Fit for tango…or a tango fit?

Written by Linda Garwood, TangoEssence, San Diego, CA, August 2010. Published here with Ms. Garwood’s permission.

There are many reasons why we choose to dance tango. We all have a personal reason and or “agenda”. We might have started tango because a friend “insisted”, you wanted to perform, you wanted to meet somebody, you love the music, etc. Reasons do change as we go through our tango journey (or not), that is why I personally feel it’s great to have several styles of tango to chose from.

There are 3 fundamental defined styles: traditional salon, milonguero and nuevo. They have their particular technique and thus require certain skills and abilities beyond your regular classes. Some more than others. Here I am talking about physical fitness which includes balance, coordination, stability, flexibility, resistance, stamina and isolation of movements. If we were to categorize which styles require the most physical fitness it would be 1) Nuevo 2) traditional Salon 3) Milonguero. The other side of tango would be the emotional side which includes sensitivity, connection, surrender and ability to be in the moment. My personal opinion would be that based on this, the styles would be categorized 1) Milonguero 2) traditional Salon 3) Nuevo.

When we start tango we usually don’t know there are choices. Some can’t understand why tango is so difficult and don’t realize that maybe it’s not the right “tango fit”. It is my experience that very few work at becoming physically fit for the tango they have chosen, so the process becomes longer and good results harder. Consider the above and try to determine what style of tango would be a better “fit” for you.

Musicality, creativity, improvisation are elements that are inherent to dancing tango and all of the styles give us the opportunity to express them, so the question is what style are you the most fit for? Physically? Emotionally?

by Linda Garwood

For some great and clear definitions on styles check www.tejastango.com.