When I think tango, I think fierceness, passion and strength. When Teacher asked me to come up with a story for tango, I envisioned two panthers stalking each other in a jungle. In the human realm, I think of two figures in a dark, smoky bar located down a cobblestone alleyway.
Tango’s character comes from its mix of slow and sharp movements. It’s like a coiled spring that’s compressed and released over and over. It’s hard! Quick movements scare me because if you make a mistake, it’s a lot more obvious! A small mistake during a slow, flowing movement like in waltz is relatively easy to cover up. A small mistake made during a quick, sharp movement in tango looks huge!
Tango was my worst dance because I kept holding myself back, afraid to just go for it in those quick movements (see Tango Curses). But the funny thing is, because it was my worst dance, I put a lot more time into practicing it. And I ended up winning the bronze Best of the Best at the 2015 California Open with my tango!
As I was reviewing videos for this post, I had to acknowledge my progress in this dance. This tango from December 2014 at the Holiday Dance Classic is pretty good.
But the tango from the 2015 Emerald Ball is so much sharper!
Hurray for progress!
Fellow dancers, what dance do you find the most challenging?
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The Girl with the Tree Tattoo 
You ask a loaded question! Every dance has an element that’s hard for me. The sharpness in Tango, control of the speed in Viennese Waltz, the emotion in Waltz. Foxtrot I love to pieces and teach sets the bar high for me. Some day I’ll put it all together.
Great Tango, btw.
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For me the dance goes back and forth depending on what I am working on. Because of my health, jive is particularly hard right now just because I have no ‘steam’ for it. In standard I find slow foxtrot on of the most difficult because it requires a lot of control.
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Yes, they all have different challenges. For me, Bolero is the one I probably struggle with the most. The timing always seems to be slower than I think it is. All the lowering and pushing off the supporting leg tends to make my knees hurt so I get tentative in the steps. And capturing the whole feel of the bolero and then expressing it is a challenge for me.
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For me, my hardest dance is Rumba. Even though I love it so much, my Cuban Motion is so weak and my swivels are rough. But I want to do Rumba in competition, so I’m going to have to work twice as hard to strengthen my Rumba!
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