American Tango Institute is the leading center for Argentine tango instruction in Chicago, founded by master teacher Netza Roldán. We offer social tango classes, monthly milongas, cultural events, and a unique methodology that connects body, mind, and soul through the art of the embrace. With over 20 years of history, ATI has been a reference point in the tango scene, blending tradition, technique, and artistic expression. Learn tango in Palatine, Wheeling, and Des Plaines, with classes for all levels. Discover how tango can transform your life and join a vibrant and passionate community.

American Tango InstituteDance Learning – Curriculum

A Message to Our Current and Future Students

As we relaunch our class sessions at the American Tango Institute, we’d like to share an important update regarding our teaching structure: At this time, we are not following our former structured curriculum that classified students by defined levels (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced). However, we continue to reference these levels to help you understand your progress and development as a tango dancer.

This curriculum was carefully designed by a dedicated group of professional instructors and dancers who collaborated with ATI over several years. It was built with the clear intention of offering a well-structured, progressive path for learning tango — combining solid technique, musical interpretation, partner connection, and personal expression. We hope to return to this format in the future, as we believe it provides an ideal foundation for long-term growth. In the meantime, our teaching remains rooted in the principles that have always guided ATI:

We teach you how to dance, not just repeat steps. Tango is a profound experience that helps you connect with the music, align your mind and body, and communicate deeply with your partner.

Our focus is on helping you develop balance, projection, body awareness, and psychomotor skills, so that you can interpret the music and express yourself freely on the dance floor. Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals — the embrace, walking, weight shifts, direction changes, and intention — your dance becomes uniquely your own.

You learn to move. You learn to connect. You learn to Tango.
We’re excited to welcome you on this journey, and we thank you for being part of the ATI community.

Aforementioned Curriculum

At ATI we believe that teaching tango is a very serious activity that can impact the learner life in a positive or negative way, depending on the teaching experience, principles and pedagogy of the institution and instructors.

We strongly believe that as any activity that has to do with body-mind development, we must follow a systematic way and an orderly process that shows our students the pathway to follow in their learning process.

Our principles and methodology is based on the idea that we teach our students to dance, rather than to imitate steps and sequences. We consider tango a vehicle through which you can learn to connect with the music, connect your mind with your body to move with grace and clarity and connect with your dance partner. In this way you will be able to interpret the music and express yourself, both inwardly and to the person with whom you’re dancing, leading to joy and the freedom to move with confidence and emotion on the dance floor.

We do not teach our students mechanical repetition of steps or patterns, but rather, teach them how to control their body movements, command balance and convey their movement’s projection in order to connect with their partnering dancer.

We help our students to re-develop their psychomotor skills and to understand better their body bio-architecture and the dynamics towards the dance and movement principles.

We emphasize on the importance to interpret the music and share a body conversation. Once you have mastered the basics of tango embrace, walking, switching weight and changing direction and communicating your projection, you will be able to go wherever your dancing spirit takes you.

ATI teaches you how to move and dance, lead and follow, propose and accept. You tango!

Determining Your Level of Dance

The number of years dancing tango may not necessarily determine your level of dance. Some dancers consider themselves intermediate after one month of classes, others will venture into an intermediate class only when they consider they’ve mastered the basic techniques of tango. Dancers also learn at different paces, depending upon their coordination, experience dancing other dances, number of hours of classes and practice per week, etc.

Our classes are composed of students with varying skill levels, who work together to advance their dancing. The following is an outline of our instruction standards that we suggest you consider when registering for a tango class or advance into your instruction levels. Bear in mind that to get the most out of the classes, students should be comfortable with the movements and concepts covered in previous classes.

Beginner’s Tango 101
Intro to Tango classes are ideal for the curious novice with no tango experience and for those who have had limited tango experience.

  • Introduction to history and culture of Argentine tango
  • Emphasis on fundamental elements and basic concepts of tango
  • 3 Basic Elements: Musicality, balance and direction, connection
  • Value of proper walking and footstep technique
  • Understanding the axis, control of one’s axis and its dynamics
  • Perfect tango posture
  • The Embrace -3 points of connection in the open embrace
  • Disassociation of upper and lower body
  • Elemental change of weight and change of direction
  • Importance of improvisation in tango
  • Basic Pattern-Count of eight: Salida, codification and de-codification of the “cross”, resolution
  • Rock step, its applications and variations

Beginner’s Tango 102
Tango 102 class is for those moving on from Tango 101, those with limited tango experience and for experienced dancers who would like to reinforce their basic tango techniques. We will review the basic concepts learned in Tango 101 and begin focusing on technique to improve your movements and introduce new elements.

  • Review and reinforcement of basic concepts
  • Techniques to hone basic skills
  • Focus on technique to improve walking and balance
  • Progress to walking in parallel & cross systems
  • Dynamics and variations of the count of eight movements
  • Introduction to new elements of the embrace
  • Build up technique for changes of direction
  • Begin creating movement combinations
  • Introduction to dance floor navigation
  • Familiarization with Tango terms, milonga codes and etiquette
  • Introduction to the “ochos” concept (figure eights) and simple applications
  • Introduction of basic turns
  • Introduction to milonga rhythms – milonga lisa

Intermediate Tango 201
It is imperative that students taking the Intermediate classes already have good basic skills, such as control of your axis, proper walking and good musicality. Intermediate 201 goes into greater detail to strengthen the basics and fundamentals.

  • Review walking, posture, embrace, connection, disassociation, changes of weight and direction
  • Perfect walking in both parallel and cross systems
  • Reinforcing disassociation of upper and lower body
  • Command of ochos and variation of turns
  • Ocho milonguero and its variations
  • Paradas and applications
  • Introduction to rhythm variations, syncopation, (milonga, vals and tango)
  • Understanding the difference between Milonguero and Salon Tango Style

Intermediate Tango 202
Intermediate 202 expands on 201, introducing more complex movements using the combinations learned in earlier classes. It is imperative when taking the Intermediate class that you already have good basic skills, such as control of your axis, pivotal ochos and a smooth cross.

  • Improvement of ochos and turns in combination with other movements
  • Embrace combinations; open and close embrace
  • Development of giro based movements
  • Boleos, styles and variations
  • Introduction to Barridas (sweeps)
  • Introduction to sacadas (displacements) and ganchos
  • Further intricate combinations and syncopated rhythms
  • Navigating with Milonguero and Salon Tango Style
  • Embellishments

Advanced Tango 301
Intended for those who have mastered a variety of walks, ochos and turns and are prepared to explore techniques for more complex combinations.

  • Continuing with sacadas for leaders and followers
  • Examining ganchos
  • Boleo combinations
  • Introduction to simple volcadas and colgadas
  • More complex sequences and moves in tango
  • More dynamic changes of direction within tango, vals and milonga (including traspie) rhythms
  • Command of syncopated rhythms, such as vals and milonga
  • Introduction to Planeos

Advanced Tango 302
Exclusively for dancers who have extensive dance experience, have mastered fundamental and advanced moves, and are ready to take their dancing to a higher level. Classes will include more intricate moves for social dancing, as well as moves for non-complex performance.

  • Complex combinations of colgadas and volcadas
  • Creating different moves from turns
  • Enrosques
  • Saltos
  • Sentadas

Avant Garde Class
Experiment with avant garde movements in tango and develop your improvisational technique. Learn innovative movements that combine tango with movements from other dance genres. Strengthen your musicality and push the boundaries of tango to find other genres of music that can be adapted to rhythms and movements of Argentine Tango. Class will introduce Tango Nuevo, a freer style of tango that uses non-traditional salon movements danced to electronic tango and traditional compositions.