School of the Milongueros

I have been connecting foreigners with milongueros since 2001.  The few remaining milongueros are more interested in dancing than teaching tango.  Some of them have been convinced that it is important for them to share what they know before they are gone and their secrets are gone with them.   Tango needs to be passed on personally by an experienced dancer to the next generation; group classes or YouTube videos can’t provide what you can get directly from a milonguero.  They take teaching very seriously.

Miguel Angel Balbi, Alberto Luis Ayala, Julio Alé, Jorge De Gouvea, Pedro Sanchez, Roberto Angel Puyol, and Osvaldo Centeno have given private classes to dancers from Italy, Israel, Poland, New Zealand, Canada, Scotland, Japan, England, and the United States.  There are very few who have learned directly from milongueros, whereas the majority of dancers are learning from teachers who never set foot in a milonga.  The tango as danced for decades in the milongas of Buenos Aires is being lost because most people are learning an exhibition style with choreography rather than a social style that is improvised.

Private lessons are given in the living room of my apartment.  Sessions are arranged for couples and singles.  I assist in translating and teaching with the milonguero.  

Jorge De Gouvea with his student after milonga con traspie class

Jorge De Gouvea with Horacio after his first tango lesson

Roberto Angel Puyol with his student

Beto Ayala and student

First, we meet to talk about your tango experience and your goals for the classes.  It’s important for us to know what you want to accomplish.  If your goal is something we can’t provide, i.e., choreography for stage, etc., you need to know that before scheduling.

We begin every class with a demonstration of our dancing.  If you don’t like our style for whatever reason, you are under no obligation to continue with the class.  We want you to see the “product” before you buy. 

Single men don’t need a partner for the class.  I dance with them in order to provide feedback.  

Single women learn by dancing with a milonguero while I observe and make corrections.

Couples dance with both teachers and then with each other to facilitate the learning process.   

Wear comfortable clothes with your regular dance shoes for class and bring along a change of clothing if you plan to go directly to a milonga.  

It is important to practice what you have learned in class.  We schedule future sessions only after you have had sufficient time to digest the class material and dance in the milongas.

If, during the first 15-30 minutes of class, you are not satisfied with the teaching,  let us know.  You are under no obligation to continue or to pay for the class if you aren’t getting what you need.  We want our students to be completely satisfied and leave as better dancers.  You don’t pay us until the end of the class when we take photos together.

Private lesson is $125 USD payable at the current rate in Argentine pesos [i.e., USD = 3.85 pesos X $125 =481 AP.]