In Buenos Aires, the thing that keeps people dancing year in and year out is a shared appreciation for the music—and the partners who are the best at providing that experience are the ones who are most sought after. While challenging moves and patterns may keep customers coming back to tango classes, the novelty soon wears off when you dance every night in the milongas. With that in mind, I’d like to present a short video of Ernesto Delgado. This isn’t a video I would have put on the first page of this chapter, so I hope people are watching these dancers in sequence, and developing an eye for what we're trying to show. Ernesto is one of the most popular of all partners in the BsAs clubs—but it may not be easy to see. So men, pay attention! This is what the women who dance tango every day are looking for:

 

When you look at this video, focus on the embrace, and try to put yourself in Alejandra's place: Imagine you've danced a million tandas, and you've danced with everyone. You're not trying to prove anything—you're only there because you enjoy the music, and the way it feels to move to it. You know Ernesto isn't a young man any more. He isn’t as strong as he was, he doesn't move with the strength of most of the other milongueros, and sometimes it may even be hard for him to finish a tanda... but that’s not important. Because you also know that he won't drag you, he won't try to impress you, and he won't put you at risk. What he will do is put 60 years of tango dancing into every step and turn. He'll express himself in a way that might be lost on less experienced dancers. But you'll understand it perfectly. It will be clear, comfortable, and beautiful. A masterful expression of what moving to tango music is all about.