How to find the right Tango class
Looking for a Tango course you may ask yourself which is the right level for you.
You certainly don´t want it to be boring, i.e. not learning anything new, or even worse a class on a level which is so overwhelming you become totally frustrated.
Actually for many dancers it´s not so easy to estimate their own level of dancing.
Especially in Argentine Tango it is not so important how many different sequences of steps you have memorized. Important is the quality of the movement.
A classification by memorized sequences of steps (which you can dance more or less well) like in ballroom dancing, is difficult and according to our opinion not even desirable in Argentine Tango.
Here we want to give you a little help to estimate your level of Tango dancing. Thus you can choose those Tango classes at La Rogaia which give you the best learning experience and of course the most fun.
Beginners
That’s an easy one. You never have been dancing Tango before? Everything clear, isn´t it? -
By the way this applies also if you already have been dancing Ballroom Tango. Ballroom Tango and Argentine Tango are completely different dances. Thus you should consider yourself a complete beginner in Argentine Tango if you have exclusively experience in Ballroom Tango.
Improvers
You already have some knowledge about walking to the rhythm of the music. Right posture, a feeling for your own axis and the contact with your partner in open and close embrace is not completely unknown to you. You have about six months to one year of dancing experience.
Intermediate
Intermediate level is right for you if you know the basic concepts for improvers.
Additionally you should have a minimum knowledge of the following elements: The cross of the lady, Ochos, Molineta, walking in parallel system and cross system. That doesn´t mean you have to be able to master all this perfectly… It shouldn´t be complete news for you that Tango has to do with music and that you can and should move in harmony with the other couples on the dance floor. For most people it takes about one and a half or two years to learn this.
Advanced
You should be able to dance well everything described above.
Additionally you should be able to dance Milonga and Vals. Ocho Cortado, Barrida, Saccada, Gancho and Corte for you shouldn´t be foreign language anymore. The following you should have in your repertoire already: Walking elegantly to the music, playing whith rhythm and pause, navigating on the dance floor without provoking collisions…
Normally you need at least three or four years of dancing experience for this. If you have a professional dance education, possess a good body awareness and if dancing is part of your daily routine, it may take less time to become an advanced level Tango dancer.
Master Class
Requirement for this is everything mentioned above.
Additionally you should be able to dance Boleos, Lapiz/ Enrosques, Volcadas, Colgadas, more demanding Ganchos and Sacadas. You should be aware of the different rhythmical structures in Argentine Tango. Normally this takes at least five years of dancing experience.
Normally this takes at least five years of dancing experience.
One important point: What do we mean with „Dancing experience“ ?
To say it very clearly, you don´t get dancing experience if you enjoy yourself going to a Tango ball merely three or four times a year (Not even if you do this for ten years or longer).
You get dancing experience when you attend regularly (at least once a week) a Practica or a Milonga and dance there intensely.
Many movements in Tango you learn only if you practice them repeatedly for a longer time. “To practice” in Argentine Tango in first line means to practice under “real life conditions” on the dance floor.
To learn a certain movement or a “figure” in a Tango lesson is only the very first step and thus will be quickly forgotten if you don´t practice regularly in a Milonga. Yet if you do put in some effort you will be richly rewarded by Argentine Tango…