Beginners and Intermediate, Mondays 19:00. Advanced, Mondays 20:15. We assess your level and suggest the group that suits you, with Argentine maestro Luciano Blanco.
The groups
Join whenever you like: no enrolment fee, monthly payment. Unsure of your level? We’ll check it together in your first class.
What we work on
In the classes by level, we work on movement across the floor, connection and musicality, always with exercises adapted to each student.
Leading and following with the body, not the arms.
Women’s and men’s technique, in class and in workshops.
Dancing the orchestra, not just the beat, in tango, milonga and vals.
Improvising, respecting the space and dancing at a milonga.
With more than 20 years of experience teaching tango, after teaching for many years in Argentina, I moved my academy to Valencia. I have always wanted to share the authentic style of Argentine tango in my classes, just as my old Argentine maestros passed it on to me and just as we live it in Argentina… The tango of Buenos Aires. That is why I don’t only teach my students to dance, but also to listen to the music, to feel it and to know its history. It is a complete approach to learning that I apply in all the tango classes I organise in Valencia.
Do you want to learn to dance Argentine tango? Are you looking for tango classes in Valencia? Here I explain my different tango class and course formats, and what you will learn with me.
Argentine Tango is different from other dance styles, such as ballroom or sport dance, where tango is generally taught by focusing on a few mechanical steps. The embrace in Argentine tango is more flexible, and its posture can vary. Nor are there any abrupt or exaggerated movements. This, together with the connection between partners, is part of my method.
All my tango classes begin with individual exercises that help improve the walk and develop ease of movement. The second part is based on partner exercises. The topics vary a great deal, because they depend on the level of the class and on my own observation. Each student progresses differently. Some find it easy to understand one exercise or step and need more time for another. It can also vary depending on the partner. That is why I advise those who come as a couple to practise with others in the group as well.
A sense of space is essential in Argentine Tango. There are 3 scales: the body, the couple and the dance floor. Movement is what lets you play between these dimensions. Because Argentine Tango has a flexible embrace, mastering tango’s body technique is what will let you improve and develop your dancing. To achieve this, it is not enough to practise and learn figures: you need to understand how your own body and your partner’s work in harmony, and how they relate to tango music.
Alongside practising tango’s body technique comes learning musicality when dancing tango. I vary the orchestras a lot in order to develop listening. For me, it is impossible to have real skill as a dancer if you don’t know how to listen. In my classes, I give you tools to tell apart the way to dance to each orchestra.
I also teach milonga and vals criollo. These music and dance genres belong to the same family as Argentine tango. Practising them gives you a better understanding of rhythm and space. Recognising these musical particularities enriches your interpretation. In this way, the student doesn’t just do a figure, but chooses it and works it in according to the music.
Through the different exercises, I gradually see my students gain confidence. The classes feature tangos from the Guardia Vieja, the Guardia Nueva, the golden age of tango, avant-garde tango and electronic or “nuevo” tango. Every now and then I take the opportunity to give some historical background. I find it especially useful for understanding the different variants of Argentine Tango.
Tango is deeply representative of Argentina’s history. It sums up a meeting of cultures: that of Argentina, of the native gauchos and criollos, and that of the European immigrants. It also has African influences left over from the Spanish colonial era. It is the fusion of different cultures that met and mixed in Buenos Aires from the mid-19th century onwards, and in the successive waves of European migration caused by wars and crises on the old continent.
Milonga, tango, and their styles of music and dance developed in the poor neighbourhoods of the great metropolis Buenos Aires was becoming. Argentine Tango grew and developed as a popular form, largely outside any academic setting. Little by little it spread to every social class. It then reached Europe and the United States at the beginning of the 20th century, where it enjoyed great success thanks to Carlos Gardel, among others. Argentine Tango is a unique, original phenomenon of Buenos Aires, and you can see big differences compared with ballroom or sport dance.
In my classes I teach milonga, vals criollo and Argentine tango as they are danced in Buenos Aires. I believe that having lived tango in Argentina gave me a fuller, deeper perspective on our dance. From the outside, it can be reduced to simple, meaningless steps or artificial postures. I teach a way of dancing that is natural, elegant, harmonious and complex at the same time, but above all authentically Argentine, working gradually on the man’s and the woman’s roles from their foundations to their greatest complexity.
I organise my classes into 4 groups: Introduction, Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced.
Each of these groups has a weekly 1h30 tango class, held in the Carmen district of Valencia (between the Torres de Quart and the Torres de Serranos). I think it is important that my group classes last no less than 1h30. That way, my students practise exercises, go over what we did in the previous class, and I can teach with the time and calm needed to get good results.
My tango classes for beginners aim to introduce the foundations of the dance and the connection with your partner. In this class my students discover posture, footwork, the walk, the abrazo, the lead, basic movements and figures, and how the dance floor works. It is not an exhaustive list, of course: it also depends on each person and on the group dynamic.
At the intermediate and advanced levels, I do much more work on musicality and composition. We work on the walk, footwork and the abrazo, rhythmic variations and figures. Some of my most advanced students have been coming to my classes for more than 10 years. I know each person’s level, their strengths and weaknesses, and I choose every exercise accordingly. I always favour personal attention, even in group classes.
I organise different kinds of tango classes in Valencia. In addition to the regular classes we hold in Ciutat Vella, every weekend I run 2-hour intensive sessions in Jesús (Valencia). Some students combine the weekly classes with the intensive sessions. Others come only to the intensive sessions because they can’t attend during the week. I have students who live far away, sometimes elsewhere in the Valencian Community, sometimes in another city and even in other countries. They can come occasionally if they wish. Either way, I build each course differently and always follow each student’s learning personally, so that every session is as useful and productive as possible for them. You can find all the details about the tango classes I organise in Valencia at this link.
Every now and then I also run intensive workshops on women’s technique. They are tango classes for women. In these courses my students can improve their movements, enrich their repertoire of embellishments and develop control of their axis. Although women’s technique, like men’s, is worked on in all my classes, whether weekly classes or intensive sessions, these workshops are very popular because they offer 2 hours of individual, highly detailed practice.
I can also give private tango sessions for groups. These are often tourists who want an activity in Valencia over a weekend. These courses can last more than 2 hours, because it is usually a single discovery session. On these occasions we can do many different exercises: my aim is for the group to get a better idea of tango and to have fun at the same time.
I teach private tango lessons. My students have different levels. There are beginners and more advanced dancers, men, women and couples. I also have students who don’t live in Valencia. They take advantage of being in Valencia to take private tango lessons intensively. It can be several hours a day over a whole weekend, for example. When my students are beginners, I have them work a lot on their ease and their confidence. Later, when they feel more comfortable, I take them out of their comfort zone to change certain habits that need correcting.
Even with private lessons, I always suggest my students join group classes when they can. My aim is for them to notice the differences of dancing with different people who are also learning and who have different levels, as at milongas. I want them to feel comfortable in every situation, always dancing good tango. It also lets them identify their level and meet others at a similar or more advanced level. That way they can get an idea of how they are progressing.
Every year I also welcome couples looking for private tango lessons for their wedding. They usually come with a chosen piece of music and some ideas for steps they have seen. The pace and number of hours of these lessons depend on their level and how far ahead they are planning, and on what they expect from their dance, what they want to achieve or show their guests. If they have time, it is always better, because they are more relaxed. But I have had couples who contacted me just a few weeks before their wedding, and the result was very good. With commitment and work, there are always results.
All that said, my academy has been teaching tango for more than 20 years in Argentina and in Spain. I have students from Valencia and the rest of Spain, from Italy, England, Germany, Russia, France, Algeria, Poland, China and more. Some start from scratch, others have already learned a little or are intermediate or advanced students. The hardest part is starting, and the first month is crucial. That is why, although I accept one-off attendance, I encourage beginners to sign up by the month.
Reviews
“Luciano puts real organisational work into creating even, well-balanced groups, something I haven’t seen anywhere else.”
“We have been coming to class for almost a year and we are very happy. The teacher is flexible with the different levels and the classes are really enjoyable.”
Questions
Can’t find your answer? Message us or give us a call: we reply the same day.
Tell us how long you have been dancing, and in your first class Luciano will watch you dance. If the group isn’t right, we suggest another: the aim is for you to progress comfortably.
Yes. As you progress, we suggest moving up a group, or combining it with intensive classes and workshops.
No. You can come alone or as a couple, and in class everyone dances with everyone, unless they prefer not to change. When booking, tell us if you’re coming alone or with someone.
Yes. Milonga and vals criollo are taught in the weekly classes, especially at Intermediate level, and also in the intensive classes and workshops.
No enrolment fee: weekly classes are paid by the month. We send prices when you book, based on your group and the month’s offer.
Contact
We reply within 24 h, with no commitment.
In November, 2-for-1 for couples in the first month, at every level.
We speak Spanish, French and English.
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