Article: Marianne Thamm from FAIRLADY

This tango salon is in Cape Town and has been organised by well-known actor, dancer and teacher Mark Hoeben, who elegantly glides between the couches clustered around the dimly lit dance floor where several couples have surrendered to the Argentine tango ? the dance that some view as a disease. Once smitten, you can't shake it, say many of those who've succumbed.

In fact, there's a tale doing the rounds of a couple who gave up their perfectly respectable, suburban lives to chase the tango across cities and continents.

At midnight, as the chimes of the clock in the tower of the Groote Kerk drift into the smoky club, the four-piece Cape Town Tango Ensemble strikes up. The first mournful notes of the accordion are soon lifted and filled out by the double bass, the violin and the keyboards. The couples shuffle out of the shadows and take to the floor.

In Buenos Aires they start tangoing at midnight ? a custom that suits Cape Town, a city that only wakes up at 11 pm. In Joburg, at Mareli Schroter's Tanz CafT in Riverside, they're a little less reckless. Their salons take place every Wednesday at the more reasonable hour of 8.30 pm, but they're just as racy, passionate and invigorating.

Patrons at The Valve are young people, my age, between 25 and 45. Some are dressed casually, others have made more of an effort but no one is wearing a Fedora hat tipped naffishly over an eyebrow. There's also no rose between lipstick-stained teeth. That's not what the Argentine tango is about.

This dance, although it has set steps, mirrors the soul of the dancer. Each move is a negotiated one and if partners are in tune with each other, it can become a sensual and intimate meditation. It can also lead to vicious arguments and bickering as modern men and women learn to lead, follow or read the physical nuances their partners suggest with the tilt of an eyebrow or the brush of hand across a neck.

The dance performed at international ballroom competitions and that most of us know is a stilted caricature of the real thing that originated in the brothels of Buenos Aires in the 1920s before it spread to Paris, Tokyo, New York, Helsinki, Seattle, Tel Aviv, Cape Town and Joburg.

In the past few years there's been a tremendous revival of interest in the Argentine tango, and it's now danced in almost every big city in the world. Tired of the noise, thump, bump and grind of nightclubs and raves, young people are looking for more durable and interesting ways of connecting socially. 'It's very hip and cool,' says another Cape-based teacher, Rosemary Shapiro. 'If you dance the Argentine tango you can go to a salon almost anywhere in the world and you will become part of an instant community.'

Watching the dancers at The Valve, I feel as if I've happened upon something enchanting and extraordinary. The music is languid and sensual, while the couples wrestle gently, their limbs intertwined, their direction changing with the subtle and private signals that happen between the notes. It's ? quite frankly ? irresistible.

'If there are any issues in a relationship, they will emerge while a couple are learning or dancing the Argentine tango,' says Mark, who has often had to mediate during a dance class.

The Argentine tango, he adds, is not just about two people dancing together, 'you're chasing a connection more profound than words.' Words? Men (or so we've been led to believe) don't like them, and so the tango offers a more creative way of expressing feelings and desires.

A psychologist who asked not to be named but who is passionate about the Argentine tango, says she and her husband resolved an argument one night by dancing until the anger was dissolved in the music and the moves. 'The embrace of the dance is all-containing. It gives you a space in which to dialogue with something different. It doesn't have to be verbal,' she added.

Mark believes the tango offers couples an opportunity to negotiate a new paradigm. 'A lot of strong women don't like taking orders and a lot of "new men" are uncomfortable about taking the lead,' he says. 'Between them they need to create a dance that works for them both.' Relationships are difficult, he adds, and so is dancing.

'All the baggage people carry, they bring to the dance. I demand they listen to each other, listen to the dance. One couple came to me after a few classes and said "we can't dance together because we can't live together".'

The Argentine tango, says Rosemary, will bring out your true inner self. 'The fuzziness will disappear,' she says. 'If you're an arrogant person or if you're frightened of giving yourself over, it will all emerge.'

In the dance the man is meant to give the woman space to express herself, while the woman gives the man space to negotiate. Rosemary says the sudden stops and starts are all about that. 'The Argentine tango,' she says, 'is a secret from the waist down. The upper bodies are separate, stiff and the movement is all in the legs.'

While ballroom dancing has strict rules, there are no outside regulations with the Argentine tango. 'The steps must be created together. Organised dancing is for people who cannot access their creativity. This is a dance of the people. I call it the Argentine toyi-toyi,' she says.

At The Valve I ask a few couples to talk to me about what the dance does for them. They say they can't, well, at least not right there and then, with the music playing and the dance floor beckoning.

The next day I call around looking for more subjects to interview. Same story. It is amazing. Those who dance the Argentine tango together will not talk about it for public consumption. Perhaps because it's so intimate, so private? Maybe. Or is it because words can't explain what comes from the heart? 'What the psychological moment is all about,' says the tangoing shrink, 'is the vulnerability of both partners as they open themselves up.'

I watch a handsome couple negotiate their way around the dance floor. He's tall and dark, she's blonde and gorgeous. They're moving slowly, whispering, talking to each other all the time. Then suddenly they wrench their bodies apart. She walks off ahead of him. 'Couldn't you feel me leading?' I hear him asking as he follows her. She rolls her eyes. Later I spot them, heads close together, taking intimately. It's okay, it seems they've sorted it out.

• To find out more, or to learn about the Argentine tango, visit Mareli Shroter's Tanz CafT, The River Road, cnr Bryanston Drive, Riverside, Johannesburg, or phone (011) 463-3128. Beginners and Advanced classes are taught at the Tanz Cafe.
• For more info and lessons in Cape Town, contact: Mark Hoeben at 082-397-9868 or markhoeben@icon.co.za; Rosemary Shapiro at 082-2006-409 or rosebud@nicro.co.za; or Penelope Price at (021) 788-6752 or 082-640-7108. Famed Dutch teacher Eric Jorrisen has just completed a class in SA and will present another from November 18 to 25. For more details, contact Mark.