The primary elements of tango dance are steps, sequences, or the location of movement on the ground (hence interval, or distance), duration (hence rhythm, tempo), posture or tone colour, and volume (hence stress, attack). In practice, no notation can handle all of these elements with precision but cope with a selection of them in varying degrees of refinement. Some handle only a single pattern—e.g., a sequence, a combination.
Tango dance notation, or tango ideogram, is a visual record of heard or imagined tango dance, or a set of visual instructions for the performance of tango. It can take written or printed form and is a conscious, comparatively laborious process. Its use is occasioned by one of two motives: as an aid to memory or as communication. By extension of the former, it helps the shaping of a composition to a level of sophistication that is impossible in a purely oral tradition. By extension of the latter, it serves as a means of preserving tango dance sequence (although incompletely and imperfectly) over long periods of time, facilitates performance by others, and presents tango dance in a form suitable for study and analysis.
Step forward with left foot
Step sideward with left foot
Step sideward with left foot
Step forward with right foot
Step sideward with right foot
Step sideward with right foot
Left foot Sacada forward to lady's step forward with the right foot
Right foot Sacada forward to
lady's step sideward with the left foot
Left foot forward
lady's step backward with the right foot
Salida Simple
Sacada y Cambia de Frente