The First Tango

http://www.entretangos.com/

Paris is crazy with Tango. The number of tango classes offered in Paris is impressive, and everynight there are Tango Parties everywhere in the city. People from all walks of life and of all ages dance tango.

I was charmed by it when I had the first chance to be invited by an old gentleman to dance at La Latina, near Beaubourg. Then I had my first Argentina tango class this monday in L'ENS. So it happened, me too, I am crazy with tango, too. I learnt only the basic steps plus some turns and twist during the class and tonight, i joined their tango party in L'ENS and enjoyed a lot.

Tango is passion. But for beginners, it's "to be very alert". Man leads the dance and woman follows closely. Man has to be very sensitive to space and music and of course to his partner. He has to be very decisive as a 0.1 second hesitation means off beat and confusion to his partner. For the woman, she has to "listen" to her partner, to understand his hint and intention for the next step by the lightest body movement. She has to react quickly and at the same time, dance to music.

Tango is a very sexist dance, in fact. The rule is, only man invites woman and not the vice versa. Man decides the steps and woman follows. So, he acts and woman reacts. Woman has to be elegantly dressed with proper dance shoes, yet man can be very casual, even with sports shoes.

"In Tango, a man has to make his partner beautiful", Siu Mui told me about tango.