Isn’t Argentine tango a sexy dance with a lot of dramatic flair and a rose between the teeth?
A. NO. The image of the rose between the teeth and the rigid outstretched arms was created in a movie role by Rudolphe Valentino in the 20’s and unfortunately stuck as a camp image of tango. It is NEVER done by argentine tango dancers. Also, the type of tango that you might see on shows like “Dancing with the Stars” is Ballroom Tango. That style of tango is a codified group of steps, and figures, adopted from the Argentine original and taught as part of a ballroom curriculum of four traveling dances: waltz, tango, foxtrot and quick-step. Argentine Tango is a completely improvisational dance where the man leads the woman and the woman follows his lead and adds her own style. There are hundreds of figures in tango and hundreds of emotions that can be felt. The dance can be as simple or as complicated as one would like it to be.
