Beginners' Argentine Tango Lessons: What to Expect and What to Bring
Ready to go back to school?
No, no, not that school…
In this post, we’re talking all things tango school.
Read on to know what to expect and what to bring for your first Argentine Tango lesson.
What to Expect?
1. Before Class
Like with traditional school, your path to beginner’s Argentine Tango lessons will likely involve three things: finding the right teacher, enrollment, and heightened emotions as the class date approaches.
Regarding enrollment, methods may vary depending on the teacher. While many instructors have a formalized online process, others are more laissez-faire, where all you need to do is pick the right time and show up.
Emotions, however, are the most notable part in the beginner tanguero’s journey – expect to feel a mix of anticipation and trepidation, and don’t let these (normal and healthy) emotions trick you into becoming a no-show.
2. On Arrival
A fitness or dance studio will likely serve as the setting for tango lessons, somewhere with bright lights, polished wood flooring, and large mirrors. Save for the occasional bulletin board or mural, classrooms will be minimal and unobstructed by furniture. Select teachers might also hold tango classes in their home.
Before diving into the lesson, your teachers will collect payment (if you haven’t paid already), distribute newsletter sign-up forms, and tinker with the audio system. Expect to have two instructors, one leader and one follower; gender makeup varies, but you’ll typically have a male and female pair.
Don’t be alarmed if classes don’t start on time, even in countries renowned for punctuality. Regardless of location, Argentine Tango adheres to Latin concepts of time; tardiness is just how it rolls.
3. The Lesson
Tango classes typically contain three sections: warm-up, the lesson, and practice.
Take a deep breath, because after the standard arrival routines, it’s show time.
Typically conducted over a one-to-two-hour period, tango classes progress through the following stages:
Warm-up, where your instructor prepares your muscles and tendons for new movement. Emphasis is typically placed on your diaphragm and metatarsals. Warmups are also performed without a partner, while standing in front of a mirror.
The meat (presentation and practice). Here is where you’ll finally learn your first moves. Don’t be underwhelmed, however, when your first moves consist not of flashy leg flicks, but of tango’s fundamentals – the walk, the embrace, hip dissociation, and the mechanics behind them. Like with the warm-up, new moves are initially performed without a partner, while standing in front of a mirror or while using a support structure.
Production. The final stage of the lesson, where you’ll apply your dance vocabulary with a partner, typically in rotational fashion and to music. The production stage is where frustration usually peaks, because to build strength, muscle memory, and improvisational skills, you must implement the fundamentals over and over again, often to initial dismaying results.
It Takes Two
If you arrived to class with a partner, don’t be the person who doesn’t switch when your teacher asks you to. This is because sticking to the same partner will limit your growth trajectory, at least as a beginner.
Want more details on beginner’s tango moves?
4. Your Body
Remember how you felt when you attempted pull-ups in gym class after your teacher made them look easy?
Expect to revisit this feeling throughout your tenure as a beginner tango dancer.
This is because your muscles, namely the groups in your feet, calves, and core, won’t be strong enough to support your weight for long durations of time yet.
For followers, wobbles, bounciness, and awkwardness are a normal part of tango’s learning process; I, for example, was wobbly as hell when I first started.
For leads, expect stiffness and reports of an uncomfortable embrace (hunched backs and tight grip are common ailments for leads). Both roles will also experience coordination issues and mild muscle soreness in the days following their first lesson.
If you’re arriving to tango from another partner dance style, the traits of your dominant dance will naturally carry over during your tenure as a beginner tanguero. Swing dancers, for example, tend to bounce, while salsaleros tend to move their hips.
Too Close
Argentine Tango means getting up close and personal with strangers, an aspect that might invoke discomfort if you hail from a more reserved culture. Everyone adjusts to tango’s closed-embrace style at their own pace; if you don’t feel comfortable with close dancing yet, remember that you can always opt to open the embrace.
5. The Music
No, your ears aren’t deceiving you; tango music often sounds like it’s coming from this.
Just when your teacher has challenged you enough with tango’s fundamentals, they go and throw music on top of it.
To uninitiated ears, beginner tangueros will face three obstacles:
Sound acclimation. The golden age of tango music occurred in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, when lo-fi reigned supreme. And while any tango DJ worth their salt will use the highest possible recording quality, tango music will always sound…well…old. Repeated exposure, however, will help your ears acclimate.
Comprehension. Tango music follows a predictable formula, and each tango composer has their own distinct style, but its formula and composers will likely be lost on you in the midst of learning how to dance. This issue also exacerbates thanks to tango music’s Spanish-only lyrics. Don’t fret if the music makes you feel lost; your teachers will help guide you.
Choice paralysis. This one is especially applicable for leads, who, among a litany of other duties, bear responsibility for inviting figures that match the music’s flow. In response to tango’s multitudinous composers and movement possibilities, many beginner dancers dig themselves into a familiar and safe pattern of the same moves, or worse, they freeze. Like the previous obstacles, choice paralysis on the dancefloor is normal and will shake loose with experience and continued classroom study.
6. Managing Expectations
Countless tangeuros arrive to their first class with visions of flawless floorcraft dancing in their heads, only to leave disappointed when their expectations don’t immediately pan out.
This expectations mismatch is a common cause of premature drop-out; to combat it, remember that advancement is a long game in Argentine Tango. Understand that you will improve, but only after you practice and study and show up, both inside and outside the classroom.
And while followers have a slightly shallower learning curve, both roles require up to two years of consistent practice and coursework before moving into the realm of advanced tango.
The road to advancement is also fraught with hazards; frustration and discouragement are common pitstops for newbie tangueros, and the only way to overcome them is to keep on keepin’ on, even when every piece of you wants to quit.
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What to Bring?
1. Cash and/or Checks
If your teacher only accepts cash or check payments, don’t forget to stop by the bank before class.
2. Full Stomach
It might not feel like it, but Argentine Tango is a form of exercise. You will burn calories, meaning a full stomach is needed to keep you fueled in class.
Depending on when your class takes place, always top up on a light meal or filling snack beforehand.
For example, classes in my city typically took place at 6:30 PM; since it was too early for a large meal (for me), I ate a snack instead. Dinner was consumed after class.
When preparing for tango lessons, never forget hydration and an adequate meal.
4. Clean Body and Fresh Breath
Mints and extra swipes of deodorant aren’t enough to refresh your body for tango, especially after a long day at work; nip BO and halitosis in the bud by hopping in the shower and giving your teeth a quick brush before class.
If you enjoy wearing fragrance, please consider other’s sensitivities, as fragrances intensify in heat and close contact.
When applying perfumes, opt for light scents with low sillage and wear way less than you usually do, with one to three sprays on your torso or lower extremities, such as behind your knees, your inner thighs, or between your shoulder blades.
5. Full Water Bottle
Indoor water fountains are an increasingly rare sight nowadays; arrive prepared with a full water bottle.
6. Comfortable, Sweat-Wicking Clothing
Also like other forms of exercise, you will sweat in tango class. Keep yourself cool and dry with sweat-wicking fabrics.
To prevent wardrobe malfunctions and promote ease of movement, avoid overly tight clothing, short skirts (mid-thigh hemlines or higher), and plunging necklines.
7. Flat, Tread-Free Closed-Toed Shoes
Smashed toes are part of the beginner tanguero’s growing pains; protect your feet with closed-toed shoes, and save tango’s iconic four-inch stilettos for when you have more dancefloor hours.
To aid with pivots and balance, wear flat heels and avoid tread (if you can).
Please consider other’s sensitivities when wearing fragrance to dance lessons.
8. Hair Ties
Nothing is more irritating than the tickle of someone else’s hair against your face; if you have long locks, tie them into a ponytail or bun.
9. Hand Sanitizer
Masks might (thankfully) come off in the coming year, but it looks like hand sanitizer is here to stay.
Keep yourself and your tango community healthy with a dab of hand sanitizer after class.
10. The Right Mindset
Those who say “I can’t” and “I can” are both right.
Arrive to your first tango lesson, ready to learn and ready to confront negative internal beliefs about your capabilities.
Planning to enroll in your first Argentine Tango lesson? What are you looking forward to the most?
