Instruction

Argentine Tango Private Lessons and Group Classes in Tucson, AZ

“Tango can change your world! 
Our world is not changed because we teach tango.
We teach tango because tango changed our world – body, mind and spirit! ”
Enjoy your Tango, Enjoy your Life.
Jo & Rusty!
Founders of the Annual Tucson Tango Festival

Learning Argentine Tango can be an exhilirating, life-changing and joyful journey. Argentine Tango is an organic dance utilizing natural and organic body movements. You do not need to be a professional dancer from childhood or a high-level athlete to become good at Argentine Tango. This is a dance of the streets developed by the regular working people in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We do not memorize a syllabus of steps and move in exactly the same way every time such as you do in Ballroom dances. Tango is elemental, emotional, passionate, contrary and subject to personal interpretation. All conducted in partnership with your partner, the music and all the other dancers on the dancefloor with you.

In order to dance Argentine Tango confidently and well it is extremely important that you receive a solid foundation right from the get go. Moving ahead without this foundation can result in years of struggles. Eventually you would need to return to the beginning to start all over again. We all know how difficult it can be to remove bad habits that are well established. If you begin by developing good habits right from the start your tango journey will be more productive, rewarding and satisfying.

You can learn Argentine Tango in a variety of ways. The most efficient is to combine a mix of private lessons, group classes and, most especially, lots of practice and social dancing. After all, the goal is to get out on the dance floor and dance.

Argentine Tango Private Lessons in Tucson, AZ

Private lessons provide you with the most in-depth concentration into your individual needs. You receive the undivided attention of your instructor in the private setting of our home studio (480 sqft of floating dance floor). The foundation is reviewed continuously as needed while learning and integrating more advanced concepts and elements. The goal is to progress your level of dancing Argentine Tango at a much faster rate than group classes alone.

Argentine Tango Group Classes in Tucson, AZ

In our group classes we provide you with a solid foundation in the embrace, connection, turns, musicality and floorcraft. This enables you to begin dancing socially as soon as possible. In group classes you will meet other people at your level that you will want to dance tango with socially, as well as meeting some of the more advanced people already within the Tucson Tango community.

Practicas and Milongas in Tucson, AZ

Practicas (also can be milonguitas and practi-longas) are a time for practice. Practicas are informal, usually following the milonga format but allowing for dancers to stop and discuss or work out an issue or problem during the song. As a beginning tango dancer you will want to attend as many practicas, milonguitas, practi-longas as you can. The practica prepares you for the social event – the MILONGA!

Milongas are the social event. This is where all your lessons and practice come to fruition. This is your ultimate goal – to dance Argentine Tango. Milongas usually follow the traditional format as established in Argentina. The songs are played in “tandas” which are 3 or 4 songs in a row usually of the same orchestra and mood. The “tandas” are formatted into a sequence of 2 tandas of tangos, one of Vals, two of tangos, one of Milonga and then repeated throughout the night. This sequencing provides the dancers with a reliable format for the evening. They know what genre of tanda is coming up and they will use this knowledge in selecting a partner for that tanda. You will usually dance the entire tanda with the same partner – finishing before the tanda ends sends a message to those paying attention – so always do your best to be polite and respectful to whoever you are dancing with.

Workshops and Festivals in Tucson, AZ

Workshops: An intensive weekend of workshop classes provided by high-level, often Master, Instructors. These are instructors that travel and teach and have a rich and deep experience of Argentine Tango to convey to you. Highly recommended as you will gain fresh and new ideas that will assist you in preparing to dance outside of your local community.

Festivals: Tucson has an annual festival “Tucson Tango Festival” that is held the first weekend of March. This festival attracts anywhere from 350 to 400 dancers to Tucson, we bring in international master level instructors, top-quality DJ’s and spend five days dancing and learning together. There is a tango festival on almost every weekend somewhere in the USA and around the world. It is an opportunity for immersion and many hours integrating and using what you have learned and processed in your studies. And, they are a blast!