5 Yoga postures to improve your tango

Tango & yoga do they really work together? YES!

Argentine Tango is a beautiful partner dance & yoga is a great way to build strength, balance and control to help you become a fabulous Tango dancer.

So let’s talk about 5 yoga postures every argentine tango dancer should be doing to improve their dancing.

Photo Credit - Bahram Niknia

Mountain Pose - This is your embrace

Mountain pose is training for your embrace.I wont get into how you embrace in tango because there are many schools of thought on that subject. This posture will teach you how to be on your own axis and help you stay balanced for your partner.

1. Stand with your feet hip width or together

2. Shift your weight forward back side to side to find your axis or your center.

3. Bring your hips in a neutral position

4. Lift your arms above your head

5. breath 3-5 breaths

Chair with Lifted heels

Okay so strong feet are super important in tango. Your feet are the connection the ground and they help you push off the floor to create those long powerful steps. This posture will help you strengthen your feet improve your balance and build strong legs for those powerful elgant steps. Next time you hear a pugliese song you’ll be ready for the ronda.

1. Stand in mountain pose

2. Bend your knees

3. lift your heels and squeeze your knees & heels together

4. Hold 3-5 breaths

Figure 4 Standing

Here is something for the leads. I know you want to be stable and strong for your follow, sometimes that requires us to keep our foot in a turned out position. This turned out position keeps us grounded and when we are grounded we are stable. Figure 4 targets the muscles that prevent the range of motion in the hips to give us greater turn out and stability for our follows. As an added bonus this posture will improve your balance at the same time.

1. Start in mountain pose

2. Shift weight to right side and lift left leg

3. Rotate your leg so your right ankle & left knee line up

4. Bend at your knee and rest your ankle on left knee

5. Hands press together for balance

6. Hold 3-5 breaths

7. Repeat on the other side

Crescent Moon with vertical twist

Ever wonder how the pros make their enrosques so elgente or how some dancers look so smooth in their molinete’s? It is because of their ability to dissociate their hips from their torso. This yoga posture will help you create more rotation in the spine in a safe and easy way to improve your disassociation. For this posture we will utilize a yoga blanket if your knees are sensitive.

1. Step your right foot forward in a low lunge position

2. Place left knee down

3. Lift arms like mountain pose arms

4. Place left hand on right knee

5. Extend right hand back

6. Inhale lengthen spine to the sky

7. Exhale rotate spine towards back leg

8. Repeat 3-5 breaths & switch sides

Pyramid Pose

Follows this is for you. PLEASE add this into your stretching routine. Heels look amazing, but its so un-natural for the body and can cause back pain and permanently shorten your Achilles’ tendons. This Posture is designed to lengthen your Achilles & your hamstrings. We will utilize two blocks for this posture, if you don’t own a pair you can check them out by clicking here. Give this a try after a milonga or a practice session when your body is warm for the most benefit.

1. Start in mountain pose

2. Step left foot back and rotate foot in 45 degree angel.

3. Place hands on hips and square them.

4. Fold from the hips about half way

5. Hold half way for 3-5 breaths

6. Fold all the way place hands on block or floor hold 3-5 breaths

7. Repeat on the other side

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