knowing figures and decorations is one thing, but applying them to a given tango tune in a musical fashion which enhances not only the external look of the dance to your audience, but also enhances your own enjoyment of the dance, is another important factor. So … Continue reading “How to dance more musically”
Executing Stylish and Sharp Boleos
This lovely lady shows how to do stylish boleos. I’m not sure about trying to kick yourself in the bottom (you need a lot of flexibility for that – I’ve tried 🙂 ), but the position of the knees is important, making sure the free leg knee does not get in front of the standing … Continue reading “Executing Stylish and Sharp Boleos”
So this thing called leading…
So this thing called ‘leading’ – it’s entirely up to the tango leader to get the follower to go where he wants when he wants, right? The leader is in charge, yes? There is also this other thing called ‘following’ where the tango follower only has to wait to be pushed around, to be given … Continue reading “So this thing called leading…”
Tango Around the World
I’ve been tangoing in a few places in Buenos Aires and around the UK, but not too many other places around the world (yet), so I put this page together so people can add their own suggestions of good tango milongas to visit while abroad. Let us know why you like the places you list, … Continue reading “Tango Around the World”
“It’s not just a dance…It’s Tango.”
Yes, there is some choreography, there is technique, but much more than that, there is the pleasure which comes from sharing with a kindred spirit something beautiful and unique, but which lasts for only a few moments in time. If you’ve been dancing tango for some time you’ll recognise what I’m saying. If you’re new … Continue reading ““It’s not just a dance…It’s Tango.””