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Craig Revel Horwood's Ballroom Dancing: Tango

by Craig Revel Horwood

The tango is a passionate, erotic and sensual dance which tells a story too. It’s said to be a mixture of African slave dance from the eighteenth century and a Cuban dance from the nineteenth century. The story is about communication between a prostitute and a pimp, so it was rather looked down on until a less vulgar version became popular.

There are three predominant styles of tango:

• Show tango: used in film and stage shows
• Tango de salon: for ballrooms, a more formal style
• Tango orillero: for small spaces like cafés and bars

It is danced to music in 2/4 time but there are hidden beats called ‘half beats’. The tempo is about 33 bars to the minute. The hold is up-close and very personal, the man is dominant and the dance is the most compact of all the moving dances. The tango is a walking dance with slightly bent knees rather than smooth and gliding.

Learn the forward and backward walks first, add the rock turn and then learn the basic reverse turn. Add the open reverse turn closed finish then learn the back corté, which changes the boy from travelling backwards to travelling forwards, then add the link into closed promenade.


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