Argentine Tango

Madison, Wisconsin

Beginner classes at 122 State Street Studio, 3rd Floor, in Madison.

Tuesdays 6 pm - 7 pm

These lessons are put on by the Madison Tango Society. The lessons are followed by practice sessions (practicas) at the same location until 8:30. Many dancers then move to a mixed tango/salsa venue at the Brink lounge.

There are a number of tango instructors giving more advanced lessons in Madison. They have listings on the Tango Society web page.

For more about Argentine Tango in Madison
see the Madison Tango Society website.

Links to videos

Other links

• Advice for a Beginning Leader

• The Basic Step in Argentine Tango

• Embellishments (Adornos)

• The Essential Tango - Dancing in the Moment
  "Striving to be ourselves while we learn to pay attention to others can be a transformative experience. As a result of the creative process of learning and dancing the tango, an encounter takes place between what is inside you and what is inside your partner. This connection is magical and uplifting."

• Evening Etiquette at the Argentine Dance Hall

• Frequently Asked Questions about Leading and Following (Dancing in General)

  • How Followers Can Help Beginning Leaders

  • On the Importance of Dancing With Beginners

• A History of Argentine Tango

• A History of Tango by Jorge Luis Borges
  "The tango can be debated, and we have debates over it, but it still guards, as does all that is truthful, a secret."

  • Part I - no longer on the web - Tango Noticias May 2003

  • Part II - no longer on the web - Tango Noticias June 2003

  • Part III - no longer on the web - Tango Noticias July 2003

  • Conclusion - - no longer on the web - Tango Noticias August 2003
     

• The History of Tango - A Sense of Where You Were - The Economist
  "Tango, that 'reptile from the brothels', is making a comeback."

• Interview with Kara Wenham - sorry - no longer on the web - Tango Noticias November 2003
  "at some point in our learning process we have to learn technique. Technique doesn’t just give us the capacity to dance better but it also allows us to enjoy the dance more. And the second thing is that the dance is also much more than just technique."

• Keys to Learning Tango for Beginners

• Milonga Experience

• Milongas - for dancing - not teaching- no longer on the web - Tango Noticias November 2001

• Navigation - by Robert Hauk - the dance floor probably is not too crowded
  On the Importance of Good Navigation
  What is Good Navigation?

• Photos - these links will change from time to time!

• Relationships between Tango, Milonga & Waltz

• Shoes - Dance Shoes in Madison Wisconsin - Davis Dance Wear. If you are a member of the Madison Tango Society, show your card for a discount!
• Tanda of the Week - blog of DJ Antti Suniala from Finland. A new tanda will be added to the blog every week. "This blog is to share our love for tango and educate dancers about the music and orchestras. All the music files here are in lesser quality than the original songs and are not suitable for playing in milongas." A chance for you to study the music of tango, a tanda at a time. - under the title of the tanda of the week is a link to download or listen to the tanda. (A tanda is a dance set of songs.)
• This is The Tango - Guadalupe Jolicoeur - 3-part series for Roots and Wings program by CBC - 3 hours . (Original page is not available - had much information about the program.) Here is a page with the song listings. Contains wonderful music as well as history.
   

• Too Old to Start Tango?   Tango and the Brain

• Too Young to Learn Tango?

• You know you're a Tango junkie when ...

• Why Tango? - What Makes Argentine Tango Different? Special?

• Why Tango? - A Leader's Appreciation
  "They move again in an expression that will never be exactly repeated, even though their feet are doing the same steps they have learned in class. This moment is how they feel right now - and it will never be precisely the same again. This is the dance that was invented for a universe of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Dynamic. Uncertain and slightly scary. Personal."
• Why Tango? - Two Women's Thoughts
  "I could hardly keep my eyes open! What I mean is...that his depth naturally awakened me to my depth and it was hard to focus on the outer environment much at all---meaning anything beyond my body and his. [So here I am dancing in this tango-zoo with my eyes closed!! Transported to an inner world where the music and close movement seemed to meld our bodies into one.]"

Other Venues

• Michigan Argentine Tango Club - UM - Ann Arbor, MI
   
• Tango Noticias - Chicago (Midwest) Tango magazine no longer online
• Chicago Mini Tango Festival (annual spring festival)

• Tango Society of Central Illinois

• Iowa City (Iowa) Tango

• Milwaukee: Jacques & Maria, Nina Tatarowicz - Tango Elixir

• Tango Society of Minnesota

• University of Wisconsin Madison Ballroom Dance Association (UWMBDA)

Videos (YouTube Playlists)

Lunch with the Milongueros - a series of talks hosted by Oscar Casas - Spanish w/ subtitles

Milongas - Videos of Milongas - real people dancing Argentine Tango

Seduced by Tango - Interview with Deb Sclar and Brian Dunn

Exhibition Dances - usually by instructors at festivals - Oscar & Marianne - Deb & Brian - Tete Rusconi - Homer & Cristina Ladas

Finnish Tango - A very real type of Argentine Tango in a cold clime.

Marek & Olivera - at the heart of the Madison Tango community, now in Paris

Tango in the Movies

Instruction Videos (very much a work in progress) - online

• The Three Highways - the Parallel and Cross System by Oscar and Marianne Casas
• Giros - Series of lessons by Oscar and Marianne Casas
• Giros y Sacadas - PlanetTango
• Homer and Cristina Ladas from San Francisco (mostly) (YouTube Upload List) - very high quality but not necessarily easy to understand - fun to watch. There are regular uploads so keep an eye on this one. More than 100 videos since 2007 - take small doses to avoid brain frying. If you regularly go to YouTube, subscribe to tangostudent. Here are a few recent ones.
  • Novice Material and Introduction to Turns
  • Body Spiral Fundamentals
  • Pivot vs. No-Pivot Ochos
• Dario's Tango Guide (start with No. 1) Intended for one every other week - not all at once!
• Instruction Videos from TangoHelena - leader and follower perspectives - The first one is shown below - more on the separate web page.

                   

Demonstration Videos (very much a work in progress)

    - I only list those that I think have instructional value - not ones with simply flashy dancing!

• Tango in a Tent - from Planet Tango - Includes translation of lyrics of song Al Compas de un Tango by Ricardo Tanturi
• Keep Going Around Until We Stop - from Planet Tango - turns with displacement - analysis and demonstration of giros and ochos
• Tango at the Children's World's Fair - a demonstration of tango improvisation - tango, milonga & vals
• Tete Rusconi (and mostly Silvia Ceriani) Two of my favorite tango dancers/instructors.
• Harvey Hutter and Amy Zheng (New York) - more ballet moves but very elegant and precise
• Milonga - the dance not the social gathering
• Straightforward elegant tango and milonga - from Planet Tango - More from Planet Tango,

This page hosted on the website of Madison Wisconsin Criminal Defense Attorney Charles Kenyon.
He is responsible for its content, especially the links.
If you have comments about this page, please send them to Charles.
 

Copyright ©1997-2011  Charles Kyle Kenyon, Madison, Wisconsin, all rights reserved.

This page last revised: 20 Aug 2023 19:52:48 -0400 .