I have been taking tango for about 3 months in Seattle, doing mostly some group classes and some private lessons. I had just started to feel comfortable getting around the dance floor and was very excited to try my new skill out in BA.

On a recommendation from the person I had been taking lessons with, I decided to look up ArgentinaTango.com and see about some classes. At first I felt the classes they were offering seemed a little expensive, so I started with just a few private lessons to test the waters.

After taking my very first class, I realized that the cost of the classes were well worth it.

Here is how it went:

Day 1, first class:

I meet with my instructor at 10:30 to 12:00. We did some exercises and drills. About 15 minutes in to the class, it was becoming more and more apparent that I had no idea how to stand, walk, or hold myself. I must have heard her say "Up the chest, keep the torso, and push the floor with your toes," about a million times.

Second class,

This was with a male instructor.  The focus of the class was being to get me skilled enough to dance at a melonga. This class was very different from the first, in that we were focusing more on how to work with the music, and how the music and the dance combined can create words and sentences that can be communicated to your partner though the right use of the body to lead them. 

Day 2, first class.

A lot more of what we had been working on from the day before, plus we are adding torso exercises and pivot exercises. When I took this class the day before, I wondered if we were ever going to get to the dancing. By the end of this day, I remember thinking, "I am not ready to dance yet, but I am getting close." It is becoming obvious to me that this teacher has a real passion for creating good dancers.

Second Class.

The instructor feels I am able to learn fast, but I need to keep the music in focus. "Remember," he says, "it is like words and colors, with it you create a great work of art."

Day 3,

Going home after my first class, I think I have grown an inch. No kidding, my head is hitting the bottom of the light that is hanging in my living room. Crap, I am getting taller. Even during dinner that night a friend of mine said that I looked taller.  How can this be?

Day 4.

I never knew that I had muscles in my toes. I can't believe how my body is changing, and with it I can really start to feel myself becoming a better lead. There is no question that you have to lead from you torso and chest, I can't believe I never noticed this before.

My musicality is really starting to improve as well, though it still takes a lot of warm up before I can step right.

Day 5 and 6: recovery.

It is New Year's Eve anyway, I have a date, and my body needs a chance to get used to my new and improved posture. I am taking a couple of days to have some travel fun and explore. Over the course of the last 6 days of classes, I really started get the most out of tango. It would take too long to hit what I did each day. (Next time I'll write these up as I go, instead of after.)  

Here is the summary:

Now that I understand more how to lead with the torso, and am better at walking, etc., we are ready to move on to the fun stuff, namely, dancing. I have always had a hard time with the different turns, and now I know why. You have to understand balance and weight placement, all of the things I worked on in my first four days of classes. What I loved the most about these teachers was how they took the time to watch how I did the move, and then focus on one problem at a time to get though them. First it was the spinning, so we did some exercises to work on that. Next it was setting up the follow for the turn, then weight placement. By picking it apart and dealing with each piece I was able to learn much faster than I had in Seattle.

At the end of each lesson I could have kissed my teachers because of how fast I was learning (as well as the fact that they are really cute). While I am still a little clumsy on the dance floor, when someone I had danced with before said, "Wow, great turn!" that is when I knew it had all been worth it. I have been back in Seattle a week, I have passed up everyone that I take classes with, no one can believe it, most of all me.

These guys at Argentina Tango know there stuff, I am so happy I will be coming back at the end of April to do it again.

I enjoyed my time learning the basics of tango, together with a little salsa in Buenos Aires . All the teaching was first rate and the fact that I was being taught in a separate studio with one to one tuition aided in that. I would seriously consider another tango holiday with Argentina Tango in in the future, as I now know the expense was jusitified by the facilities, standard of teaching and care and attention to all aspects of settling in to Buenos Aires . I got to appreciate a snapshot of a part of Argentinean culture during my time in Buenos Aires .

Dear Argentina Tango,

Thank you so much for arranging the Dinner and Tango Show in Buenos Aires, we thought both the show and the dinner were excellent and good value for money.

The Tango lessons you arranged with Rachel Greenberg in Buenos Aires for my son were excellent, he learnt a great deal in the 10 hours of lessons he had and he is looking forward to continuing his lessons in the UK and intends to come back out to Buenos Aires for more Tango during his University gap year and we would be approaching Argentina Tango to arrange everything.

Please feel free to post the testimonial on your web site.

Best Regards

Robert & TJ Palmer London, UK

To whom it may concern: This is a letter of recommendation that I hope will be posted anywhere that the brilliant and wonderful folks at Argentina Tango deem necessary.  I recently took a trip to Buenos Aires and had a marvelous experience.  Here is the story: My wife and I own a ballroom dance studio in Bend, Oregon.  We offer ballroom dance competitions and fun trips about 4 times a year.  This year we decided to go to Buenos Aires to experience the tango since the origins of our American tango and International tango come from the Argentine tango.  We consistently offer quality trips to our students and when we advertised this trip 13 students chose to go.  I was a little nervous since we were going internationally and I had never been to this destination before.  However, the trip was a fantastic experience and below are the detailed reasons why: 

1.  Online communication: Argentina Tango responded immediately to our first inquiry.  They followed up with a detailed response to our first set of questions within 12 hours. 2.  Consistent follow-through: As my wife and I asked more questions and required more details, they followed up with exact answers.

3.  Choice of venues and activities:  AT chose excellent places to experience the milongas.  They offered a number of side trips (which we took advantage of) that were well worth our time.

4.  Personal attention:  One of the main concerns I had was how to organize my group from point A to point B.  AT solved all my problems by having someone from their staff meet us at specific times and places to get where we needed to go.  One of the main places we left from was our hotel.  There was always someone there, on time or early to escort us to our destination.  Also, each of our guides either made our transition easier or gave us valuable information to aid us in our stay.

5.  Choice of teachers:  We took lessons nearly every day of our 8 day stay.  The teachers and their dance assistants were fabulous and engaging.  We all could understand their English and more importantly understand what they were trying to teach us!!

6. Dance partners:  As the owner of the studio it was a HUGE issue for me to provide a good dance experience for everyone.  Not only did we have extra men to dance with (I had a majority of females in my group) we had both men and women partners for everyone at the milongas!  What an amazing experience to dance with Argentinean dancers in their homeland doing their national dance!

7.  Integrity:  When I arrived Carlos gave me the lay of the land and we quickly got squared away with what we had planned.  He also placed in my hand a cell phone that was 1 touch dialing so that I could reach him anytime during my stay.  I thought that this particular gesture was way above and beyond what I expected.  I did need to use the phone from time to time and because of it there were no snafu's-to the betterment of the trip.

This was the best trip that I have been on period.  It fulfilled all my expectations as a studio owner and as a dancer.  When we return to Buenos Aires (not IF but WHEN), we will use Argentina Tango and their staff.  In fact, I would not even consider touring in Argentina for business or pleasure without the expertise of Carlos and his staff.  Every suggestion and recommendation that they offered was exactly as they made it out to be and in most cases exceeded my expectations.  It did not matter if it had to do with dance venues, side tours, places to eat or shows to see.  This is a top quality organization and if you are planning on touring in Argentina I insist that you use this company.  They will meet your wants and needs.  I would gladly tell anyone who asked me any of the details of the trip.  Please contact me at my studio if you wish.

Sincerely,

Travis Kokkeler

Owner-Deschutes County Ballroom Dance Club

175 N.E. Greenwood Ave.

Bend, Oregon USA

541-322-0220

travis@dcbdc.com

www.dcbdc.com

I would just like thank you for the excellent service you gave us in Buenos Aires. The Transfers were conducted in a very proffesional way. The vehicles were great and always on time, the drivers were very proffesional and courtious. The Classical City tour was excellent and the guide was the best we have ever had. We will be using your company again when we return.

I'm very glad for the opportunity to thank you for our wonderful experience in Buenos Aires.  It was definitely one of the best trips I've ever made - and that's saying a lot.  Our planned activities, tango classes and overall itinerary were outstanding.  The success of the many segments of our visit are obviously due to the efficiency of yourself and your friendly staff.  Needless to say, I would not hesitate to recommend you or your outfit to anyone, and would do so without reservation.  I was very impressed with the entire operation.  Your warm, pleasant attitude did not go unnoticed in spite of the hectic schedule you must have been hiding.  Thank you again for making our visit a wonderful memory.  Jo Lunsford

I've been giving this alot of thought!  I honestly cannot think of anything that would have made it any better!  Your staff were all very professional and friendly and most of all ....they liked to laugh and didn't take the tango too seriously!  I was worried that everyone would be very intense about things but that was not the case.  The dinners and shows were great, the tours were fabulous and of course the dance lessons were amazing!!! Zoraida was especially kind and helpful - there were several of us who had sore feet for various reasons and she really helped by getting us some analgesic cream that was great!  She and Diego are fabulous instructors  - very clear with their instructions and very humorous which really helps! I've told all of my friends about Buenos Aires and, of course, will refer anyone going there to your company! Thank you for all your hard work!

Lani

I wanted to get my mother a special gift this year, and since she had always talked about going to Argentina, I decided to get her the 1 week tango package through ArgentinaTango.com. At first it seemed so daunting since she was going to be traveling by herself and I wanted it to be just right. I soon found it to be way easier than I thought. All my questions and concerns that I addressed by email were responded to right away and the suggestions from Carlos were right on point. It couldn't have turned out better. She said she had one of the best trips of her life and can't wait to return next year and go for a month this time! aLoha, Holly

If you are currently browsing through the ArgentinaTango website - as I was a while back - and wondering whether or not to make a booking, my advice to you is: please don’t procrastinate  for as long as I did.  Just do it, do it.  I’ve just come back from a stay of over five weeks in Buenos Aires on a ‘nearly’ intensive tango package.  (I say ‘nearly’ because I wanted to modify it slightly and ArgentinaTango swiftly accommodated my demands) and have had the most wonderful time. Before the trip, I’d been to a couple of group tango classes and had never done any other kind of dance.  My knowledge about tango was therefore limited to put it mildly. This began to be rectified almost as soon as I arrived.   The lessons started pretty well straight away and I was swiftly taught about different tango styles. During the course of my stay, I had five different teachers all of whom had their own way of teaching and preferred style of dancing but who were uniformly excellent.   I had thought I might end up confused but in fact what I learned from each complemented the knowledge I gained from the others. There is a further advantage to having more than one teacher in that the hazard of becoming a kind of clone is avoided.  Eventually, you work out what you like best as opposed to just doing something because you are told to. (Incidentally, as I found out during the course of my stay, Buenos Aires is chock full of so-called tango teachers eager to offer lessons of variable and often dubious quality to tourists.  Fortunately, ArgentinaTango has a rigorous selection process when it comes to choosing its staff, so you really do only get first-rate instruction). In addition to just learning to dance, I got full instruction about the etiquette of milongas and was enthusiastically encouraged to put into practice in the Buenos Aires dance halls at night what I had been learning during the day.  This was helpful as I might otherwise have been too spineless to brave them.  By the end, I’d overcome most of my self-consciousness. The dancing was a joy, the people delightful and the city gorgeous.  All in all, it was a pretty perfect experience.  Go.

We do indeed, have fond memories of our trip to Buenos

Aires.  People are a little hypersensitive to criticism, thinking it is some kind of personal attack.  Your welcoming lady was quite nice, was very thorough when we were delivered to the airport to leave. We miss the great food, service and wines in BA, and think you should tell your future guests just how good they are...world class, right up there with Rome, Paris, better than London, and at reasonable prices. (unless you consider Las Palmas...$$$!)  I would recommend your services to those interested, and a lot of people here are. Kind Regards,

Larry Matlock

Carlos has great expertise to help one navigate the tricky schedule of which Milonga to attend on which night.. he knows all the best ones!

Nancy Bleier

Los Angeles CA

Dear ArgentinaTango,

I wish to extend my appreciation of an extraordinary tango training program exceeding all of my expectations -The tailored training program included all the 3 majors - tango (traditional and modern), milonga and finally waltzes. It was accomplished successfully with regular follow ups and monitoring of progression with the requested adjustments of the program along the way. The professional and highly skilled instructors made the learning both enjoyable and indeed efficient.I will recommend the services of Argentinatango to anybody who wish to learn tango at any level and experience the true spirit of Buenos Aires.Thank you ! – ArgentinaTango