Surviving Tango -A Beginner’s Guide to Tango
There are two worlds in Tango – that of the stage, the world of the professional dancer, and that of the local or community dance, or milonga, the world of the enthusiast or dedicated amateur. Argentine Tango is the more humble of the two and is the commonly practiced world of the local milonga, populated by enthusiastic amateurs.
It is the Argentinian Tango that is danced around the world today by non-professionals, and the Tango that has been danced for a century or more in Buenos Aires and its environs. There is no audience sitting in rapt attention, no rehearsal (other than a great deal of practice), no choreography, and no applause.
The dance floor is often crowded, sometimes chaotic, and difficult to navigate. We dance for ourselves and for our partner.
So, you have just started Tango. You’ve had a few lessons and managed to get around the dance floor without too many crashes. Well done!
But now you have started to realise that there is so much more to this dance. There’s the steps, the etiquette, the language, the music, the social events, the practicas. The leader must know how to improvise Tango with his or her partner based on the steps he/she has learnt and do it in a way which is musical and looks and feels like dancing. The follower needs to understand the dance signals and follow what is lead. Sounds really easy! Not!
Milongas and Practicas
In Canberra you can attend Practicas on Wednesday and Saturday. There are also regular Guided Practicas on Saturdays. Milongas are typically Friday(Weekly) or Saturday (monthly)
Practicas – is an event that enables you to practice Tango. You might want to dance with different people, talk over a particular move with somebody, break down some ideas step by step until you can do it or you may want to share a new move, have a go at doing something new yourself. All these are quite acceptable at a Practica and you can also utilise the dance floor in an informal way.
Milongas – These are more social occasions where people are out to dance, mix with others, chat, drink, eat, dance and follow the etiquette of the milonga which involves dancing in a large circle called a Rhonda. Most people do not go to milongas to learn new steps or be asked to teach. And it's certainly not a good idea to stop dancing mid song at a milonga and stand in the line of dance whilst discussing a step.
Close or Open Embrace?
Unless you know your partner really well and have already established how close your dancing embrace should be then a good starting point is to start in open embrace. Of course you can always simply ask them what they prefer to avoid any embarrassment or confusion. But if you feel your partner pushing away from you - don't pull them to you harder!!! Ease off and try and find a comfy distance for both of you.
Don't get offended if someone doesn't want to dance close embrace with you.Some people prefer open, some prefer close. lt's a great idea to learn to dance Tango in an open and close embrace to improve the flexibility of your Tango.
Chatting and Dancing
So you've never met this person before and they ask you to dance. Do you start a polite conversation or just get on with the Tango? Generally people do not talk while dancing. Much more so at a milonga and much less so at a practica. Chatting in between songs when you are not dancing is OK – just don't Iinger too long holding up the rhonda at a milonga.
So what's the Rhonda?
lf you look at people dancing Tango you will notice that in general everyone is moving in an anti-clockwise direction around the floor. This is called the Rhonda or, if you are familiar with ballroom dancing, the line of dance. The Rhonda is a cooperative exercise between all the men on the floor to provide a safe, comfortable place to dance. This minimises crashes by getting everyone to dance in the same direction.
It is good practice to not hold up the Rhonda by stopping and doing a suite of moves on the spot. If you feel compelled to do a move that stays still, move towards the centre of the Rhonda and do it there.
More experienced dancers tend to stick to the outside lane as they can overtake easily and are able to maintain a continuous movement. This also means they can easily avoid less experienced dancers who can take their time on the inside lane.
While it is the responsibility of every dancer to avoid crashes, beginners can take heart in knowing that experienced dancers will try and steer clear of you to make your Tango experience easier.
The Tanda Factor
A tanda is generally a set of 4-Tangos (or vals or milongas) one after the other similar in feel, rhythm or style that are played at a milonga or sometimes practica. You normally have a tanda of dances followed by a brief break in the Tango music then another tanda. A brief snippet of 'non-Tango' music may be played to separate tandas, this break between tandas is called the “Cortina” (or Curtain)
Being about 4 songs each tanda allows dancers the first 1 or 2 songs to get to know each other's mood, dancing capability and response to the music style. lt can be helpful not to pull out your most complex moves in the first song but rather your simplest to see how you dance with your new partner. The later songs in the tanda will hopefully be more connected as you become more and more familiar with the style of music and your partner.
Saying Thank You
You'd think saying "thank you" at the end of a dance is a good thing. And for some of us it is indeed very hard not to say thank you at the end of a dance as it seems like the polite thing to do. Just be aware that some people take a simple "thank you" at the conclusion of a dance to mean "thank you for the dance and l'll be leaving now".
lf you do want to thank your partner for the dance and stick around for another make sure that it is clear by either saying so or not showing any sign of making a runner with your body language. Oh the subtleties of it all!
Ochos, Sables and Ganchos
Heard a whacky word relating to Tango dancing you don't understand? Well, you'll no doubt hear heaps more! Unless you have mastered Spanish the definition of some words relating to Tango dancing will be confusing, but us tangueros (Tango dancers) use them all the time when learning and talking about Tango.
Inviting Someone to Dance Using the Cabeceo
It is common practice at Milongas to avoid verbally asking someone to dance and instead invite them with direct eye contact called a Cabeceo. You too can have a go by simply trying to catch someone's eyes across the dance floor - if you lock eyes for long enough they might just get up to meet you half way across the dance floor where you can embrace and start dancing - very Tango!
For those of us who are less in tune with such intricacies it is acceptable in Canberra to walk up to them and ask them for a dance.
Followers Asking Leaders?
Yes please! Followers are encouraged to ask Leaders to dance and vice versa - there's no etiquette here! Everyone gets shy occasionally so help out by asking people to dance as well as accepting dance requests regardless of your place in the dance.
A Final Word
Most importantly, enjoy your Tango. Embrace it and your partner and dance often. Try not to get worried about all the other things to think about. Practice whenever you can and consider adopting the Tango Social Club of Canberra's motto - 'More Tango, more often'.
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