Imitating Steps vs. Developing Skills

Many beginners believe that mastering steps is the key to dancing tango. As a result, they focus solely on imitating movements, memorizing one move after another without paying attention to technical details. They assume that by doing so, they will learn faster and start dancing sooner.

What they fail to realize is that becoming a skilled tango dancer is not about the number of steps one knows but rather the mastery of the fundamental skills that underpin those steps. These essential skills include musicality, embrace, posture, connection, flexibility, lightness, balance, stability, dissociation at the hips, pivot, cadencia, the ability to use the torso to lead/follow, switch between parallel system and cross system, the ability to return to the home position in a timely manner, walk, salida, resolution, cross, ocho, molinete, rock, traspie, synchronization, slow motion, and the gear effect. These are the building blocks of all tango movements. A dancer with a solid grasp of these fundamentals can create beauty with just a few simple steps. In contrast, those who neglect these skills often appear awkward and disconnected in dancing, even though they may know many fancy figures.

The primary purpose of teaching steps in tango is not simply to learn the steps themselves but to develop the underlying skills. For instance, when a teacher instructs students to use dissociation in an ocho, it is because dissociation is a fundamental technique—essential not just for ochos but for many other movements in tango. However, students often miss this point. They imitate the figure superficially by merely crossing one leg in front of the other without rotating their hips. Instead of putting in the effort to develop the underlying skill, they take shortcuts to achieve quick results. Consequently, while they may have memorized many steps, their fundamental skills remain underdeveloped.

Another reason for teaching steps is to help students unlearn bad habits: bending forward, leaning back, bowing the head, keeping the knees perpetually bent, breaking the embrace, leading with arms and hands, or gripping their partner to execute movements. Until they replace these habits with correct posture, alignment, and technique, their dancing will not truly reflect the unique beauty and essence of tango. Unfortunately, many students remain fixated on copying steps without addressing these issues. As a result, even after learning numerous figures, their dancing still lacks polish and coherence.

The desire for rapid progress can often be a dancer’s greatest obstacle. Students must understand that the quality of their dance is not determined by how many steps they know but by the strength of their foundational skills and habits. Rather than rushing to collect more steps, they should focus on building a solid base, ensuring that each movement reinforces their overall technique. By progressing systematically—practicing basic skills diligently, refining technical details, committing to drills, and internalizing good habits—they will achieve twice the results with half the effort. This is the only true path to becoming a confident tango dancer.