Heel or ball? The secret how to walk right in Argentine Tango

If you have danced Tango for a while, probably you've been taught completely different ways to walk by different Tango teachers.

Some Tango teachers tell you to walk with the ball of your foot first.

How do you walk right in Argentine Tango? Stepping first on your heel or the ball of your foot?

Other Tango teachers tell you to walk over your heel the same way you do, when you walk naturally on the street.

Can be fairly confusing, right?

Particularly when the Tango teacher is convinced to be the ONLY ONE who REALLY knows how to do it.

So, what shall you do?

Don´t worry, Tango can be easy and in reality there is no problem at all.

Look, the right way to walk in Argentine Tango depends simply on the way you dance…

If you dance Tango quickly, taking long steps you will walk over your heel the same way (okay, maybe a little more elegant) you walk on the street.

Of course you can try to take long quick steps walking on tip toe.

Yet unless you are a trained ballet dancer (and who of us normal Tango dancers is?) you will have big problems doing this and most probably it will look pretty funny (Not that I´d think looking funny is bad :-) . Dancing Tango should be fun, true?

If you dance Tango quickly, taking short steps you will in most cases walk on the balls of your feet, because you can move faster.

Also your body will be pending a little bit forward thus keeping a better contact with your dance partner.

The right walk is one of the most important things in Argentine Tango. Once you´ve mastered the secrets of the Tango walk you start to become a real good Tango dancer.

If you dance Tango slowly (or even very slowly like in slow motion), taking long steps, it looks very elegant if you land on the ball of your foot with leg and foot extended as far as possible. And given that Tango is an elegant dance that´s not to bad, isn´t it?

It requires a lot of balance to perform an extra long step in a slow motion Tango, but it really looks and feels like “WOW!” and is an excellent training for your balance.

Of course you can dance Tango slowly, taking short steps but honestly I hardly ever do this.

Okay, now you know the whole secret.

So go out to your favorite milonga and dance…

Credits and original post: http://tango-lessons.com/heel-or-ball-the-secret-how-to-walk-right-in-argentine-tango.html

''Tango'' is a comics anthology published in |Melbourne, Australia by Cardigan Comics.