There are many different styles within Argentine tango, and these become increasingly diverse as the dance develops.

It's not ballroom tango...

The first and most important distinction is between ballroom tango and Argentine tango. These are two totally different dances: they are based on different principles, use different embraces, steps and music, express different moods and establish different relationships between leader and follower. For this reason, please be cautious about learning ‘Argentine tango’ from ballroom dancing teachers. Argentine tango takes many years (some would say a lifetime!) of focused dedication to master, and those who teach a variety of other dances are unlikely to reflect the authentic spirit, technique, diversity and innovation of 21st-century Argentine tango.

Within 'proper' Argentine tango, there are several styles. They can be distinguished in great part through the different embraces they use. The main styles are outlined below. If you'd like to see examples of these, do visit our Video of the Month page, where you can see the best tangueros in the world dancing in each style.

Salon style

This style is the most widely danced and taught. It is the style we teach in our weekly classes. It can be danced in an open or close embrace (the latter is more common in Argentina). We teach in both embraces; we find that most people begin in an open embrace, and then move closer. Each dancer will find his or her own preferred way of dancing, and ultimately develop the ability to dance in a range of styles. Whether danced in open or close embrace, salon style tango is improvised, elegant, social tango, as it is danced in Argentina. Both leader and follower remain balanced on their own axes. Contemporary salon tango draws upon movements and concepts from milonguero and nuevo styles.

There are many individual schools/styles within salon tango, and the more you dance and watch tango, the clearer the distinctions become. The style we most admire is probably 'Villa Urquiza', which is most elegant, dynamic and polished; the name refers to the district, and its milongas, in which the style arose. Other ways of dancing tango are equally valid and equally beautiful in their own ways, but for us there is a passion, finesse and attention to the dynamics of the music within Urquiza style which is most impressive. (To see an example of this style, go to Video of the Month page and look under February for Javier Rodriguez and Andrea Misse.)


Milonguero style

This is a rather controversial style, in the sense that many myths abound about it. It is traditional style still danced in Argentina, especially in the long-established venues, though our own experience of dancing in Buenos Aires suggests that, contrary to some claims, most social dancers there dance salon style in a close, intimate hold.

Milonguero style is danced in a very close embrace, and in its most 'extreme' form (apilado) the axis of the couple is shared - the man and woman ‘lean’ onto each other's chest, so that if one person stepped away, the other would fall over. This style is rarely taught in England, but we do incorporate aspects of it within our dancing and teaching. To dance like this takes a lot of practice, but it is really quite extraordinary, and gives a sensation of closeness between partners that is unparalleled; we love to dance in this way with each other. (Please note: Americans and American websites often call close-embrace salon tango 'milonguero style', but they are not usually referring to this style of dancing.)


Tango nuevo

This is really a variation on salon tango but, as its name suggests, is a 'new' kind of tango. There are as many styles as there are practitioners of it, but there are some general observations that can be made about nuevo...

It is characterised by a changeable and often casual embrace, upright standing posture, and looser, more flexible arms. Strong pivots and dissociation allow for the inclusion of a higher number of overturned ochos, sacadas, displacements and 'off-axis' steps. The legs often move in a slightly different way from in salon tango, with a greater emphasis on fluidity and continuing movement. This is a style that increasingly influences our own dancing, depending on which orquesta we are dancing to. It can be innovative, ingenious, surprising and exciting, but it does require a good grounding in salon-style tango, as it demands excellent balance, posture and pivoting. For this reason, it is a style that is better suited to intermediate and advanced dancers (it is usually only taught at these levels). If it is to feel and look good, it demands excellent musicality.

It can also be said that the demands placed upon the follower are considerably higher than is necessarily true in social salon tango - which is understandable, as the latter originated as a dance for non-professional, social dancers. The woman must be capable of following a series of dramatically different movements in quick succession which require her to control her balance, weight and axis, and maintain solidity and strength in her core, yet flexibility and fluidity in her limbs. More than ever, the beauty of the dance arises from the follower's expression of the movements in which she is led - her poise, elegance, speed, precision and flow. Indeed, in tango nuevo (or 'neo-tango') the woman is often far more active in the creation or suggestions of movements and steps, even in a social dance situation.

Tango nuevo also arose as a new way of conceptualising the movements of tango dancing - and relatedly, a new way of teaching. Its innovative qualities arise from working out in a logical and methodical way the range of possibilities inherent within a movement, taking into account the different relationships possible between the partners. For instance, you may hear a teacher speak about the range of possible forward sacadas thus: front (step) to side (step), front to front, front to back, all of which can be done on the left or the right. By thinking in this way, new combinations and movements can be more easily discovered. We often use this approach to tango when we create steps and sequences for our classes, and are increasingly using it in our teaching.


Show tango

This is the much ‘flashier’ dancing that you will find in Argentine tango stage shows and some films. It still uses authentic salon steps, but also includes lifts, dips and an excessive number of ganchos, boleos, sacadas and the like.

Show tango is performed by trained dancers, many of whom have come from a ballet background, and all of whom have danced the tango for many years, so please don’t attempt to reproduce the more athletic movements in your own dancing!

It is also bad form to dance too many extravagant movements such as ganchos and boleos on the dance floor (out of consideration for other dancers). However, the posture, poise and precision of good show tango dancers can certainly be adopted in your own dancing.

A caveat about show tango and 'Strictly Come Dancing'...

Real show tango is still Argentine tango, but adapted for the stage. Done well, it is beautiful and impressive, and has its own integrity. ‘Tango por Dos’ are probably the best show tango dancers. What you see on programmes such as 'Strictly Come Dancing' is NOT real show tango but a modified version of ballroom tango (whatever the presenters/dancers may claim).

You will see celebrity dancers who appear on this kind of programme, claiming to be specialists in Argentine tango. These people are invariably unknown in Argentina and in the world of real tango; they are actually ballroom dancers who dance their modified version of 'Argentine/ballroom tango' only within the world of ballroom dancing, performing to audiences who generally do not know what authentic tango looks like.

If you want to watch real Argentine show tango, go to see 'Tango por Dos', or browse our 'Video of the Month' page. There is some stunning and inspiring contemporary tango readily available to see nowadays, and you will see tangueros who can be 'flashy' and athletic, but who dance genuine tango, with authentic technique, to proper tango music, and with real feeling and respect for this amazing dance.