General

Argentine Tango consists of a variety of styles that developed in different regions and eras, and in response to the crowding of the venue and even the fashions in clothing. Even though they all developed in Argentina and Uruguay, they were also exposed to influences reimported from Europe and North America. Consequently there is a good deal of confusion and overlap between the styles as they are now danced - and fusions continue to evolve.

Most of the Argentine Tango styles are danced in either open embrace, where lead and follow connect at arms length, and close embrace, where the lead and follow connect chest-to-chest. Close embrace is often associated with the more traditional styles, while open embrace leaves room for many of the embellishments and figures that are associated with Tango Nuevo.

Tango is essentially walking with a partner and the music. Musicality (i.e. dancing appropriately to the emotion and speed of a tango) is an extremely important element of Argentine Tango. Also, dancers generally keep their feet close to the floor as they walk, the ankles and knees brushing as one leg passes the other.

Argentine Tango relies heavily on improvisation; Although certain patterns of movement have been codified by instructors over the years as a device to instruct dancers, there is no "basic step." One of the only constants across all Argentine Tango styles, is that the follow will usually be led to move one foot after the other. Another is that the follow's weight is usually on one foot or the other.

Argentine Tango is danced counterclockwise around the outside of the dance floor (the so-called "line of dance"); dance "traffic" often segregates into 1-3 "lanes", while cutting across the middle of the floor is frowned upon. In general, the middle of the floor is where you find either beginners who lack floor navigation skills or people who are performing figures or patterns that take up more dance floor space.. It is acceptable to stop briefly in the line of dance to perform stationary figures, as long as the other dancers are not unduly impeded. (There is a saying about this: "If you look down the line of dance and there is space for you -- you are probably keeping everyone else waiting behind you.") Dancers are expected to respect the other couples on the floor; colliding or even crowding another couple, or stepping on others' feet is to be strenuously avoided. It is considered rude, as, in addition to potential physical harm, it can be disruptive to musicality.

Differences from Ballroom Tango

Competitive vs Social Dance

Ballroom tango steps were standardized by dance studios in order to facilitate easy of judging in competions. The steps have been relatively fixed in style for decades.

However, Argentine tango is a constantly evolving dance and musical form, with continual changes occuring every day on the social dance floor in Argentina and in major tango centers elsewhere in the world.

Argentine Tango is still based heavily on improvisation. While there are patterns or sequences of steps that are used by instructors to teach the dance, even in a sequence every movement is led not only in direction but also speed and quality (a step can be smooth, pulsing, sharp, ... etc.).

The frame

A striking difference between Argentine tango and ballroom tango is in the shape and feel of the embrace. In ballroom tango, follower technique dictates that she "shyly" hold her upper body away from the leader as they dance, which often results in hip and/or upper thigh contact between the lead and follow. This leads to a V-shaped configuration. In Argentine Tango close embrace, it is close to the opposite; if anything, the follower connects with her leader through her sternum (the contact point differing, depending on the height of the leader).

Even in open embrace styles of Argentine Tango the follower is not holding her upper body away from the leader; each person typically holds their weight over their own axis as they move together.

Crossed system

Another interesting difference is that the leader may freely step with his left foot when the follower steps with her left foot. In English, this is sometimes referred to as a "crossed" or "uneven" walk or a "crossed system." In ballroom tango this is considered incorrect (unless the leader and follower are facing the same direction).

The music

Argentine tango music is much more varied than ballroom tango music. A large amount of tango music has been composed by a variety of different orchestras over the last century. Not only is there a large volume of music, there is a breadth of stylistic differences between these orchestras as well, which makes it easier for Argentine tango dancers to spend the whole night dancing only Argentine tango.

Steps

While Argentine tango does not teach amalgamations of steps like swing, salsa, or ballroom dances do, there are some recurring figures that are taught. Here is a fairly typical order of steps that may be taught in a beginner to intermediate class.

• Walks - a couple, in embrace, walks in unison
• Cruzada - follower crosses her legs during a walk
• Lapiz - "the pencil" - figures traced by the toe as an adornment
• Salida Cruzada, or "eight-step basic" - salida as "the way out" onto the dance floor
• Ocho - a figure-8 traced by the follower's feet. There are front and back ochos.
• Molinete - "pinwheel" a spinning figure from the follower's grapevining around the leader
• Giro - a left-hand turn. sometimes refers to the leader's part of the molinete.
• Sacada - the lead "blocks" the follower's leg to force a transfer of weight
• Gancho - one dancer hooks their leg around their partner's leg

Related Dances

Argentine Tango dancers usually enjoy two other related dances: Vals (waltz) and Milonga.

Tango dancers dance the Vals much like they do tango only with a waltz rhythm that has one beat per measure. This produces a rather relaxed, smooth flowing dancing style in contrast to Viennese Waltz where the dancers often take 3 steps per measure and turn almost constantly.

Milonga is a fast dance with steps similar to tango, but somewhat simplified because of the constant movement of the feet and lack of pauses as in Argentine tango. Although Milonga uses the same basic elements as Tango, it is much nearer to the African roots, especially in that it requires a greater relaxation of legs and body. Movement is normally faster, and pauses are not made; as the beat goes on, dancers continue setting their feet. It is rather a kind of rhythmic walking without complicated figures, with a much more "rustic" style than Tango.

Milonga is also the name given to tango dance parties. This double meaning of the word milonga can be confusing unless one knows the context in which the word "milonga" is used. People who dance at milongas are known as milongueros.

Styles of Argentine Tango

Tango canyengue

"Tango canyengue" refers to a style of Tango danced until the 1920s. Reportedly, the long tight fashion in dresses of that era restricted the follower's movements. Consequently, the style involves short steps. The dancers tend to move with knees slightly bent, the partners slightly offset, and in a closed embrace. The style tends to be danced to a 2/4 time signature. As the cayengue style was mostly not danced in ballrooms, but in taverns and on the street, the typical soft feet movements with close contact to the ground were not possible, leading to a more "hopping" style.

Tango orillero

Tango orillero is thought to have developed away from the town centers, in the outskirts and suburbs where there was more freedom due to more available space on the dance floor. The style is danced in an upright position and uses various embellishments including rapid foot moves, kicks, and even some acrobatics, though this is a more recent development.

Salon Tango

Salon Tango was the most popular style of tango danced up through the Golden Era of the dance (1950's) when milongas (tango parties) were held in large dance venues and full tango orchestras performed. Later, when the Argentine youth started dancing rock & roll and tango's popularity declined, the milongas moved to the smaller confiterias in the center of the city, resulting in the birth of the "milonguero/apilado stye".

Salon Tango is characterized by slow, measured, and smoothly executed moves. It includes all of the basic tango steps and figures plus sacadas, barridas, and boleos. The emphasis is on precision, smoothness, and musicality. The couple embraces closely but the embrace is flexible, opening slightly to make room for various figures and closing again for support and poise. The walk is the most important element, and dancers usually walk 60%-70% of the time during a tango song.

When tango became popular again after the end of the Argentine military dictatorships in 1983, this style was resurrected by dancers from the Golden Era: Gerardo Portalea (still living), El Turco Jose (still living), Milonguita (deceased), "Finito" Ramón Rivera (deceased), "Lampazo" Jose Vazquez (deceased), Virulazo (deceased), and Miguel Balmaceda (deceased)in the milongas at Club Sin Rumbo, Sunderland, and Canning. This style is sometimes referred to as [Villa Urquiza]]' style, named after the northern barrio of Buenos Aires where the clubs Sin Rumbo and Sunderland are located.

Tango milonguero (tango apilado/confiteria style)

This style developed in the 1940s and 50s in closely packed dance halls and "confiterias", so it is danced in close embrace, chest-to chest, with the partners leaning - or appearing to lean - slightly towards each other to allow space for the feet to move. There are not many embellishments or firuletes or complicated figures for the lack of space in the original milonguero style but now also those figures are danced, which only at first glance seem impossible in close embrace. Actually, a lot of complicated figures are possible even in milonguero.

Although the rhythmic, close-embrace style of dancing has existed for decades, the term "Milonguero Style" only surfaced in the mid- '90s. Many of the older dancers who are exponents of this style of Tango prefer not to use the label.

Tango Nuevo

Tango Nuevo is a dancing and teaching style. Tango nuevo as a teaching style emphasizes a structural analysis of the dance in which previously unexplored combinations of steps and new figures can be found. It is a result of the work of the "Tango Investigation Group" (later transformed into the "Cosmotango" organization) pioneered by Gustavo Naveira and Fabian Salas in the 1990's in Buenos Aires. By taking tango down to the physics of the movements in a systematic way, they have created a method of analyzing the complete set of possibilities of tango movements, defined by two bodies and four legs moving in walks or circles. This investigation provided a view of a structure to the dance that was expressed in a systematic way.

In walks, their explorations pioneered what were once called "alterations" and are now called "changes of direction". In turns, they focus on being very aware of where the axis of the turn is (in the follower/in the leader/in between them). This tends to produce a flowing style, with the partners rotating around each other on a constantly shifting axis, or else incorporating novel changes of direction.

Many of the recent popular elements in tango vocabulary, such as single-axis turns, owe their debut on the tango scene to the popularity of Gustavo's and Fabian's approach.

From this teaching style, a new and unique style of dancing has developed, called by many a "tango nuevo" style. The most famous practitioners of "Tango Nuevo" are Gustavo Naveira, Norberto "El Pulpo" Esbrés, Fabián Salas, Chicho Frumboli, and Pablo Verón. Interestingly enough, all of these dancers have highly individual styles that cannot be confused with each other's, yet can be easily recognized as Tango Nuevo.

Tango Nuevo is often danced to non-traditional tango, such as new age electrotango music produced by Gotan Project, Tanghetto or Bajo Fondo Tango Club. There is even an increasing amount of alternative non-tango songs that are danced to, especially in the younger tango communities of the US. Some examples include Kevin Johansen's "Sur o no Sur," Tom Waits' "Chocolate Jesus," Kirsty Maccoll's "In these shoes," and Louis Armstrong's "Kiss of Fire." The extremely different sound of this type of music helps break familiar routines to inspire the innovation that Tango Nuevo is known for.

Tango Nuevo is often misunderstood and mislabeled as "Show Tango" because a large percentage of today's stage dancers have adopted "tango nuevo" elements in their choreographies.

Show tango

Show tango, also called Fantasia, is a more theatrical and exaggerated form of Argentine tango developed to suit the stage. It includes many embellishments, acrobatics, and solo moves. Unlike other forms of tango, stage tango is not improvised and is rather choreographed and practised to a predetermined piece of music