'Show tango'
This is the ‘flashier’ dancing that you will find in Argentine tango stage shows and some films. It should still use recognisable, authentic figures, but will also includes lifts, dips and an excessive number of ganchos, boleos, sacadas etc.
The posture, poise and precision of good show tango dancers can certainly inspire your own dancing. However, it is bad form to dance too many extravagant movements such as high kicks and over-enthusiastic boleos on the dance floor (out of consideration for other dancers).
The posture, poise and precision of good show tango dancers can certainly inspire your own dancing. However, it is bad form to dance too many extravagant movements such as high kicks and over-enthusiastic boleos on the dance floor (out of consideration for other dancers).
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A version of salon tango called 'tango fantasia' adopts some familiar show tango moves to the dance floor. This term is somewhat outdated now, and rarely used by tangueros today; the more useful movements have been incorporated anyway into nuevo/salon. As with all authentic tango, 'fantasia' is fully led and followed - not choreographed or memorised.
It must be noted that outside Argentina there exists today some very poor, inauthentic show dancing claiming to be 'tango' but actually offering a mere pastiche of the real thing. It's important to respect the integrity of real tango, and develop the ability to distinguish great show tango which pushes the boundaries from faked, over-performed, clichéd spectacle. |
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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. Historically, the ‘Tango por Dos’ troupe in the 1990s/early 2000s were probably the best show tango dancers (pictured on this page). What you see on programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing is not real show tango but a faux version created by ballroom dancers (whatever the presenters/dancers may claim).
You will see celebrity professional dancers who appear on this kind of programme, claiming to be specialists (or even 'world champions') in Argentine tango. These people are unknown in Argentina and in the world of real tango; they are actually ballroom dancers who dance a poor copy of 'Argentine tango' only within the world of ballroom dancing, performing to audiences who generally do not know what authentic tango looks like. They win their competitions, titles and accolades within that milieu, not within the world of authentic tango.
If you want to watch real Argentine show tango, find an authentic touring company, or browse our Video page. There is some stunning and inspiring contemporary tango readily available to see nowadays, and if you enjoy show tango, you can find tangueros who can be exciting and athletic, but who dance genuine tango, with authentic technique, to proper tango music, and with real feeling and respect for this amazing dance.
Real show tango is still Argentine tango, but adapted for the stage. Done well, it is beautiful and impressive, and has its own integrity. Historically, the ‘Tango por Dos’ troupe in the 1990s/early 2000s were probably the best show tango dancers (pictured on this page). What you see on programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing is not real show tango but a faux version created by ballroom dancers (whatever the presenters/dancers may claim).
You will see celebrity professional dancers who appear on this kind of programme, claiming to be specialists (or even 'world champions') in Argentine tango. These people are unknown in Argentina and in the world of real tango; they are actually ballroom dancers who dance a poor copy of 'Argentine tango' only within the world of ballroom dancing, performing to audiences who generally do not know what authentic tango looks like. They win their competitions, titles and accolades within that milieu, not within the world of authentic tango.
If you want to watch real Argentine show tango, find an authentic touring company, or browse our Video page. There is some stunning and inspiring contemporary tango readily available to see nowadays, and if you enjoy show tango, you can find tangueros who can be exciting and athletic, but who dance genuine tango, with authentic technique, to proper tango music, and with real feeling and respect for this amazing dance.
Read about other authentic tango styles by clicking below:
Page updated 24th November 2014