33 Tango Quotes That Will Change Your Dancing

Be inspired by to put poetry in motion with these Argentine Tango quotes.

 "I believe that Tango has the potential to bring out the best in each of us, at least while in the embrace. We surrender our egos; leave prickly personality traits at the table; and cease to be CEOs, taxi drivers, engineers, unemployed. We replace all our externals with a purity of spirit, a generosity of kindness, splendid caring. And when these elements flow freely between partners, it is... the joy." - Unknown
 
"Warning: tango contains highly addictive ingredients, such as pain, pleasure, passion, excitement, connection, freedom, torment, and bliss. In seven out of ten cases it takes over a person's life." - Naomi Hotta

"There are no wrong moves in tango, only new ones." - VaroTango

"The wealth of a tango couple resides in that they both contribute to the choreographic creation. The improvision, the emotion that each feels which is materialized in steps. It is ideal when both partners contribute what they feel to the music." - Guillermina Quiroga

Javier: "When a man walks nicely, the woman dies in his embrace." Stella: "When a man walks badly, the woman wants to die." - Jaiver Rodriguez & Stella Misse

“A good dancer is one who listens to the music…We dance the music not the steps. Anyone who aspires to dance never thinks about what he is going to do. What he cares about is that he follows the music. You see, we are painters. We paint the music with our feet.” - Carlos Gavito

"Other music exists to heal wounds; but the tango when sung and played is for the purpose of opening them, for the purpose of sticking you finger in the wound and to tear them until they bleed." - Unknown

"The Tango is the ultimate communication between two people. It begins with an embrace, an initial sharing of affection, yet stresses individual balance... The mastering of one's individual balance is what allows two bodies to dance as one, along with a technique that is clean and uncluttered, a form that is pure, a line that is classical and an elegance that is sublime." - Miguel Angel Pla

"The music goes in my ears, is filtered through my heart, and comes out through my feet." - El Flaco Dany Garcia

"When someone begins he can be dazzled by things that are external; the things of tango are internal... A dancer arrives at the roots of tango when he falls in love..." - Eduardo Arquimba

"When you dance tango with someone, you don’t need to know their entire history in order to get a glimpse of their more ‘raw’ self, their human warmth or lack thereof, their ability to listen and participate in a dialogue, their ability to enjoy the music, open themselves emotionally and show their vulnerable side. It’s harder to hide our ‘raw self’ if we are not able to use words to conceal." - Unknown

 "It's not about fancy repertoire, flourishes and embellishments... At the core it's about starting, stepping and pausing with the music. All the rest is icing on the cake." - Chris Corby


"Sssh. Don't tell anyone this. This is a secret. Imagine telling a beginner man he has to learn to find the rhythm of the music, watch out for navigational hazards on the dance floor, develop a strategy on the spot for dealing with them choosing from a repertoire of movements he has learned, then lead the woman to move in the intended direction with the intended speed while maintaining the connection, and then... He has to follow the woman's response to his lead to determine the next move (within a millisecond, after all, this is not chess), and take responsibility for whatever goes wrong. And we wonder why there aren't enough men in tango? Yet the surviving men keep trying. It must be that the rewards of tango are greater than its obstacles." - Jay Rabe

"What we need are more people with sensitivity and fewer exhibitionists." - Osvaldo Natucci

"The tango trance. Seek it, and it will elude you. Talk about it in too much detail and it will haunt you evily. Live for it, and you will die many deaths. Treasure it, but don't hold onto it. Dance with love and freedom and it will embrace you. Be vulnerable, and feel it's power." - Dan Boccia

 "The tango is an embrace in movement. A man and a woman enter a dialogue through their bodies, guided by music which has an almost somber quality of yearning. Of a passion that can that can never be fulfilled. Of a sweet sadness. Two strangers become one for the duration of the dance. Two opposites come together briefly to create the fantasy of a harmonious whole." - Gisela Kirberg Mamone

 "Tango is not a race: there is no finish line." - Robin Thomas

"For me, when I think of the best leaders I've danced with, I've noticed a commonality between all of them which is an apparent lack of ego or bravado. Instead of thinking about themselves, they just surrender to the music and to the pleasure of having a woman in their arms, no matter if she's experienced or not. They are the kind who would never let a woman feel incompetent or humiliated but instead as though it's been a sublime privilege to share this wonderful thing called tango with them. The worst leaders are the ones who don't pay attention to a woman's skill level and instead try to guide her into doing moves that are obviously beyond her knowledge of the choreography, thus shaming and humiliating her. They are the worst because they are only focusing on themselves instead of making it a wonderful experience for them both. In other words, they didn't surrender to the experience but to their own egos with complete disregard for the women's." - Caroline Polack

"Tango is a dance in which is it easy to become obsessed with perfection. The taste of heaven that is found within tango may encourage some to seek perfection. Others may bring their own perfectionism to tango. But we should never confuse heaven and perfection. They are very different. The path of perfectionism often leads away from heaven — as we find ourselves accompanied and driven forward by demons that become all too familiar. If we pursue perfection in our practice, we are likely developing the demons that seek to keep us from effective dancing." - Stephen Brown

"Tango is a a four legged animal with two beating hearts." - Unknown

"When the tango took hold of me, it was as if I had found the ultimate lover. No single experience can be as fascinating as this dance. No single work of art is so replete with all the joy and sorrow and longing and tragi-comedy of the human race, as is a tango danced between a man and a woman. It is labyrinthine, yet so simple. Each lasts just a few moments, yet it is eternal. There is a purity amidst all its complexities. The more one searches for the meaning behind its mystery, the ever more elusive is the tango... And yet, it is what it is, and we can see it, hear it, feel it, breathe it, live it, in the pleasure of its immediacy. Those of us it holds in its power - we want to shape our whole lives around it, its cadences, its sweat, its subtle messages and surging desires. The tango changes us forever. It changed me forever. Never have I been so intensely in love. Never had I felt so intensely alive. It helps me forget. And it helps me remember sweetly." - La Nuit Blanche

"In tango, the relationship between lead and follower, man and woman, is so intense and all consuming, that there is simply no time for small talk. The last man I danced with, I know more intricately in many ways than his lover: I know that he perspires in a tiny spot above his brow; that when the dance slows and our connection is tight, his breathing almost stops; that when my leg sweeps his, he arches his neck imperceptibly upwards; that when another couple got too close he subconsciously enclosed me in a protective embrace; and that his hand rested so delicately on the flesh of my back. Yet all I know about him are his name and his country of origin. Small talk is a luxury not afforded to us tango addicts." - Anastasia Demaggio

"Tango is great for people who don't get enough opportunities to get rejected in everyday life." - Squeaky Frobisher

"In tango, heaven is found through the simple gift of grace. That comes from getting out on the dance floor with the person that happens to be right for the moment, opening one's heart and falling in love again. The times that this happens, one is just happy to be in the arms of another at the end of the tanda." - Unknown

"Tango is about feeling and sensitivity, otherwise you are just doing gymnastics. You can do all the steps but it has to have the feeling and sensitivity of authentic tango." - Miguel Zotto

"Beginners want to dance like intermediates; intermediates want to dance like advanced dancers; advanced dancers want to dance like the greats; but the greats always go back to basics." - Unknown

"Tango can save your life, and it will break your heart." - Ms. Heartbreak Tango

"When you dance with a partner you are close and the dance is very suggestive, but it is not personal... Close is what the music inspires you to become. The embrace looks personal, but what we are actually embracing is the music." - Carlos Gavito

"To be a great lead, do not love the woman you dance with; rather, listen to the music and love it! Beautiful tango is a process of transference - your love for the music will be transferred to the follower, and she will be enchanted." - John Vaina

"People talk about styles of tango, but there is only one tango. It accommodates itself to every place and every era." - Eduardo Arquimbau

"However an excellent dancer you are as a man, even if you are able to dance with every woman, when you dance with a woman who can’t follow you have more responsibility. You must dance perfectly, which means you can’t relax, you can’t think about your posture, and you can’t rattle off a fine step: what is the use of being able to do everything if the woman can’t follow you?" - Miguel Zotto

"Tango is a sad feeling that is danced." - Enrique Santos Discépoloo

"Please, just for me, forget the steps... Hold me, feel the music, and give me your soul. Then I can give you mine."