The Meaning Of Tango

This is the secret of the blend of sex and chess that makes Tango so uniquely intoxicating

Tango took place not on the level of the floor, but on the level of the hearts. The movement of the feet was a symptom of the movement of the hearts, caused by it, not causing it. It was the follower’s heart that danced.

The Tango became an expression of a fundamental human need:
The Hunger of the Soul for Contact with Another Soul

This is the essence of what makes Tango unique. Because of its environment, it evolved as a dance whose aim was the giving of pleasure to the other person, with the understanding that giving pleasure to the other person was the wisest road to pleasure for oneself.

It is a place where every visitor starts planning their next trip before they leave.

Vals
Tango in waltz time. When danced with Tango steps it is sometimes referred to as Vals Cruzado (Vals with the cross). Even in the Golden Age, in some parts of Buenos Aires people still danced Viennese Waltz to Vals music, or a few bars of Viennese Waltz mixed in with Vals Cruzado. Vals is the joyful face of Tango, and is one of the three parts of the Tango Trinity – Tango, Vals and Milonga. The three together give Tango its fully rounded personality.

Recently the term Tango Nuevo has been applied to a style of Tango dance using complicated choreographic ideas, although in practice the choreographic ideas used in this style have been in existence since the Golden Age, and perhaps earlier.

Tango Nuevo
Tango Nuevo means ‘new Tango’, and so has been used over the years to refer to a variety of things that once seemed new and different

Tanda
A tanda is a group of tracks by the same orchestra and in the same style. In the milongas in Buenos Aires the dance music is organised in tandas separated by curtain music.
Although to the inexperienced dancer the idea of playing music in tandas seems strange as it interrupts the dancing, in fact it is an enormous help in facilitating the working of the milonga.
Clearing the floor every ten to fifteen minutes means that no matter how crowded the dance is, it is possible for dancers to have the space to dance more complicated choreographic patterns for a minute or two before the floor fills again.

Sandwich
A step where the leader, having first interrupted the follower’s movement, usually in a turning back step, though sometimes in a turning forwards step, then proceeds to place the feet either side of the follower’s front foot, sandwiching it between the leader’s own feet. The follower’s movement is not interrupted by the placing of the leader’s feet, but by the movement of the hearts suddenly stopping before the movement of the follower’s foot can be completed.