Why Women Love Dancing and Why Specifically Tango
The general perception among people is that women love to dance more than men. Similarly, women are perceived to be better dancers than the opposite sex. A quick glance at our society today lends a measure of truth to this notion.
Students at Ultimate Tango during Practica
After all, dance seems to be often regarded as a more feminine activity. The gender stereotype that men have two left feet remains rather prevalent despite the number of men who do participate in dance.
Dancing, however, is not exclusive to any gender. In fact, there’s a scientific aspect to dancing that suggests it is inherent in all people, even if some do not actively participate in any type of dance.
According to an article from Psychology Today,
“[Charles] Darwin thought that dance was part of the mate selection process, and more recently, two groups of researchers (Brown et al., 2005 and Fink et al., 2007) suggest that the way we dance might be influenced by our hormonal and genetic make-up, such that we use dance to communicate the quality of our genes to potential mates.”
On the other hand, science itself may also shed light on the conventional perception that women are better dancers. An article from Study Finds cites research material published in the journal Scientific Reports, wherein the researchers found that “good dancing came down to three characteristics. Those who were considered better dancers had a greater swing of the hip, asymmetric movements of the thighs, and intermediate levels of their arm movement.”
Based on these findings, it is no surprise then why women love dancing thanks to their physical structure and natural movement. To quote the study’s author, Dr. Nick Neave, associate professor of psychology at the Northumbria University in England: “
Milonga with Joaquin Amenabar at Ultimate Tango
When you look at males and females walking, the key difference is, males have this shoulder swing and females have this hip swing.”
Surprisingly enough, however, tango as a dance began with men dancing with men. Because there were not too many women in the ports of Buenos Aires — the birthplace of Argentine tango — at the time, the porteños danced with their fellow men instead. Yet, today, there seem to be more women who love to dance the tango. In fact, there are times when practicas and milongas may have an imbalance between the number of male and female participants.
Written anecdotal evidence also indicates more women leaving the comfort of their life, career, and country simply to move to Buenos Aires to dance tango.
This then begs the question: Why do women love dancing the tango?
Milonga Ideal - dinner with La Juan D’Arienzo - at Ultimate Tango School of Dance
Tango Dancing and Women
It is often argued that women are more prone to being swayed by their emotions than men. While this may not be all-encompassing, perhaps it is this emotionality that draws women to dance the tango. Argentine tango is all about connection — with oneself, one’s partner, and the music. It is a dance that is more than just a display of technique or flourishes. Rather, it is a dance made beautiful by the connections it fosters within an individual and the world around them. Unlike other dances, it does not rely on choreography, memorization, or competition.
Authentic Argentine tango, like its roots, is down-to-earth, full of heart, and can reflect life through its sensuality and musicality.
As society’s landscape has undergone so many changes throughout the years, women are freer to seek opportunities wherein they can gain a deeper sense of self. No longer are these introspective concepts monopolized by a patriarchal social structure. Thus, many women become drawn to the mystery of tango as they search for meaning and purpose, whether this pertains to their career, personal life, spirituality, or other aspects of their individuality.
As such, many women have signed up for beginner tango classes and have even gone so far as to emigrate to Buenos Aires to dance the tango in its birthplace. What women love about the tango can be different things and can be any of the following:
Strong ladies, beautiful ladies, ladies who know their ways - at Ultimate Tango School of Dance
Tango Fills Them With Joy
While tango’s music often tells a story of sorrow or heartbreak, the dance itself may provide joy to those who experience its fullness. It has, by now, become common knowledge that any physical activity helps lower stress levels and heightens feel-good hormones.
Beyond the biological benefits, tango as a dance offers a deeper kind of joy that might not be found in other activities.
A post from Tango Lingua explains this: “There is really no other dance that I know of which offers the potential for playful and sensual connection, musical expression, and fun that tango does. Neither do I know of any other dance where just walking with someone in the embrace can feel and look so good. It's a dance that just keeps giving. Simply put, women dance the tango because it gives them joy.”
Guest DJ Mariana Fresno at Ultimate Tango School of Dance
Tango Is a Form of Self-Expression
There are many ways to express oneself artistically, and dance is certainly one of them.
Tango as a dance itself began as a means by which the porteños expressed their sorrows, longing for home, and their search for love.
While all these can be communicated verbally or through writing, there are instances wherein some people can only articulate such profound emotions through dance.
Even the attire of tango is a form of self-expression, especially for women. Back in the late 1800s, when tango reached the elite of Paris, London, and New York, women began to break cultural norms by dressing less conventionally and more like how the tangueras did.
Though it was largely regarded as inappropriate by conservatives, this simple act of dressing like the tangueras and dancing the tango was such a powerful statement for women that, in retrospect, it may have been instrumental in the eventual movement for women’s liberation.
A post from Dance With Me USA explains the power of dance as a form of self-expression: “Perhaps dance is the way we express ourselves when words are insufficient. The joy we feel over newfound love, the determination we have in the face of great sorrow or adversity, the passionate fire of our youth, and the peacefulness of our softer and more graceful years – maybe they are never expressed more fully (…). We all want to be understood, and if we could truly speak the words that describe our feelings, how deep and powerful they would surely be. But alas, those words never seem to come to us just right.”
Nasser and Alice, our students who stick to tango through online lessons throughout the whole pandemic, here during Milonga at Ultimate Tango School of Dance
Tango Makes Them Feel Beautiful
Aesthetically speaking, tango is a beautiful dance. Not only is this evident in how tangueros and tangueras dress, but in the movements themselves.
Elegance and sophistication are exhibited by both partners. Thus, for tango to be beautiful, the dancers must also feel beautiful — which is what many women tend to feel, whether they lead or follow.
It isn’t just about the way women dress in tango that evokes this feeling. Certainly, the attire lends to the feeling of being beautiful, but more than that, the way they are held by their partner — whether from the opposite or same sex — is what makes them feel desirable.
The closeness of the embrace, the subtle cues, the exchange of energies between oneself and her partner all inspire beauty that goes beyond the physical. It is, perhaps, one of the secrets women wish you knew.
A post from Ballroom Joe says it best: “In my opinion, if I had to sum it up in one sentence, it’s not just because [tango] makes them feel light and free and all that, but because it makes them feel beautiful.”
Maritza and Russell during one of the events at Ultimate Tango School of Dance
Tango Gives Them a Feeling of Security
“What makes these tandas so special? I feel connected and secure in the embrace.”
This quote from a blog post from Jeanie Tsui succinctly but accurately explains one of the reasons women love to dance tango.
More often than not, a woman’s inherent feminine energy looks for a partner who can provide her with security. As tango can sometimes be a mirror for life and relationships, a woman then finds the comfort and security she desires in a tanda. With a competent partner, she shares in a strong but gentle embrace that will not break — at least, until the tanda is over.
Laura and Andrew ,before moving to Germany, at one of the events at Ultimate Tango School of Dance. Here is the good thing that the pandemic made us realize - the modern technology allows us to continue teaching online - taking lessons online form any place in the world.
Tango Fosters Equality
While there is an exchange of masculine and feminine energy in tango, it is not exclusive to the conventional dynamic wherein a man must lead, and a woman must follow. The origins of Argentine tango itself is one that is grounded in the search for equality: men danced with men, and those who danced were from the lower classes.
It is not so much about men and women as it is about two people getting together as equals to connect, enjoy, express themselves, and experience the profound, mysterious pull of tango.
From a feminist perspective, a post from Sasha Cagen explains: “Tango lessons have always translated for me as a reference point for life off the dance floor. The world de facto tells women to take up less space: to cross our legs while men spread theirs on the subway; to diet; to smile when a man interrupts us; to slouch to make ourselves invisible on the street.
Tango, by contrast, teaches a woman to be bigger. To stand tall and proud in the encounter with a man.”
For many women, tango has taught them to empower themselves, to face all kinds of people as equals, and to accept themselves as the equal of others.
On the dance floor, even the leader does not dominate, for a good leader is always sensitive to their follower. At the same time, a good follower does not merely obey but assumes a more active role by supporting the leader.
Milonga at Ultimate Tango School of Dance
Rediscovering Womanly Passions
An article, On the Submissiveness of Women in the Tango by Don Berry, explains that what is feminine in tango is far from being passive:
“It has the greatest feminine range of any dance, at one moment swooning languidly into his arms, at the next a sassy, pert and rebellious flirtation. The tango can express a wider range of the feminine than any other dance, and this is the source of its power for both man and woman.”
In asking what makes women want to learn the tango, a post from Tango Lingua provides an answer that goes beyond the gender divide: “However neglected it may be, there is a dancer in all of us. Dancing is a basic human expression of creativity and emotion. Dancing with another person is an opportunity to connect, play and develop a mutual understanding — all of which are fundamentally human things to do, and lead to tango being such a worthwhile and fun activity.”
And as we are dancing, teaching, dreaming, and working on new projects - the little ones find the way to fall asleep :-)