Learning Tango: Two Perspectives

The following behaviors are common among beginners: (1) They are eager to learn steps but overlook basic skills. (2) They imitate movements but ignore technical details. (3) They focus on themselves but neglect their partner. (4) They lean back to avoid intimate physical contact. (5) They lead and follow with arms and hands. (6) They grasp hold of the partner to help themselves with the movements. (7) They don’t listen to and follow music carefully (see Imitating Steps vs. Developing Skills).

These are all due to one reason: they regard tango only as steps. To them, learning tango is learning steps, and they think if they can do steps, they can dance tango. This step-centered perspective causes them to neglect many other aspects of the dance.

It is important to understand that what we dance in tango is not the steps but the music and the feelings that music inspiresis. Tango is a feeling that is danced and that feeling comes from music. Steps are but the tools used to express the music and feelings. Of all the elements that made tango, music and the feelings stirred by the music are the most important two, without which there is no tango, only gymnastics (see Tango Is a Feeling).

You need to know steps to dance tango, of course. But just knowing steps doesn’t mean that you can do them musically and coherently with a partner. Tango is team work, in which the man uses his body to effect the movement of the woman. The woman must follow the lead of the man's body and not just focus on doing her own moves. Focusing on the steps can cause her to dance according to what she thinks the steps should be and ignore the lead. That's why dancing with a beginner often feels awkward and uncomfortable. The man leads according to music. When music is sharp, his lead is sharp. When music turns to tenderness, his lead becomes softer. Therefore, the same step must be danced differently according to the music. Instead of fosucing on doing her steps, the woman should focus on following the lead and expressing the music.

Different leads carry different messages. For example, when the man’s right chest becomes pushing and his left chest becomes pulling, that indicates he wants you to swivel your hips to his right, and when his left chest becomes pushing and his right chest becomes pulling, that indicates he wants you to swivel your hips to his left. Often, the lead emitted from his chest is so subtle that it cannot be seen but only felt. Tango is a sophisticated body language. Learning tango is not primarily learning steps but learning that body language, learning to conceive, respond to, communicate with and be one with your partner's body with your body (see Tango Is a Language (I)).

This perspective requires the dancer to change focus from steps to the body, embrace, connection, communication, music, and the emotions stirred by the music, to use your body to feel, to share with the partner what you feel, to exchange feelings through direct physical interaction, to move your body in harmony with the movement of the partner's body, and to please the partner with your body. Tango is not any ordinary dance. It is intimate interplays between two dancers. Instead of focusing on emulating steps, let dancing with you be a treat for your partner be the purpose and focus of your learning and dancing tango.

The transformation from a step-oriented, self-centered and single-focused beginner to a feeling-oriented, partner-centered and multitasking team player is a long process. Beginners will not fully understand the essence of tango until they have accumulated enough knowledge, skills and experiences. But the right perspective from the outset can head you in the right direction and shorten the process to become an adequate tango dancer (see The Four Stages of the Tango Journey).