Tango

We have taken three tango lessons so far this week.  There is a small tango school right across the street from our apartment building, so we started there.  Our first class was in milonga style tango, a style that is faster-paced and meant to be danced on the crowded floors of the dance halls.  The class had about 10 people, all of whom had way more experience than we did!   Everyone was very nice and tolerated our beginner status, but it was really challenging.  We changed partners for the first part of the class, but then decided it would be better if we stopped inflicting ourselves on the others despite their high level of tolerance!

The next day we joined a salon style tango class and this was a much more similar style to what we had learned before.  There was another beginner student in this class, and the teacher, Claude Murga, went more slowly and focused on technique that applied to all levels.  Yesterday Claude was teaching at a different location, so we took a cab out and enjoyed her class again even though we felt mainly like we were learning the essence of Argentine tango rather than any new steps.  Several of the same students were there, so she clearly has a following.  We expect to follow her to the third location she teaches at on Friday.  We are still debating whether private lessons would help or not.  They are considerably more expensive than group lessons, but it might help us advance more quickly.

Weekends are when many milongas are held, often with lessons beforehand, so we are looking forward to even more tango this weekend.