ALTERNATIVE TANGO STYLES

In Buenos Aires they say that if you watch ten couples dancing Tango you will see ten different styles. While it’s true that many people develop their own particular style of dancing, in reality it comes down to a choice of two specific and very different styles; these are often called Tango Milonguero Style [or Buenos Aires Style] and Tango Salon Style.

Each style has its own types of music, embrace and steps as well as different techniques of dancing. Also important is that the psychology or mind-set of the dancers appears to be different according to which style is being danced.

TANGO MILONGUERO

Although Tango Milonguero evolved from the Salon style to suit the crowded ballrooms of Buenos Aires in the 1940s and 50s, much of the music suitable for this style is older than that for Salon style. This because it is typically danced to a syncopated rhythm [2 x 4] that was popular in the pre-salon days. This is often slow and sombre in nature which perfectly suits the Milonguero style, particularly as danced by today's older generation in Buenos Aires. Among the many younger people who enjoy this style, the more up-beat music of Juan D'Arienzo and Rodolfo Biagi are popular.

The most striking quality of Milonguero style is the very close embrace that is a requirement of the dance. The couples lean forward to make contact from the waist to chest and the hold does not change throughout the dance. The lady drapes herself around the man with her left arm around his neck, her eyes are often closed; she surrenders.

The dance has an intimate quality which, at first glance, one would assume could only be danced by lovers. However, this is not true and friends and strangers alike dance Tango Milonguero. Because of the close embrace the steps are generally small and relatively simple; exciting, characteristic Tango moves such as Ganchos, Sacadas and Voleos are rarely danced.

One frequent complaint of many ladies is that, because of the close embrace, they have little freedom of movement and little or no means of self-expression. This is generally true and the great Juan Carlos Copes teaches that the man must learn to dominate the woman through his arms and feet. However, he then goes on to say that the man must always remember that he is dancing with a lady.

One advantage of this style of dance is that it requires very little space and can be danced on crowded dance floors and in small spaces. In Buenos Aires it is mostly danced by the older generation of Tango dancers, although it is also surprisingly popular among many younger people. However, it must be said that those of the younger generation who can be seen dancing the Milonguero Style are usually equally comfortable in the Tango Salon Style; that is, they are able to dance either style to suit the particular occasion or situation.

TANGO SALON STYLE

Although this may be a personal preference, the most beautiful Tango dance music is invariably in the Tango Salon Style and often has a more accented ‘tango-beat’ [in 4 x 4 rhythm]. Pugliese, Calo and Di Sarli are typical of the smoother and more elegant Salon style.

The embrace for Tango Salon is close but often with little or no contact at the chest. It has a more elegant and upright style than Milonguero and, with both partners having their weights forward, i.e. forming an inverted ‘V’ shape, the first contact is often made at the head. In Buenos Aires it is not uncommon to see couples dancing with their foreheads touching.

Unlike in Tango Milonguero, the embrace in Tango Salon can change from a close embrace to a more open one. It is this characteristic that gives the dancers the greater freedom necessary to dance a much wider variety of steps and figures than is possible in the Milonguero Style. The woman in particular has much more opportunity to express and impose her style and personality on the dance, rather than merely being a passive follower.

My earlier comment about the psychology, or mind-set, of the dancers can be illustrated by a quotation from a modern Tango dancer and teacher – the great Ozvaldo Zotto who is the epitome of elegance and teaches in the Tango Salon Style. He describes his leading as an invitation to the lady, which may be compared with the comment of Juan Carlos Copes who seeks to dominate the lady. However, Ozvaldo Zotto then goes on to say that 'the lady can either accept the invitation, or decline - in which case the game of Tango comes to an end.' The result, in either Tango Milonguero or Tango Salon, is the same – the lady must follow, however, in Tango Salon there is more a feeling of the dance being a collaborative adventure rather than the man dictating the entire sequence of events.

THE CHOICE OF STYLES

In Buenos Aires there are many teachers who will teach either Tango Milonguero or Tango Salon and a few will teach both. As stated earlier, many of the new generation of Tango dancers are able to dance comfortably in both styles.

Milongas [or social dance occasions] in Buenos Aires will generally play music that is suitable for either the Milonguero Style or the Salon Style and they are rarely mixed. Most people know what to expect before they arrive and the convention is that you dance the style to suit the music, which is normally determined by the teacher, school or other Tango-organization that has arranged the milonga.

It has to be said that the Tango Milonguero Style, because of the close embrace, while being easier to learn is more difficult to dance than the Tango Salon Style. It is common that Salon Style is learned first and, as the dancers become more experienced, the embrace naturally becomes closer thereby making it easier to learn the Milonguero Style.

At the Hong Kong Tango Academy we teach Tango in the Tango Salon Style. However, some idea of the Milonguero Style can be gained from the way we teach figures such as 'La Calesita' and 'La Hamaca' in which the man embraces the lady and brings her to his chest.

SHOW-TANGO OR ‘FANTASIA’

Apart from Tango Milonguero and Tango Salon, the third Tango style which must be mentioned is Show-Tango or, as it is known in Buenos Aires – ‘Fantasia’.

As the name makes clear, Show-Tango is the choreographed Tango seen in professional Tango stage-shows and movies such as The Tango Lesson. It is frequently the first style of Tango seen by people outside Argentina and can give a completely wrong first impression of Tango.

When you learn Show-Tango figures, the first thing the instructor will tell you is that these figures are for the stage only; they are not to be danced in the milonga.

Because it is choreographed, many social dancers look down on Show-Tango, describing it as ‘artificial’, ‘gymnastics’ or 'not real tango'. The truth is that the best Tango dancers – those who are good enough to go on to professional careers, become Show-Tango dancers and all the great names in Tango, such as Miguel and Ozvaldo Zotto, are Show-Tango dancers. The technique, balance, speed and agility required for Show-Tango far exceeds that required for social dancing and by learning, and practicing, some Show-Tango style, the average dancer can greatly improve the quality of his/her social dancing.