Revealing Her Beauty in Tango

The fact that more women dance tango than men may have something to do with its unique way of highlighting feminine beauty. It's no coincidence that many women who dance tango have elegant figures—after all, tango is renowned for its fitness benefits. But more than that, it offers women an opportunity to express and showcase their grace. The way women receive the lead through their chest naturally encourages a tall, upright posture, while their refined aesthetic sensibility enhances the visual beauty of the dance itself.

In tango, women dance around men, which requires them to rotate their hips while maintaining torso contact with men. This creates a twisted body posture (TBP) that highlights the suppleness of their bodies. TBP is distinct from contra body movement (CBM) in that CBM is turning the right side of the body towards a left moving leg or turning the left side of the body towards a right moving leg, which are heavily involved in ballroom dancing. In tango, however, the woman must also dissociate her upper and lower body—turning her upper body while keeping her lower body still, and vice versa, or combine dissociation with CBM by turning her upper body in one direction while swiveling her lower body in the opposite direction, which projects even more the flexibility of the female form.

TBP occurs in the following scenarios:

She keeps her torso aligned with her partner’s while swiveling her hips to the left and stepping forward to his right with her right leg.

She keeps her torso aligned while swiveling her hips to the right and stepping forward to his left with her left leg.

She keeps her torso aligned while swiveling her hips to the right and stepping backward to his right with her right leg.

She keeps her torso aligned while swiveling her hips to the left and stepping backward to his left with her left leg.

These twisted postures appear in many tango movements: front and back ochos, ocho cortado, walking on the partner’s side, molinete, rock turn, zigzag, enrosque, planeo, boleo, gancho, back sacada, and more. TBP is a fundamental reason why tango so vividly expresses feminine beauty.

This offers a clue on how to enhance her presence on the dance floor. For instance, we can emphasize the grace and pliancy of her body by incorporating steps that involve TBP and hip rotation. These might include making her step to our right and left, frequenting changes of direction, alternating between front and back ochos, employing zigzags to make her rotate her hips continuously, increasing turns, amplifying the twist in ochos by stepping more to the side, having her move forward with the back ocho or move backward with the front ocho, combining different movements to increase the variety of her pose, suspending her TBP with slow motion or pause to highlight her curves.

It’s important to remember that women’s bodies are much more flexible than ours, capable of extraordinary movement when led correctly. But this flexibility must be handled with care. Tenderness, comfort, and soulfulness are just as important. In fact, feminine beauty often reveals itself more in small, delicate movements than in large, dramatic ones. Some cultures have long embraced this idea: in ancient China, for instance, women’s feet were bound to produce tiny, graceful steps. Similarly, high heels subtly restrict stride length, adding femininity. In this sense, beauty is not bound to the size of the step—it shines equally, if not more, in refined, understated motion. This is why milonga, with its smaller steps and quicker rhythm, can be especially effective in showcasing feminine charm.

Tango, therefore, isn’t about endlessly stringing together big ochos and sweeping turns, as is sometimes misunderstood in American tango. Instead, it’s about a dynamic interplay with large and small steps, sharp and soft transitions, fluid motion and suspended pauses, bold expressions and quiet gestures, to allow dancers to express the music and deep emotions. The number one reason women love tango, I believe, is their sentimental nature. Tango is a soulful dance, and women, being more attuned to subtle feeling, often connect more deeply with its intimate nuances. Tango allows them to express what words cannot. Feminine beauty, therefore, lies more in a woman’s psyche than in her appearance. Relaxing her, helping her resonate with the music, stirring her emotions, encouraging her to let go, and bringing out her inner beauty are the leader’s most challenging and rewarding tasks (see The Conceptual Beauty of Tango).