In the land of the do-it-yourself and the cult of self-reliance, those of us who decided to learn to dance the Argentine Tango are constantly lectured on the "unstructured and improvisational aspects of this urban dance," and then we are immediately bombarded with an endless array of steps, figures and Spango, a list of Tango names that are supposed to help the English speaking students memorize steps and patterns better.

Previously, we have attempted to provide a series of concepts that include basic elements and fundamental propositions that can serve as the starting point of a dancing learning experience. There is an entire set of intangibles that is very difficult to categorize, assemble and compact into a series of lessons.

When people judge a book by its cover, they may not find the time to read it, or worse yet, they may become "experts" at what they judged without reading.

Have you had non-Tango dancing family members ask you about the rose between the teeth and the dips to the floor? This questioning comes across the noisy clatter at the dinner table, after the eating and drinking have eased the minds for a family heart to heart conversation.

As we travel to teach, our own education as dancers and teachers develops. Many questions are asked, and one of the most often is regarding how long I have been a teacher

The biblical story seems to indicate that Eva got to take the rap for turning Paradise into a living hell for the Creator's ultimate creation, Da Man. Looks like the First Guy leisurely enjoyed the pleasantries of an ideal world created just for him and the fruit of his ribs, with only one caveat to be aware of (actually two, stay away from the Forbidden Tree and don't dance to Piazzolla).

A compulsive fixation on “the steps,” holds the development of many a Tango dancer as much as bumping into trees numbs the senses for the awareness of the beauty and purpose of a forest.

One of the main resources for Tango dancers is the large number of videos available from various sources. Given enough time and patience, most people could eventually copy and replicate some of the breathtaking moves we see in those videos. However, the majority of reputable experts, some of which make a good living dancing for the cameras, will tell you that nobody has ever learned to dance Tango from a video.

A major transformation in the way Tango is danced began to take place in the late 1930s and continued well into the 1950s. It was a natural consequence of the changes that the music itself had undergone since the decade of the 1920s.

Like in any good milonga when the music stops or the tanda ends, the socializing aspect of the encounter is a very important ingredient to round out an enjoyable evening.

A working understanding of floor navigation and the dynamic interplay of the body positioning, create plenty of opportunities to enjoy a Tango, any Tango, with any given partner, and with floor conditions in effect at the time that you step on to the dance floor.

Tango is a social and cultural manifestation of the city of Buenos Aires which was first a way to dance whatever it was they were dancing to around 1878. Gradually it developed into a distinctive way to dance the primitive music, played by ear, by trios of mobile street musicians.

It seems that Argentine Tango dancing is the most talked about pastime because of its free form nature and the many opportunities to dance that are now available everywhere we go.

Recently we stepped back in time to an era when first class travel meant plenty of room to move around, with panoramic views of the landscape, delicious meals, and sleeping quarters. We rode the train on a teaching tour of the Midwest.

One of the often used analogies to describe the motion of Tango dancers on the floor is that they walk like a feline. The subtle, catlike, cunning displacement of good Tango dancers speaks plenty of connection, sensuality and finesse.

A case may be made for the long checklist a Tango dancer must go through before stepping onto the floor. Issues of posture, musicality and types of embrace occupy an important aspect in the minds of most dancers. Room should be left for enjoyment and gratification.

When one embarks on learning to dance Argentine Tango, one is encountered with as many teaching opinions as there are teachers. Since there is no generally accepted Argentine Tango syllabus, how the teachers themselves learn the dance and subsequently how they teach it, is at best varied and at worst a hodgepodge nightmare for the student.

Whether you are dancing with your partner on a crowded or an empty room, understanding the reason and the logic of most Tango moves helps to develop an instinct for floor navigation with finesse. g

Over the years, it has become natural to find dancing opportunities all over the world. For those who travel, it is a blessing of sorts to be able to connect with a local Tango community at almost any destination, whether it is in the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and even Buenos Aires.

Dance floors come in all shapes, so the challenge of navigating any floor while dancing the music, protecting the woman, and respecting the presence of other dancers around, should be the top priority of any man who aspires to be considered a good Tango dancer.

It is sadly amusing to read about teachers who ask their students to tap each other's shoulders and/or back according to the rhythm of the music to feel really wonderful about being massaged after a vigorous dance class, under the pretenses of learning musicality to improve their tango dancing.

In between the Tangos of a set (tanda), a lot of conversation goes on among the dancers standing on the dance floor. The topics of the many conversations that ensue, cover anywhere from flirty interchanges to the latest gossip in the neighborhood. When the next Tango begins, the sound of the conversations blends with the music for a few seconds.

Argentine Tango dancing is about a couple moving around the dance floor led by the rhythm and melody of the music. Navigating the floor is an acquired skill and it combines timing, balance and talent to improvise.

The dynamics of Tango dancing come into play when the couple moves to the sound of the music. The space occupied varies according to the alignment of the bodies with respect to each other and the trajectory of every particular movement.

The understanding and good use of the relative positions of the upper bodies leads a dancing couple to clear execution of patterns and figures while maintaining good posture, developing a personal elegance and establishing a dynamic connection between the dancers.

A male Tango dancer approaches each dance as a journey around the dance floor inspired by the music and the presence of the woman he's holding in his arms. A female Tango dancer enters into the embrace of the man who's transporting her around the dance floor and lets her body become an expression of the feelings and emotions that she and her partner create as the journey takes them to unexpected levels of intimacy.

The one and only undisputed fact about the Tango, is that it began as a way to dance existing rhythms, and over a couple of decades, the music morphed into a distinctive rhythm to match the choreographic challenge of the early dancers

We are reaching a point where the original purpose of this series is being fulfilled. More and more people realize that there is more to dancing tango than arguing about styles, proclaiming who is the best teacher this week, or pretending a level of expertise from behind the glare of a computer screen.