There's only one thing we've found that really seems to help, and that's why it's the only thing we recommend. We find that people learn much faster, and find it much easier too, by using Dancing Tango - Unlocking the Mysteries by Christine Denniston. They find it genuinely useful, because it explains what it is that you need to learn about a step that someone shows you in class. It serves as a useful reference, helping prepare you, by explaining the basic steps before you do them in class, and reminding you of them afterwards to help you really learn. And most of all, it helps you understand what makes a great Tango dancer, helping you get to your goal of being a great Tango dancer as quickly as possible.

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How do I choose the right teacher?

If you've never danced the Tango and want to learn, how do you begin? Starting in the right way will make the whole journey much happier and faster. It's much easier to learn things the right way from the start than it is to unlearn bad habits later on - as well as saving lots of time and money!

There's no better way of learning than by dancing with someone who really knows how to do it. But how do you find the right teacher for you, and how do you know that they know their stuff? They may look authentically South American, or speak passionately about things you know very little about, but does that mean they can teach you how to do things properly?

Real Tango has no committees handing out qualifications or regulating what people teach. That's helped the dance stay so vibrant, which is one of the reasons that it's capturing the hearts of dancers all over the world. But it also means that anyone can call themselves a Tango teacher, and can teach whatever they like, even if they have never learned a step of the real thing. In fact some people justify themselves by saying, "I'm only teaching beginners so it doesn't matter," when in fact your first teacher is the most important one you will ever have!

You can only tell if someone really knows what they're talking about by knowing something about the subject yourself, but as a beginner, naturally, you know very little. A little research may save you a lot of time, money and heartache!

A really useful source of information about the Tango is history-of-tango.com. This fascinating web site gives lots of information about the way that the dance is done, and about the different styles and how they fit together.

It's always a good idea to ask someone you are considering as your teacher who their teachers were. If they can't tell you that they have spent a lot of time in Buenos Aires, or tell you about well respected dancers who taught them, think hard before choosing them. (If you'd like to be sure that the well respected dancers they name really are well respected, do e-mail us!)

The more you know about the Tango, the easier it is to choose a teacher who will be teaching you the right thing in the right way.

I'm a man and men have to lead - isn't that hard?

Tango is a dance that is led and followed, but that doesn't mean that one person is ordering the other person about. It means that one person has to take responsibility for steering so that we don't bump into other people!

Of course it's not quite as simple as that, but Tango isn't about choreography, so it's not the leader's job to force the follower to do a sequence of steps that the leader dreams up. Tango is about a three-minute relationship between two people, and the choreography emerges from that relationship.

If I compare a Tango couple to a car, the leader has control of the steering wheel and the accelerator, and the follower has control of the brake. To drive successfully you have to have all three things working together in the right way.

When you learn to drive you have to learn to do certain things - turn corners, change gear, parallel park - but once you've learned those basics it becomes automatic, and you can just enjoy the experience of driving.

When you learn to dance the Tango you have to learn to do certain things too. Those things aren't steps. Just learning steps would be like learning a sequence of things to do in a car that would get you from your house to your girlfriend's house instead of learning how to drive - turn the steering wheel a quarter now, move the gear stick to the right now - it would be a disaster!

In fact the traditional way of learning how to lead in Buenos Aires was to learn to dance the woman's part first - to learn to understand what the woman wants and what the woman needs, and only then to learn how to give it to her. (Visit history-of-tango.com for more information about that.) These days people often jump straight in to leading. The key to succeeding as a leader is to have the secrets of what a woman really wants from you explained to you by someone who really knows.

We've examined all kinds of resources - videos, books and CD ROMs - and there's only one thing we've found that really seems to help, and that's why it's the only thing we recommend.

Christine Denniston, author of Dancing Tango - Unlocking the Mysteries is one of the few people in the world who both leads and follows Tango to the same high professional level. She has performed as both a leader and a follower in several countries including Argentina, home of the Tango. She has also danced socially with many of the world's greatest dancers.

In Dancing Tango - Unlocking the Mysteries she explains to you the secrets of creating that perfect three-minute relationship on the dance floor, and how two people move together to make the dance work. She explains how to make any woman want to dance with you again and again. Dancing Tango - Unlocking the Mysteries is a great way of starting to learn how to lead easily and delightfully, and enjoy three perfect minutes with the woman in your arms.

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I have two left feet. Can I really learn to dance the Tango?

So long as you have two feet and can walk, yes you can! In fact we often find that people who think they can't dance can find that the Tango suits them perfectly.

Most dances are about "steps" - little routines everyone is expected to learn - and many are influenced by the very beautiful stylisations of ballet, a way of moving that is aesthetically pleasing, but not natural, and technically difficult. Tango is a much more natural dance, where the important thing is creating a lovely three minute relationship with the person you are dancing with, not creating a lovely choreography (though you'll be amazed how you'll find that happens too without you even trying!)

And Tango music is much more flexible and accommodating than other dance music. If you dance salsa you have to keep the rhythm of the music going or you've gone wrong. In Tango you can pause if you choose to, and you will find your own way of expressing the beautiful music.

So even if you've never been able to dance before, you will find Tango fits you in a way no other dance has.

But it's vital to get the right start. People with dance experience find it easy to go to lots of different classes and try different approaches without getting confused. For someone starting from scratch that would be hard, but starting with the wrong approach, being taught steps that aren't right for you, can be very discouraging.

Dancing Tango - Unlocking the Mysteries by Christine Denniston is a great way for someone who has never danced before to start dancing the Tango. Christine is in demand as a teacher all over the world, and is famous for the clarity of her teaching. Dancing Tango - Unlocking the Mysteries will make it much easier for you to get to grips with the dance, and contains enough steps to keep you dancing all night, so it's the perfect way to begin.

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How can I get my boyfriend interested in learning how to dance the Tango?

Many men are reluctant to try dance classes for a number of different reasons. Often it's because they are nervous about going to a class to try something they've never done before, and run the risk of looking stupid in front of everyone else there.

Sometimes it's because they've had bad experiences with dance. Perhaps no one has ever shown them how to do it properly, or they've been told they have two left feet or no sense of rhythm.

Maybe they are worried about the idea that they will have to lead, and they don't want to be seen to be ordering women around when what they really want is to be seen as treating the women they meet as equals.

Or perhaps they think that dancing is for girls, and they would rather do something more manly, like Martial Arts of various sports.

In fact, once men have tasted the Tango, many of them find they enjoy it more than they could ever have imagined.

Many men are attracted to the elegant masculinity of male Tango dancers. Men who love football will recognise many of the signature moves of great football players mirrored in the Tango, and those who enjoy Martial Arts find that there are many resonances with the Tango. In fact Tango has been described as the tender Martial Art. And they get to practice it you in their arms!

Those who are worried about the responsibility of leading will find that actually, if they learn in the right way, they choreography springs spontaneously from the way your two bodies move together, and that the leader's most important job is manoeuvring the couple round the floor without bumping into other people - no harder than driving a car!

But the thing that probably worries most men is the fear of not knowing what they are letting themselves in for when they go to a class, and of not being able to remember the moves in order to put them together on the floor. A great way to get him to think again is to give him a copy of Dancing Tango - Unlocking the Mysteries by Christine Denniston.

Dancing Tango - Unlocking the Mysteries is like a user's manual for the Tango. A short time spent browsing the CD ROM will prepare him for his first classes, allowing him to feel confident that he knows what is going to be expected of him, and allowing him to be ahead of the game because he will already have an understanding of the steps that he is shown in his first few classes.

It is also a useful reference guide, reminding him of what he learned in class, and helping him get to grips with what he needs to do.

And it will help him to understand that it's not where his feet go that matters - or even if he has two left feet. It will help him understand that it's about the two of you moving your bodies together, and having a good time going out together.