Tango Lesson

Hola desde la ciudad del tango…  

Buenos Aires, Argentina!

Tango is an important part of the Argentinian culture. The tango is a romantic partnered dance that was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was migrated from European immigrants who arrived to Argentina in the 1880s. Since then tango has been very famous for the people near River de Plata, also known as the plateros.

Today we had the opportunity to have a tango lesson. We walked into a building in the corner on Avenida Independencia 299, the place was called El Viejo Almacén. El Viejo Almacén was founded in 1969, meaning their 50th anniversary was last year in 2019. Knowing this made me think that we were at a professional tango place. We were immediately welcomed with drinks with the options of coke, sprite, and water. Then our dance instructors Juan and Natalia came out to introduce themselves. Most of us have never danced tango before. We began the lesson by just walking around in a circle with a regular casual walk. Then learned the basic steps of tango and how the beat of the music is the most important part. We also learned how the man always leads and the woman follows during the dance. With this we can see the machismo in the culture. After we finished walking around we had to pair up and begin to do the basic tango steps. It was a little difficult at first but after reviewing it various time it just got easier. At the end of the lesson the students and professors were given certificates of completion. This made us feel like we were already tango dancing pros.   

I thought the tango lesson would be more difficult. It ended up being easier than I expected. It was so much fun to learn the tango in the city it was born in. Tango lessons can relate back to business by the money the instructors can charge for each lesson. There’s many people who like to try new dances and are willing to pay to learn. I’m glad I had the opportunity to learn a new dance and actually experience something of the Argentinian culture.

Adiós!

Wandy Montilla