Tango began as a dance in the late 19th century, around Buenos Aires and Montevideo (Uruguay’s capital). At first, it was only one of the dances performed in this region, but it soon took its place on the stage and on the streets. At the beginning of the 20th century, tango dancers and orchestras began to spread the dance from Buenos Aires and Montevideo to Europe. The first tango frenzy in Europe started in Paris, and then London, Berlin and other important cities joined the epidemic. By the 1920s, tango also gained importance in New York and Finland. When tango came around, it changed to have less body contact and turned into “hall tango”.

In hall-style tango, the body usually takes an upright position and the dance hold can be either open or closed. The lounge style is characterized by both partners staying on their own axis and maintaining a flexible contact that allows the partner’s hip rotations. Dancers should always be aware of the dance line. Hall-style tango is usually danced to the powerful beats of 4 by 4 tango music.

Milonguero-style tango is usually danced in a closed hold with a slightly reclined stance. The partners must maintain constant upper body contact throughout the entire dance, including the turns. The hip positions of the partners maintain their parallelism throughout the dance.