Learning Tango: I Can’t Remember Any New Tango Sequences
Tango is an art, and it’s subjective.
However, it’s undeniable that tango is a complex dance for every beginner, with intricate steps, turns, and improvisations. If you’re a learner stuck with the same sequences and having difficulty remembering new ones, you’re not alone.
Learning tango can really feel frustrating if nobody’s guiding you!
Many tango beginners share a common problem. “I’m just repeating three sequences all the time, and I can’t remember new sequences.” It could be the ocho cortado, media luna, the cross, or any other combination you’ve recently learned.
Of course, repeating it is a good start, but it’s not enough to improve your skills.
Tango requires memorization, coordination, and timing, but the key to really learning the dance is understanding its structure.
In this article, journey through the structure of tango and see how changing your approach to learning can help you succeed.
Why Learn the Tango?
Let’s start with this question: Why did you decide to learn the tango in the first place? Remembering why you started can help you stay focused when times get tough.
Tango is an art form, and it’s definitely a challenge to master. But when you know your purpose, you can stay motivated.
What are some reasons people want to learn the dance? According to Tango Partner, it could be for:
Letting go of stress and emptying the mind
Socializing, talking, and laughing
Being hugged
Finding the love of your life
Experiencing passion
Staying active
Making new friends
Performing in an audience
Forgetting problems
It’s impossible to decide to learn the tango just because.
The dance requires commitment and dedication, so you must be sure why you’re doing it.
Once you’re firm with your reasons, you can start understanding the tango structure to develop your skills further.
Tango Structure: Dance and Music
Tango is composed of several elements that fit together like a puzzle.
Aspects such as music, cadence, and posture are necessary to move gracefully through the dance. Let’s review the structure of the dance, starting with the music.
According to Tangology101, almost all tangos consist of the following elements:
Five sections
Four phrases in each section
Four measures per phrase
Four beats for each measure
Recognizing what’s in the music helps a tango dancer identify each phrase’s beginning and end.
You stay aware of when to move in and out of a section or when to make a change in improvisation.
Once you know the music’s structure, you can practice your movements with each section and phrase.
Tango’s structure is divided into the basic, core steps, and additional improvisational moves. But regardless of how many sequences you learn from a class, you will always go back to the walk.
Tango Space beautifully explained the importance of the walk in tango:
“There are A LOT of contradicting assumptions out there when it comes to the tango walk
… that it’s only for beginners and once you’ve learned it you should focus on more sophisticated steps
… that the importance of mastering your tango walking has been “invented” by tango teachers to keep having work…
… or, worst of all, that it’s the hardest thing about tango and it takes a lifetime to master
None of these things are true, but today I’d like to focus on that last one.
Because yes, finding a beautiful, connected, and relaxed tango walk is a process.
But there are some individual exercises that will help you get better at it.”
Besides the walk, you must also always return to the tango embrace.
In our article “CLOSE EMBRACE AND OPEN EMBRACE: SHAPES OF THE EMBRACE AND WHY IT MATTERS,” we discussed the different types of tango embrace or abrazo and their role in creating a connection.
Either type of embrace creates a stable connection between the two dancers, which will help them move together as one unit.
So, without a solid walk and embrace, the tango just can’t exist.
In addition to the walk and embrace, the other structural elements of the tango are the following:
Giros or turns
Mordidas or sandwiches
Adornos, firuletes, or embellishments
Structural connections
Moving on,
the tango becomes an even more exciting dance when you add improvisation.
Tango dancers must understand the basics but should also be creative and think outside the box to surprise their partners. All these things happen when tango music plays, and you allow it to guide every tango move you know.
So, the next question is: How do you actually learn the tango?
Repeating Sequences: Is It the Way To Go?
One good way to look at tango is to apply it in real life.
Let’s go back to when you were a kid and going to school for the first time. Learning the alphabet didn’t happen overnight. You had to repeat each letter until you memorized it. The same goes for learning numbers, shapes, and other things. It’s no different in tango.
You must practice the basic steps several times before moving on to the next level. You must repeat sequences, such as a simple ocho or giro, until you can do them without thinking.
In fact, iCan Dream Center Staff said:
“The importance of repetition cannot be understated. In fact, it should be repeated that repetition is an essential learning aid. It allows a conscious skill to transfer into one’s subconscious, freeing up working memory and allowing for further skills learning (“The Power of Repetition,” 2016).”
Repetition helps you set in the skills you just learned.
Once your body remembers every sequence, you will be able to transition into improvisation with ease.
However, there are better ways for everyone to learn than repetition.
Sure, it can help you retain information, but it barely helps you learn tango as a dance.
For tango to become more than just “steps,” you need to understand the dance.
Yes, every move should feel like a conversation between two people.
You can’t converse if you don’t understand what it means.
At Ultimate Tango’s “LEARN TO DANCE THE TANGO,” repetition isn’t a sin, but it’s also not an excellent way to learn. We always start with the connection, and then we move on to building communication and partnership. Learners move on to having the ability to lead or follow and then dive into the structure of the dance.
Our motto is, “Don’t repeat mindlessly; learn through understanding.”
How many times have you been repeating the ocho cortado or the media luna until you finally got it? Hundreds? Thousands? Now that you’ve mastered them, why can’t you add more sequences to your tango moves? It’s because you’ve memorized the steps but still don’t understand them. If you understand the dance’s structure and know the basics of leading and related sensations, it’s not very difficult to keep expanding the vocabulary.
Understanding means breaking down the dance and analyzing it. Tango is composed of movements, figures, and connections. By understanding the different elements of tango, you can develop more creativity and enthusiasm.
Tango isn’t just a sequence of steps; it’s an international language you must understand to speak.
Ultimately, repeating a sequence allows you to memorize it. But when you memorize it, there’s always the possibility of forgetting it. So,
if you want tango to last, you should understand it. Learning tango relies so much on emotions.
Sure, you’ll have to start learning it physically, but progress won’t be possible until you feel the dance.
Improvisation in Tango
Another reason that mindlessly repeating sequences won’t get you far is that tango is highly improvisational.
Yes, stage performances can be choreographed and practiced repeatedly, but at its core, tango is an improvised dance.
As said by Stephen and Susan Brown in “Learning to Dance Argentine Tango Improvisationally”:
“Drawing from their knowledge of tango’s conventions, dancers construct phrases as they dance rather than reproduce pre-set patterns. This degree of improvisation allows the dancers to navigate crowded dance floors, as well as to express themselves in a non-verbal manner.”
Typically, beginners choose patterns from limited figures they’ve already mastered, meaning improvisation symbolizes mastery and freedom. The more figures and sequences you know, the easier it is to tango. Stephen and Susan Brown added:
“A much greater mastery of tango and more improvisational freedom is found in the ability to break off patterns and switch to others without hesitation.
The highest degree of improvisational freedom is found in choosing individual steps without regard to any pre-determined patterns.”
Tango’s improvisation lets dancers explore their feelings and emotions, which is the true meaning of the dance.
It’s about creativity, individuality, and the connection between two people. It’s a human conversation that happens on the dance floor. So how can you maximize your improvisational freedom if you keep getting stuck in the same moves?
The answer leads you back to understanding tango.
There are too many things to learn; simply repeating them just because will hinder you from fully loving the dance. But when you understand them, you can keep progressing.
You keep discovering and rediscovering tango, and you won’t get bored. Tango will become your best friend. Soon enough, it’ll be like something you’ve known your whole life.
How To Learn Tango
So if it’s not repetition, what should you do? How do you actually understand something so sublime, like tango? Here are two tips to make your tango journey more meaningful:
Listen to the Music
When we say, “Listen to the music,” we don’t mean just to hear the song.
Tango music has a specific rhythm and sound that you must feel.
It’ll guide you through the steps and interpret them in a certain way.
Tango music is like part of your mind, controlling the energy and intensity of your movements as you dance.
It tells you what to feel, and eventually, it possesses you and moves you the way you should.
Tango music tells the tango leaders and followers when to step, what movement to make, and how long it should last.
When you listen to it, you feel tango in a way that patterns can’t teach you.
Be In the Moment
It may sound cliché, but it’s true. Tango is a momentary dance; you can’t control or anticipate the next move, no matter how many sequences you know.
Tango happens in the present; the connection between two people drives it.
Therefore, be present and mindful of your partner’s movements. Look into their eyes, feel their energy and follow them without overthinking the next move. Try your best to embrace intimacy.
When you’re in the moment, you focus on the elements that matter and understand they move together.
Tango On!
Tango is a never-ending adventure. See it like learning a new language; it expands as you progress.
Learning a new language also needs repetition, but repetition won’t mean anything if you don’t understand. And the more you know, the more you see, and the more things become available to you.
Tango, too, is like a conversation. The more you talk, the more you know, and the more you can share.
Tango is a human conversation on the dance floor, and it can be the most beautiful thing you can experience.
Lastly,
tango is simply like life. We improvise in life all the time by taking previous knowledge and experience and using it repeatedly.
Tango is the same. It teaches us that freedom comes from understanding. We must break off patterns we’ve mastered and switch to others without hesitation to keep progressing.
Ultimately, tango can be what you make it to be. As said by Frank in the 1992 drama Scent of A Woman, shared by Hasan Seremet in “Scent of A Woman I No Mistakes in Tango”:
“No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. It’s simple, that’s what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, get all tangled up, just tango on.”
You can stop and dance happily at the level you are right now. There’s nothing wrong with dancing the same three sequences for the next 20 years. But when the time comes, and you feel like you want to do more, understand and tango on!