From Steps to Feelings

How tango is danced in Buenos Aires
Many Europeans and Americans dance tango differently than Argentines. For years I tried to find a video to show how tango is danced in Argentina in order to change people's perception. But I couldn't find a satisfying one because tango videos are mostly shot by people interested only in their own version of tango. The few that do reflect the truth are poorly made, often filled with irritating details. Perhaps even in Buenos Aires most milongas fail to meet the standard because foreigners are always heavily involved, making it difficult to capture a truly porteño milonga. Only recently did I come across this video made by Paul Holman, which I find represents a milonga that I like to call home.

I like this video not only for its clarity, lighting, color, and cinematography but also for the producer's unique perspective. Paul Holman understood that tango is a dance of intimacy, connection, and surrender; that steps and footwork are secondary; that milonga codes play a crucial role; and that he should focus on the essentials, avoiding misleading trifles to let viewers experience a truly great milonga. I’ve been watching this video often, simply to enjoy that soulful scene and remind myself of how one should behave and dance in the milongas.

How tango is danced in Europe and North America
In Europe and North America, people have a quite different perception. Here is an example of how they dance tango in their milongas.

They dance tango not to enjoy the music, feeling, and intimacy with another person, but to display or practice steps. I believe most of these people knew that tango is an intimate dance, and they came because they wanted to taste that apple. Yet, for some hypocritical reasons, they used an open dance hold to replace the embrace, distanced themselves from each other, and focused solely on the steps rather than the music, partner, and feelings.

To be fair, this is not the worst case. One can tell it’s a growing tango community. A number of dancers danced in the milonguero style and were fair to good dancers. But most of them were still beginners who didn’t know how to embrace and dance. They relied on their arms and hands to lead and follow. Many were practicing what they had recently learned. Most were emotionally detached, and only a few actually danced to the music. The milonga codes were poorly followed, exemplified by verbal invitations, wearing ornaments that rubbed against their partner's chest, blocking traffic, remaining on the floor during the cortina, loud background noise, and excessive talking. The music, while traditional, was not particularly engaging. The overall scene was quite chaotic. Toward the end, there were a few better dances, but overall, I don’t think this milonga was very attractive or satisfying. Unfortunately, this is still a typical tango scene in Europe and North America.

Another common Euro-American tango scene
Common among our young people is another kind of tango scene showing below.

Young people seem to need to discharge their youthful energy and prove their ability to do things in unconventional ways. Using an open dance hold rather than an embrace, they can perform fancy steps and showy figures. Some have even attained a certain degree of skillfulness in what they do. Nevertheless, there is no fundamental difference between this kind of tango and other sports dances. Personally, I don't see how this way of dancing tango can be considered enjoyable, compared to the feeling-oriented milonguero style. I wish there were better reasons why some people insist on doing this when there is clearly a better way, except they want to show off, have obstacles, or don't know better. As far as comfort, soulfulness, indulgence, and gratification are concerned, there is truly no comparison between the two styles.

It may be characteristic of young people to act rebelliously, but being obsessed with stereotypes or wanting to prove they are different from older generations is both childish and naïve. Older people were once young and rebellious too. In fact, many milongueros can perform Nuevo steps better than young dancers today. They quit doing so because they became wiser after tried everything that young people with their limited experience cannot even imagine. Most young people learn tango from their peers, who, in turn, learned from their own peers, and so they simply don’t know another way to dance tango. Once they have experienced the milongueros’ approach, most will renounce theirs and follow suit.

This is how milongueros emerge
Three decades of trial and error since 1983 eventually lead some tango dancers in Europe and North America to move away from exhibitionism and pay more attention to the embrace, music and feelings. As a result, scenes like this start to appear in Europe and North America in recent years.

Their embrace and connection become closer and more intimate. Their dance becomes more feeling-oriented. Their steps become simpler, more musical, and more elegant. Their milonga becomes better organized. Antisocial behaviors are less seen. While showy footwork still appears, the embrace still breaks at times, hand use still remains habitual for some, music selections are still more dramatic than entimental, hastiness is still common, dresses are still too casual, and skill levels are uneven—progress is nevertheless evident compared to the previous two scenes. Such transformation certainly could not come without pain, given the strong Western traditions of liberalism, individualism, feminism, and the hippie movement. However, the dancers in this example have demonstrated that change is possible. It reassures us that there is still a lot of hope in tango, in humanity, and in our capacity to adapt.

How social tango should be danced
It is worth your time to watch Holman's video again and compare it to our own tango. The following is an edited version. This time please pay attention to how the milongueros and milongueras follow the milonga codes from seating, making eye contact, doing cabeceo, dancing to sending the woman back to her seat. If you wonder what kind of steps they use to make their dance so coherent and concordant, you can watch those dancing in the background. But nothing fancy really. Their tango is not about steps.

As you can see, they focus entirely on the music and feelings, as if steps are irrelevant. For them, dancing tango is about enjoying sentiment and intimacy, not performing gymnastics. They dance with complete relaxation, an unhurried pace, subtle movements, and tasteful suspensions. Their steps are small and simple, devoid of any flaunt, and are used solely to remain synchronized with their partner in the dance. The beauty of their tango lies in the unity of the partnership rather than the performance of the individual. In their tango, nothing is ornate, yet everything is exquisite and elegant. Even their music selections are more sentimental and intriguing than ours, perfectly complementing the mood of their dance.

Pay special attention to the woman. Her ability to remain cohesive with the man is remarkable. She leans comfortably against him, her chest intimately pressed to his, and her arm hooked around his shoulder. Her eyes are dreamily closed, allowing her to focus inwardly on the feelings stirred by the music and the subtle whispers of his body. Her inconspicuous footwork magically keeps her body moving in harmony with his, no matter how he turns.

To tango is to indulge yourself, not to impress others. On a crowded dance floor, who cares about your footwork anyway? The only thing that matters is the intimate feelings you experience. This is why performance tango doesn’t make sense in the milongas. I hope Holman’s video inspires more people to embrace the milonguero style of tango and accelerates the transformation of tango from a step-oriented dance to a feeling-oriented one.

P.S.
I received several comments on my video selections and now have a better understanding of why political correctness has become a necessity in our society. Please note that the video clips I selected are used solely to illustrate a phenomenon. They are neither intended to represent nor capable of capturing the full picture of any community or event.

Women's Walk in Tango

The tango walk is performed in a close embrace by two dancers in a chest-to-chest posture. The man walks forward while the woman steps backward, and they must maintain matching alignment, CBM (Contra Body Movement), dissociation, timing, and pace, achieving perfect coordination, balance, elegance, and harmony. Many students struggle to walk properly because they lack the required stability, flexibility, and technique. Their posture and habits fall short of tango standards. Additionally, their legs and feet are not strong enough to sustain balance, and their individual practices conflict with one another, leading to instability and disharmony in their walk.

There are more exercises designed for women than men in tango, just as there are more fashions, shoes, jewelry and cosmetics designed for women than men. This is not surprising given the significance of beauty to women and the fact that, while men lead women, it's women who beautify the dance. How women walk, therefore, matters more than how men walk in tango. (See The Gender Roles in Tango.)

Muscle Development
In order to walk well, you first need to develop muscles that enable your feet to suck the floor and stay very grounded in the walk. Dancing a lot certainly helps. Supplementary exercises can also be beneficial. One exercise that I found particularly helpful is demonstrated by Vanessa Gauch in the following video.

When done in slow motion, this exercise can effectively build foot muscles and improve stability and elegance in women's walk. The exercise can be summed up in six steps to help you memorize the sequence: (1) Stand on one leg, stretching the other leg forward. (2) Transfer weight forward to rest on the heel of the front foot and the toes of the back foot. (3) Shift weight back and forth a few times in this position. (4) Transfer weight fully onto the front leg. (5) Start the next step by swiveling the hips to move the leg - which gives women's walk a feminine grace. (6) Repeat the sequence with the opposite leg.

Walk Backwards
In tango, women mostly walk backward, which is a challenge since that is not how they normally walk. To learn to walk backward, you almost need to start from toddle. The following video, demonstrated also by Vanessa Gauch, can help you understand how it should be done.

Walk in Leaning Position
It is important to note that the embrace significantly affects the walk. Walking in an A-shaped frame is very different from walking in an H-shaped frame. A woman using an open dance hold cannot stretch her leg back far enough because, without leaning on her partner, it is difficult to maintain balance on one leg while the other leg extends as far back as possible. Here is an example.

The two teachers are competent dancers, I believe, but the H-shaped frame hindered their performance. In contrast, walking in a close embrace, or an A-shaped frame, is much more stable, balanced, and elegant, as demonstrated by Jennifer Bratt and Ney Melo in the following video.

Note that Jennifer leans on Ney with an increased incline. She slightly bends her standing leg and incorporates a bit of dissociation—tilting her hips upward and downward to allow the free leg to extend further back. Additionally, when her hips turn, she uses the thumb of her foot, rather than the ball, to make contact with the floor. It is also worth noting that her leg is swayed slightly sideways by her hip, in contrast to the forward walk, where the leg is swayed by the hip toward the center, as demonstrated by Vanessa Gauch in the first video. All these elements contribute a feminine touch to her walk.

Hip Sway
Experienced tangueras use the hip, rather than the thigh, to initiate leg movement. Here is a good example danced by Mariana Montes and Sebastian Arce.

While their style is too exhibitionist to suit the milonga, in my humble opinion, the opening walk (0:15 - 0:28) is absolutely gorgeous, appropriate in social dancing, and worth watching again and again. The walk is done in close embrace that enables Mariana to outstretch her leg far. Her beautiful hip sway, with a subtle dissociation and very straight leg line, contributes to the unequivocal beauty and elegance of her walk. Note that her leg is also swayed slightly sideways as a result of using the hip to move the leg.

Maintaining Balance and Lightness
As comfortable as it is to lean on your partner, it is essential to stay light and avoid placing too much weight on him. To achieve this, you need to maintain your own balance by slightly bending your standing leg when stretching your free leg back, as explained by Vanessa and demonstrated by Jennifer and Mariana. This ensures that most of your weight is supported by your standing leg rather than your partner. Additionally, this technique allows you to extend your free leg farther. Personally, I found that when a woman leans lightly with her chest rather than heavily with her stomach on me, she becomes lighter.

Pushing with the Standing Leg
You stretch your free leg back until the thumb of your foot makes contact with the floor. At that point, you should not simply wait for your partner to push you. Instead, activate yourself by pushing off with your standing leg. Failing to do so is one reason why some women feel heavy in the walk. However, be careful not to push so hard that you lose torso contact with your partner. Apply just enough force to make yourself feel light while maintaining your leaning position and, consequently, the connection with him.

Walking with Straight Knees
Walking with bent knees is a common issue among beginners. While your standing leg needs to bend slightly to allow your free leg to stretch back fully, the free leg should remain straight until the weight transfer to it is complete. You should avoid using the thigh to move the leg, as this can cause the knee to bend. Instead, move the leg from the hip and keep it straight as you transfer weight to it. Walking with straight legs enhances the elegance of the movement.

Alignment
When walking backward in the parallel system, the free leg should move in line with the hip rather than crossing over the standing leg, as crossing can create a distorted line. Even in the cross system, excessive crossing can lead to a winding path. Instead, you should swivel your hips slightly and move your leg in line with the hip. The hip rotation should be minimal since you are simply walking backward along the line of dance in the cross system, not performing a back ocho. Overturning the hips can disrupt stability.

Synchronization
Tango walking is a synchronized movement. The two partners walk not as independent individuals but as one cohesive unit. Their legs should start, move, and arrive together with exactly the same timing and pace. The woman must closely mirror the man's movements and avoid landing her foot too early, before he completes his step. A common issue is that she walks on her own and lands her foot on the floor before he lands his foot, causing him to step on her toes. The correct way is holding her free leg outstretched in the air to allow him to push her, along with the push of her own standing leg, so that their active legs land on the floor at the same time and with the same pace.

Improving Your walk Is the Key to Improve Your Dance
One's walk defines one's tango. The following video, dedicated to Andrea Misse, a brilliant tango dancer died too young in a car accident in 2012, is a good example. Please pay attention to Andrea's walk and see how it relates to her dance. Walking is not only a significant part of tango but also the foundation of the dance because other tango steps are but variations of the walk. For a woman, elegant walk is a guaranteed eye catcher and proof of her ability. By learning to walk elegantly, your tango can be improved in more ways than you can imagine. (See Walk.)