There are many ways to answer this question. Here are a few approaches:

• Argentine Tango is a partnered social dance, with the couple dancing embraced. Unlike “ballroom” style dances, which tend to be more structured, social tango is improvised, with every step being a spontaneous discovery in the moment, as the partners focus on their connections to each other and to the music.
• Danial Trenner once explained at a workshop here in Portland that while most dances are defined by specific step patterns and/or rhythm structures, Tango, though it is generally confined to “regular” rhythms, has an infinite variety of step patterns. The thing that defines the dance as “tango” is not the steps, but the “manner” or the “way” that the steps are danced. The “connection” mentioned above is not so much a result of anything in the dance as it is a requirement. In order to do a dance where every step is spontaneously improvised, both partners must be paying full attention to each other. This creates the connection that is by its nature very sensual, unlike anything else in the dance world.
• Read what Portland’s world-famous Tango legend Alex Krebs has to say about it on his website.
• Vladimir Estrin of tangoAficionado.com has written a very nice piece on his homepage titled, “Tango is more than just a dance!” Do check it out.
• Christine Denniston in the UK has an even more in-depth history of Argentine Tango on her incredible website documenting 150 years of tango history.
• Read what Portland tanguero Jay Rabe has to say about it on his website.

• The easiest way, with the least commitment, is to go to a milonga or practica (see definition below). Most milongas and practicas currently running in Portland (click on “milongas” on the main menu bar to see list) have a free beginning lesson as the first hour of the event. There are always complete beginners at these lessons, so even if you’ve never danced a step of tango, you need not feel intimidated. There will almost surely be other, equally inexperienced dancers there, and the lessons are always designed to accommodate absolute beginners.
• … or … There are over two dozen experienced Argentine Tango dancers in Portland who also teach. See “Teachers” on the main menu bar for a list and description. All of them offer private lessons for you as an individual (whether man or woman), or for you and a partner. Private lessons are more expensive than the free lesson at a milonga, of course, but you get undivided attention from the teacher.
• … or … Most Portland teachers also offer groups classes throughout the year. If you click the menu Event Calendars on the main menu bar, you can see what is scheduled. You should also sign up for Portango-a, so you can receive email announcements when new classes are formed.

• A milonga is an Argentine Tango social dance. People come as individuals or with a partner. Music is usually played in tandas, or sets, with 3 or 4 songs in a tanda. In betwen tandas there will be a cortina, a short music interlude (30 sec or so long) of non-tango music. This is the customary time to change partners or take a break if you want to.
• A practica is a practice dance. Floorcraft protocols are generally relaxed as compared to a milonga. Specifically, it is OK to talk during the dance, and impeding traffic within reason while you work on a step is accepted.

Here in Portland in 2018-19, about 75% of dancers are single, with 25% being married or otherwise attached. Ages vary from 20-something (or less) to over 70. Median age is probably 30-35.

Attire varies considerably. Some people dress up, while others wear jeans and T-shirts. This is Portland, after all. We tend to be pretty cosmopolitan. In general, practicas are less formal than milongas.

Most milongas typically play traditional Argentine tango music, but there are milongas that play alternative type of music more geared to the type of music people that start are used to listen.

Suffice to say that wherever you go, you cannot be over-dressed, nor can you be under-dressed. It’s really all about the dancing.

Since most milongas have a beginning lesson as the first hour of the dance, there will be a majority of beginning dancers during the early part of the evening. More experienced dancers tend to arrive from 9:30 to 10:30.

Floorcraft, or dance floor etiquette, is an informal collection of protocols and guidelines that have evolved to maximize everyone’s enjoyment.

Good floorcraft allows the couple to navigate smoothly around the dance floor, staying in “Line of Dance” (moving counterclockwise around the dance floor) while avoiding collisions with walls, furniture, or other dancers. With some exceptions, floorcraft is the responsibility of the leader. This allows the follower to “zone out” and just enjoy the embrace and the music, trusting her follower to take care of her.

The main goal of floorcraft and dancefloor etiquette is to avoid injury – to the follower, to other dancers, and to walls and furniture and potted plants. This requires that the leader be paying full attention to his surroundings and to other dancers and their styles of dancing – whether they are controlled and disciplined, or whether they are wild and crazy.

The second goal is to keep traffic moving around line-of-dance. This means not stopping and blocking other dancers behind you if there is an empty space in front of you.

As you progress CCW around the floor in line-of-dance, the most strategic place to dance is near the wall, close enough that no one has space to get into your blind-spot by passing you on the right.

Stay in single-file if you can. At a crowded venue, it will naturally happen that couples will migrate into several “rings” or “lanes” of single-file dancers. Try not to switch lanes to pass slower couples, unless they appear to be clueless and a traffic jam of dancers is building up behind you.

Is is customary to not talk at all while dancing at a milonga. If you want to talk or teach or discuss a step, it is polite to wait until you are off the dance floor so you don’t disturb other dancers. At practicas, as mentioned above, this protocol is relaxed, and it’s OK to talk, to work on your steps, or to discuss technique while on the dance floor.

Entering the dance floor while other dancers are dancing is like merging onto the freeway: wait for an opening, make eye contact if you can, and move in gracefully without disturbing the other dancers, rather than forcing your way into the line of dance.