TANGO TOPICS LATEST POSTS

What To Practice ?
Today when I’m working with a student, they honestly don’t want to do that kind of work. They just want the answers. “How do I …?” so I show them what to do, and then how to do it. But that starts with going right back to their <a class="glossaryLink

The Structure of a Song (and a Tanda).
A song in Tango (the genre, not to be confused with the entire idea of tango music), consists of 5 to 6 musical paragraphs. Those musical paragraphs are generally 6 to 8 phrases in length. Each one of those phrases is punctuated by 6 to 8 musical pause types based

A Method for Tango Improvisation
The Tango Topics Method of Tango Improvisation uses extensions, dissociation/applied dissociation, and individual component movements, as well as Beat and the 5 Pause Types as the building blocks for generating a type of improvisation that can be combined with contemporary

The Five Pause Types Methodology & Primer
The 5 Pause types are in every piece of tango music you have ever heard from the golden age. They are best described as ‘musical rests’ or a simply a ‘pause’. However unlike normal musical pauses, a Tango Pause is slight different and has very specific characteristics that makes them

The Lead Step Over Back Sacada
In Tango, we have multiple types of Sacadas, from multiple types of positions, with varying levels of complexities. Typically, the most difficult Sacada to execute for BOTH roles is the Back Sacada. The reason for that is because the Back Sacada usually requires a level of disassociation and applied disassociation

The Molinete Giro Structure
The turn itself is taught to every beginner dancer, and every dancer uses this very functional and foundational turn. As this is the case, the turn is so predominant that it is the default motion for every Follower/every <a class="glossaryLink
NEW TANGO TIPS

9 Tips for Dual Role Dancing
In today’s tango world, it’s far more accepted — especially in Europe — that no one gives a rat’s damn which role you want to dance. Some men prefer dancing as Followers. Some women prefer dancing as Leads. And some of us learn both roles, dance both roles, and even teach both roles so that others can do what they want.
So let’s clarify what it means to be a dual-role dancer:
You are studying or dancing both roles — or both.
You can swap the embrace at any point in a song and either follow someone else’s lead or lead someone else, without blinking or freaking out about it.
Dancing both roles also means that you either promote the practice, attend events that allow it, or both.

The Melodic Method
When teaching people about the music of Argentine Tango, most teachers focus on the Beat. They gauge a dancer’s ability to “get” tango by how well they can hear and reproduce that beat. This approach is what I call the Beat Methodology, and it forms the basis of what’s commonly known as the 8-Count Beat Method — the foundation of the A/B Methodology, or the standard framework for listening to and interpreting tango music.

When Is It Wrong ?
“When is it wrong to do LIFTS in Tango ?” – Yvonne Asked. Answer ? First and foremost, thanks for the question. This stuff doesn’t get talked about enough. Secondly, there are several parts to your question that need to be addressed. Lastly, it should be noted that while I’ve
An Off-Beat Tool
An OFF-BEAT TOOL for your understanding: There are 4 primary definitions for Off-BEAT dancing. 1.) Stepping on the exact equal distance point between the beats, the exact half-way point, is an off-beat that you can dance. 2.) ANY note OR element that is NOT an accent note that you can

Floorcraft, La Pista, and The Outer Track
Found a version of this on Stef Salsa Tango Swing‘s wall. I think she’s right about the topic. Specifically > — The leading person in the outer track (1) should NOT intrude into the inner lane (2). Stef said > “When dancing in the inner lane, I notice at every

Miles Plan of Action
Once Upon A Time or How I got to Berlin… Before my exodus to Germany, I had made the decision to jump back into teaching tango again after my vanlife project had been completed. My plan was to go from city to city in the United States, sharing the REVOLUTIONARY