September 08, 2008
Tango - The Dance of Argentina.
written by Spencer Alexander on September 08, 2008 at 09:39PM in Traveling
As I’ve traveled, I’ve always made a point to give the local dance a decent effort. In Russia, I learned Swing. I’m not really sure if it can be considered a local russian dance, but at the location where I was teaching English, it was incredibly popular. In Chile I learned to Salsa and Meringue, and now in Argentina I am working on my Tango. I don’t claim to be experts at any of them (in fact, I would consider myself below par on all of them), but I do claim to enjoy the learning process.I must say that of all the dances I’ve tried so far, Tango is by far the hardest to learn. With all of the other dances, you start with a basic step (surprisingly called the basic step) and slowly add on moves as you skill improve. For instance, with salsa, you start with the basic 8 step routine, and then throw in an inside turn, and then an outside turn, and then you learn how to link them, etc. Although you might not look great until you get a good number of moves under your belt, you’ll at least be dancing the dance the way it was meant to be danced (say that five times fast).
But Tango is very different; although they claim to have a basic step, I’ve yet to see anyone, beginner or expert, use the basic step. With Tango, there are no set moves, and rarely are there set routines. It is all about “feeling the music”.
Nicole and I have been spending many a nights dancing Tango; this week alone, we went Tango dancing four nights. We’ve been taking lessons at our gym here in Mendoza and enjoying it from tip to toe. After 10ish lessons, I think that Nicole and I have finally gotten a grip of the basics and are ready to move onto the harder stuff.
Wish us luck in our learning process, and as photos and videos become available, I’ll make sure to share!
Tags: Tango, Salsa and Argentina
leave a comment
0 comments | show comments
0 comments | hide comments
