The Tangosynthesis Blog
with Graham and Nathalie
X/Tango - Alternative and Neotango
06 May 2024 - by Graham
On the 19th April we had our first X/Tango event in four years, and it was everything we hoped it would be! A good number of people came from all over the area - South Norwood, Croydon, Sevenoaks, Borough Green, East Grinstead, Canterbury, and much more - and we had a good balance of leaders and followers. So absolutely we will be doing it again. But what is X/Tango? What is the difference between an X/Tango event and a milonga you may have attended that was run by a more 'traditional' tango school than us? From the first moment I discovered tango and began to learn this amazing and intricate dance style I knew that I did not want it to be constrained by one type of music. Tango was bigger than that, and it confused me that so many places seemed to be saying that if you [read more...]
X/Tango is Back!!!
03 Apr 2024 - by Graham
On the 19th April, X/Tango will return to the Tangosynthesis calendar for the first time in far too long! We last held one of these events in February 2020 just before the world got shut down around us, and a combination of various life events has meant that we never got them back up and running. But finally and at long last... we are BACK!!!! So what is X/Tango? Do you love tango, but just cannot get on with the "traditional" music played at so many milongas? Do you want to get on the floor and dance without all the messing around with cabeceo & mirada - and risking getting told off for daring to go up to someone and asking if they would like to dance? Do you want to expand your tango horizons and find out just how versatile this amazing dance style can be? And do [read more...]
What is tango?
01 Nov 2023 - by Graham
It is often described as “a dance of passion” or “the sexy dance”, but when it comes to everyday social tango this is very misleading. Tango is not inherently any more passionate or sexier than any other dance style. So… what is it? Tango is mindfulness. It is musical meditation. When you dance tango it is as if you are the only two people on the dance floor, and the rest of the world goes away for a few minutes. Tango is improvised, with the leader and follower obeying certain rules and principles; there is no choreography to learn and no sequences to memorise, so every dance is different. If you have been avoiding tango because of its “sexy” or “passionate” reputation then think again. Tango is for everyone, so give it a go. [read more...]
What do you dance at a milonga?
21 Oct 2019 - by Graham
I keep being surprised when people ask me this question, but it is something that crops up from time to time and so I should probably address it a bit more often. People know about 'milonga' as the faster form of tango which uses quick regular steps and lots of repetition, and they know that people travel a long way to go to 'milongas'. A connection between these two things is made, and the next thing I know is that I am being asked "Can you teach us the dance that people dance at milongas?" or "I see that there are a lot of milongas around, but where can I go to dance tango?" So let me clear this up once and for all: you go to milongas to dance tango. Okay? Is that settled? Tango is danced at milongas. But I can already start to hear the [read more...]
Dancing Without Tandas
05 Jul 2019 - by Graham
For those of you not familiar with the traditional tango way of doing things, tandas are groups of tracks played together that share a common rhythmic structure, orchestra, or style. It is usual for people to dance together for the duration of a tanda, then swap partners at the end of the tanda which is signified by a 'cortina' (curtain) of so-called "undanceable" music. This is the way that most traditional milongas are organised and the only way that a lot of tango dancers have ever experienced tango. At milongas that follow the rules of tango to the letter, you are supposed to only dance with someone for one tanda per event or else you may be considered to be a fixed couple, and breaking a tanda in the middle to dance with someone else is out of the question. But there is another way of [read more...]
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