Tango as a Social Dance

Most people associate tango dancing with dramatic moves that are product of tango shows. We do not practice those dances. The tango we practice is the social tango danced by people from all walks of life in the clubs in Buenos Aires and in major cities all around the world. Since this dance is not suited for the stage, it is generally not known by those who do not practice it.

The word tango has multiple meanings. It is used to name music written in different meters and played by ensembles ranging from a few musicians to full symphony orchestras. It is also used to name several dances, some danced socially and others on the stage, and poetry. And it is associated with a type of artistic drawing called fileteado (the drawings on the walls of Tango Berretín, in Portland, are an example of fileteado).

Furthermore, when naming the music danced to socially, the word tango includes three rhythms: tango, milonga, and vals. Music pieces in all three rhythms can be instrumental or sung, and played with arrangements suited primarily for either listening or dancing audiences.

Because of the different meanings of the word, discussions about tango require a clear statement of intended meaning. In this website we discuss what is social tango dancing, the music it is danced to, the environment where it is practiced, and how it is taught. Thus, unless otherwise indicated, we restrict the use of the word tango to name just the dance danced socially, in close embrace, and the music that dance is danced to.

The main characteristics of the environment, the music and the dance we are concerned with are the following:

• The milonga. Social tango dancing takes place at a social gathering called milonga, which
  • Is for the common folk. People attend to have a good time moving to the music.
  • Is a group event. Dancing couples interact with each other in obvious ways: the lead has to adapt his choreography to what his nearest neighbors do. This creates an unspoken yet powerful connection among dancers.

• The music. At the milonga people dance to a strongly rhythmic but otherwise relatively simple form of tango music.
  • The bandoneón. Playing short sharp notes, this instrument is characteristic of tango music danceable as tango.
  • A small subset. Music danceable as tango amounts to a tiny fraction of recorded tango music.
  • Time period. Most music danceable as tango was written and recorded before 1950. From then on, market forces made tango artists focus on tango music for listening audiences rather than on music danceable as tango.

• The dance. Is composed of steps, which are actually variations of the walk, created to fit the music.
  • The purpose is to move with the music.
  • Steps are kept simple, but used to accurately fit the music.
  • The tango danced at the milonga is not known to the general public.
    • Because the choreography is influenced by the group, social tango dancing cannot be removed from the milonga and performed for an audience.
    • Performances by individual couples only show what they can do on an empty floor, which is generally removed from what they actually do in the milonga.
    • There are relatively few videos showing dancing in a milonga. We have posted a one in this page. Comprehensive video collections of individual dancers dancing in milongas can be found in the Resources page in this website.

The Milonga: the Environment for Social Tango Dancing

The social tango dancing we know today is the result of over a century of evolution. The dance evolved, along with the music, in the crowded clubs in Buenos Aires. The limited personal space available in those venues resulted in a dance composed by short steps danced in close embrace, with frequent turns and focusing strongly on the music, so much so that musicians tried to fit rhythm and melody to the dance movements. Consequently, the music is at the heart of tango dancing; listening to the music and expressing it though body movements is essential to social tango dancing.

At first sight, the tango danced in the milongas is quite simple: walk, check steps, turns. Closer observation reveals that the music is accurately followed; experienced dancers not only follow rhythm and melody, but they punctuate musical phrases and sections. And this needs to be done in a crowded environment; usually there are no more than a couple of feet of free space around the dancers. Thus, dancing tango at the milonga requires previous training.

The milongas are ruled by a set of unwritten social codes that evolved over the years to allow the smooth operation of the dance floor. The codes regulate how to ask for a dance (making eye contact), how to dance on the floor (lanes moving counter clock wise) and many other details of the tango etiquette. These codes are essential to the milonga and, in consequence, to social tango dancing, because social tango dancing requires the milonga environment.

Those who attend milongas find it to be a quasi-magical environment where everyday problems are mostly forgotten and a general good feeling prevails. The excitement usually lasts beyond the end of the milonga; typically, it takes a while to fall asleep after the party is over.

The full tango experience is attained when the music, the venue, and the mood of the attending crowd combine to create an uplifting environment that leads everyone to dance. Reaching this situation needs an experienced disc jockey, a comfortable venue, and a crowd with a uniform dancing level closely observing the codes of the milonga.

Tango dancing in the clubs in Buenos Aires. Note the musicality of the dancers, the close embrace, the orderly navigation and the simplicity of the steps.

Fileteado on the walls of Tango Berretin, Portland, OR.