Just Tango

Away from the dramatic stage performances and buried deep inside the traditions and vintage music lies a dance style like no other. Versatile, creative, fun, modern, and requiring no great physical fitness or flexibility, tango is the dance for everyone.

Tango is a partner dance between two people. Is has a reputation of being deeply sensual and even sexy, but that is just one way of dancing. It can be fun and informal, or passionate and close, and you get to choose how you dance as the steps and techniques are the same whichever style you choose.

The beauty of tango is that it can be danced anywhere - in your kitchen or living room, on the beach, in the garden, in parks and city centres, on railway platforms... if you have a few square metres of flattish ground you can dance. Even music is not always necessary, as the connection between leader and follower is such that so long as the leader can set the rhythm you can still dance, even in silence.

What about the floor?

Dancing in places other than on a polished wooden dance floor can be a little challenging at times, but it is far from impossible. You might need to adjust your technique a bit to cope with the different surface textures, but tango is still tango whether it is danced in the Blackpool Ballroom or in a car park at the Watford Gap services. Be creative, and look for the positives in your location, not the negatives.

Some tips to help you dance in unusual places are...

• You do not need loud music to dance to, so just tuck your phone into a pocket and play it from there. Or dance without music and enjoy the atmosphere around you.
• Footwear matters, so choose something appropriate to where you are, not necessarily shoes that you would normally wear for dancing (more about that here).
• Grip is likely to be higher than you are used to, so be careful with knees and ankles. Keep your knees bent slightly more than normal to protect them from twisting, and make sure your heel does not brush on the ground as it will not slide over tarmac in the same way as it does over polished oak.
• Keep pivots slow and avoid spins unless you have tested the surface and know that they will work without risk of injury.
• Dancing in public is interesting and will attract attention, and - as everyone carries a phone with a camera in their pocket these days - you should not be surprised if someone starts to film what you are doing. Remember that in many places (including the UK) they do not need your permission to film so long as you are in a public place, so if this is a problem for you then your only real recourse is to stop dancing and move elsewhere.

Not Actually Naked

This website is here to encourage you to try dancing tango in all sorts of places that you might not have considered before. You can absolutely dance tango naked if you want and we would definitely encourage you to try it at least once, but that is not what nakedtango.dance is all about.

Wild Tango

The tango is naked - we are not.