Introducing beginners to Tango

What do beginners need to start feeling comfortable with tango? You might quite reasonably say the most important thing is some basic vocabulary. Following this idea you could argue that a beginner is no longer a beginner when they have mastered, say, the walk, some ochos, the giro and the cross. The trouble here is that you might have an ever-growing vocabulary but still find it impossible to dance in the milonga. In fact the growing vocabulary might actually get in the way. Because vocabulary means nothing without an understanding of the dynamics of a tango floor. 

We try to approach things differently. Rather than focussing on an approved list of steps we start by asking what skills dancers need to be able to join the social dance floor at a milonga.  And then we set out to provide those. From the outset we focus on basic mobility and musicality.

This is what we prioritise:

• The need to understand the nature of a connection and what it feels like to move with another person in a connected manner. 

• Knowing how this movement is matched to the music. 

• Basic navigation : knowing how to pause without stopping and how to change direction at a moment’s notice.

Once dancers are comfortable with these skills they are ready to join the ronda and to contribute to the shared experience of the dance. More vocabulary - we teach that too - can be added at their own speed with the understanding it isn’t taken onto the dance floor until it has found its way out of the dancer’s head and into the body