Western Standard
It takes two to tango
27 June 2005
Dina O'Meara
Western Standard Magazine
27 June 2005
Dina O'Meara
Western Standard Magazine
Tango. The word conjures images of dancers with smouldering eyes and simmering sensuality
gliding to the melancholy sound of Astor Piazzola's accordion-like bandoneon. The men are
manly and the women are, well, wrapping their legs quite conspicuously around them.
This is no two-step, or waltz, and definitely not predictable. Tango is an exploration of moods,
from melancholy to playful. Dancers seem to vibrate while maintaining the balance of energy
between male lead and female response, a powerful interaction that can evaporate as soon as
the music stops.
That sultry Latin image is playing out in growing numbers of dance clubs in Vancouver,
Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg. Fanatics say the Argentine transplant flourishes here
because it's a living thing, a mystery people want to explore, a passion meant to be
communicated without words. And, just maybe, the tango lets North Americans experience our
biological imperatives rather than our politically correct ones. "I wonder if in our culture, we
haven't been seeking some therapeutic interaction," acclaimed performer and instructor Susana
Domingues muses from her Vancouver studio. "Tango is a product of a different culture, and
maybe that provides a safe place to engage in these very definite male and female roles."
Tango is fundamentally based on the strong male lead--and the woman's willingness to follow,
she explains. There is no sexual homogeny here; the "manlier" the man, the better. He directs
the steps through movements of his torso, his hand on the small of her back, his rhythm. The
woman responds to the direction, then he responds to her, creating a tight balance of power
that is the key to tango's sensual appeal.
But it's a concept that has caused many a tight-lipped argument on Canadian classroom floors,
and silent exits by fuming couples. Calgary-based instructor Leo Sato makes sure beginners
know exactly where the sexes stand on the dance floor--and it isn't politically correct. "Ladies,
repeat after me," Sato begins his classes. "Men lead, women follow, men lead, women follow."
Sato started out in ballroom dance, and fell into tango while living in South America. Since
coming to Calgary about five years ago, he's seen the number of tango students swell, in part,
he believes, because tango's basic eight steps are easy to learn. The clothes are rather cool,
too; form-fitting pants for men, leg-baring dresses for women. And those ankle straps? They're
not just for looks: they keep the shoes from flying off women's feet while executing the gancho,
where the female "hooks" her leg behind her partner's knee with a swift, sliding backward kick,
or the ocho, when he prompts her to swivel in a tight "eight" formation by his side.
Unsurprisingly, the male- female ratio in Sato's tango classes is around one to one, whereas in
other Latin dance classes it's around one to five. "Salsa is like an action movie, or a comedy," he
says. "Argentine tango is more like a good romantic movie." In tango, men and women are
equal partners but definitely not the same. "It isn't a chemistry of similar parts, but of different
parts," Vince Davis, founder of Edmonton Tango, says. "The two very different roles come
together and fit; it's magical."
Vince and wife Cindy became full converts to the tango after visiting Buenos Aires in 1995. Both
were ballroom instructors at the University of Alberta, where Vince manages the School of
Business' information systems. "There's a very strong personal and emotional involvement in
Argentine tango," Vince says. "Ballroom dancing doesn't have that same feel."
The couple were instrumental in promoting the dance in Edmonton and Calgary. A couple of
years later, Tamara and Ernst Edler, of Tango Sutra, caught the bug--in Canada's small tango
world, Domingues taught Tamara her first class--and now split their year between Edmonton
and Argentina. "Tango is enticing because it explores the depths of emotions, is very intimate,
and you never stop learning because of that," Tamara says. Over time, the gender dynamic
evolves. "The woman exerts more of her will as her level of expertise in tango grows." In other
words, the more you learn, the clearer it becomes that it really does take two to tango.
gliding to the melancholy sound of Astor Piazzola's accordion-like bandoneon. The men are
manly and the women are, well, wrapping their legs quite conspicuously around them.
This is no two-step, or waltz, and definitely not predictable. Tango is an exploration of moods,
from melancholy to playful. Dancers seem to vibrate while maintaining the balance of energy
between male lead and female response, a powerful interaction that can evaporate as soon as
the music stops.
That sultry Latin image is playing out in growing numbers of dance clubs in Vancouver,
Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg. Fanatics say the Argentine transplant flourishes here
because it's a living thing, a mystery people want to explore, a passion meant to be
communicated without words. And, just maybe, the tango lets North Americans experience our
biological imperatives rather than our politically correct ones. "I wonder if in our culture, we
haven't been seeking some therapeutic interaction," acclaimed performer and instructor Susana
Domingues muses from her Vancouver studio. "Tango is a product of a different culture, and
maybe that provides a safe place to engage in these very definite male and female roles."
Tango is fundamentally based on the strong male lead--and the woman's willingness to follow,
she explains. There is no sexual homogeny here; the "manlier" the man, the better. He directs
the steps through movements of his torso, his hand on the small of her back, his rhythm. The
woman responds to the direction, then he responds to her, creating a tight balance of power
that is the key to tango's sensual appeal.
But it's a concept that has caused many a tight-lipped argument on Canadian classroom floors,
and silent exits by fuming couples. Calgary-based instructor Leo Sato makes sure beginners
know exactly where the sexes stand on the dance floor--and it isn't politically correct. "Ladies,
repeat after me," Sato begins his classes. "Men lead, women follow, men lead, women follow."
Sato started out in ballroom dance, and fell into tango while living in South America. Since
coming to Calgary about five years ago, he's seen the number of tango students swell, in part,
he believes, because tango's basic eight steps are easy to learn. The clothes are rather cool,
too; form-fitting pants for men, leg-baring dresses for women. And those ankle straps? They're
not just for looks: they keep the shoes from flying off women's feet while executing the gancho,
where the female "hooks" her leg behind her partner's knee with a swift, sliding backward kick,
or the ocho, when he prompts her to swivel in a tight "eight" formation by his side.
Unsurprisingly, the male- female ratio in Sato's tango classes is around one to one, whereas in
other Latin dance classes it's around one to five. "Salsa is like an action movie, or a comedy," he
says. "Argentine tango is more like a good romantic movie." In tango, men and women are
equal partners but definitely not the same. "It isn't a chemistry of similar parts, but of different
parts," Vince Davis, founder of Edmonton Tango, says. "The two very different roles come
together and fit; it's magical."
Vince and wife Cindy became full converts to the tango after visiting Buenos Aires in 1995. Both
were ballroom instructors at the University of Alberta, where Vince manages the School of
Business' information systems. "There's a very strong personal and emotional involvement in
Argentine tango," Vince says. "Ballroom dancing doesn't have that same feel."
The couple were instrumental in promoting the dance in Edmonton and Calgary. A couple of
years later, Tamara and Ernst Edler, of Tango Sutra, caught the bug--in Canada's small tango
world, Domingues taught Tamara her first class--and now split their year between Edmonton
and Argentina. "Tango is enticing because it explores the depths of emotions, is very intimate,
and you never stop learning because of that," Tamara says. Over time, the gender dynamic
evolves. "The woman exerts more of her will as her level of expertise in tango grows." In other
words, the more you learn, the clearer it becomes that it really does take two to tango.
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