Tackling the Tango in Argentina
So… you think you can dance? Well try the Argentinian tango and let me know how that goes.
We took a quick bus ride with our group of fellow GAP Adventurers to our big Tango dance class. I have enjoyed dancing with my friends before (in more of a free-form, embarrassing way) so to go to an official class was a wholly new experience for me.
When Natalie and I arrived we were asked to be seated around the edge of the dance classroom. We shook hands with other fellow Tango classmates and waited for our teacher’s arrival.
After a few minutes, our confident, bilingual dance instructor strutted into the classroom. He simultaneously put me at ease and made me feel quite anxious.
“Tonight we will be learning the basic Tango dancing steps,” he told us. “Afterward, we will all watch a real Tango show so you can appreciate how incredible the dance truly is.”
We did a few warm up exercises (walking around the room, positioning our arms appropriately, awkwardly laughing at how foreign it felt to move so methodically) and got into the groove of things.
Men and women were split up as we were shown our gender specific steps and movements. From there we were mixed and prepped on how to do the full dance together. It was funny and embarrassing to attempt to move so gracefully with a complete stranger, but it made for a jovial atmosphere.
After about an hour of these movements, we dined on an incredible Argentinian meal and were then treated to a spectacular Tango performance. Lights. Colors. Singing. Incredibly coordinated dancing and fancy footwork. It was a real delight and a chance to truly appreciate how powerful and difficult the Tango can be.
- Category: Argentina
- Tags: Argentina, Casey Hudetz, tango
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