The Salon and Milonguero styles of Tango are quite similar, (there’s more about their individual characteristics below)  and these are the styles we dance.  With this style you can communicate and therefore dance with many different partners, rather than being restricted to one regular partner.  The language of Tango is worldwide – once you’ve learned it you can dance at social dances (called Milongas) with anyone, anywhere.

It is a dance conversation between the partners without spoken words.  It’s an improvised dance, relying on our connection with each other and with the music.  You cannot achieve this by dancing repeated sequences of steps or pre-arranged choreographies – it’s a dance that happens in the moment.

Connecting with your partner in a respectful and responsive way, being able to contribute to each other’s enjoyment, having a good feel for the music and good understanding between you – these are things most dancers recognise as important.

To have any sort of good conversation, it’s important to speak the language.
Of course, in any conversation some vocabulary is vital, but the way we say things communicates much more than the plain words.  In Tango terms this means we do not need a large vocabulary, a repertoire of complex steps or sequences.  On the contrary, less is more.  It’s important to slow down, focus more on the “how” and rather less on the “what”. The fundamental “how” in Tango is how to lead and how to follow – that’s the basis of our communication and requires good foundation technique, not loads of steps.

Foundation Technique  To dance well with simplicity and elegance requires work on posture, connection and balance, as well as understanding your own and your partner’s axis and movement. We need to “up our game” to go beyond steps and sequences. It follows that if you want to become a good Tango dancer, you have to be a good learner.

Unfortunately, many tango teachers focus entirely on steps.  Like most “short cut” tactics this leads to huge problems later on.  One experienced dancer who was “stuck” in making progress and came to us for lessons put it beautifully.  He said “I’ve spent ages learning all these steps and choreographies but I can’t dance with anyone except my wife.  It’s like I’ve built a whole house on foundations of sand”.  We did some great work, but it was not easy. Needless to say, going back and unlearning in order to re-learn from scratch is a painful and time-consuming process.

Leading & Following  So, from the outset, you need to develop the arts of Leading or Following.  You will also need “linkages” to be able to mix and match all the various elements, and how to lead or follow those too. Then you will be able to combine individual movements in any number of ways to create a dance which is fresh, elegant and fun for both partners. Alongside these skills Followers will need to “unlearn” anticipating. A bit like a meditative practice – “Expect nothing and be ready for anything”. I will go into these processes in more detail elsewhere.

In this style of Tango the drama comes from stillness which creates a tension and an expectation of movement.  The energy is then released through movement.  So the drama is more elegant than energetic.  Other forms of Tango tend to be more energetic, where there is more movement with dramatic staccato changes of direction.
It can be great, but it’s not really us.

Our focus is social dancing where movements are practical and appropriate for dancing at Milongas (Tango social dances) and Prácticas (informal practice sessions).
Dancers of all ages can create an enjoyable and fun dance by creating an elegant, dramatic and passionate dance without being gymnastic!  Often it is the simplest dance that is the most enjoyable and successful.  There are a lot of fun moves too, but always in the context of responsible social dancing.

Salon & Milonguero Styles
Argentine history is not an exact science, but for practical purposes let’s say both styles evolved during the period known as the Golden Age of Tango from the 1930s to the early ‘50s.
In the fashionable and prosperous northern suburbs of Buenos Aires the bourgeoisie danced in spacious, elegant ballrooms, perhaps more slowly and elegantly than elsewhere, in a style that became known as Tango de Salón.  This poised dancing was perfectly suited to the melodic and lyrical music of orchestras like Carlos di Sarli  who was fittingly known as El Señor del Tango (The Gentleman of Tango).

Meanwhile in the poorer downtown areas of Bs As crowds of enthusiastic dancers would pile into the clubs and dancehalls to dance to the exciting rhythms of the likes of Juan D’Arienzo.  Argentinians love their nicknames and D’Arienzo was known as El Rey del Compás (the King of the Beat) – a highly appropriate sobriquet.  Their dancing style was more intimate, more engaged, and adapted for dancing in tight spaces. This became known as Milonguero style. (Milonguero has another meaning – a male Tango enthusiast, whilst and enthusiastic female Tanguera would be known as a Milonguera).

Both styles are best danced in a close embrace, though Salon is slightly more upright.  The connection is at the level of the heart or solar plexus (unlike ballroom dancing where the connection is much lower.)  There is a more extreme style of Milonguero called Apilado (literally “piled up”) where the dancers lean even more heavily towards each other.  I mention it here because Milonguero is more widely used and definitely less extreme than Apilado.