Then ten couples, beginner students in Nel's Thursday-night Argentine tango class at Delray Beach's Empress Ballroom, attempt to duplicate what they've just seen. "Slow-slow-quick, slow-slow-quick," Nel chants as the dancers shuffle around him. Nattily attired in olive-green pants, crisp white shirt, striped vest, and shiny black shoes, the short, compact Nel comes across as a good-natured, no-nonsense drill sergeant as he wanders among his students dispensing corrective tips. "It's like this," he offers, stepping in to take one woman's hands and then slowly spinning around her as she positions one foot just so behind her other ankle. "It's not like this. Very important."
Nel wears a clip-on microphone so everyone can hear him when he demonstrates steps he calls the "basic number one" and "basic number two," or when he explains the nature of Argentina's three "social dances" -- the tango, milonga, and waltz -- and how that nation's tango and waltz differ dramatically from their American versions.
Over the course of the hour-plus class, the Colombian-born Nel, age 41, leads his students through the basic steps of all three dances, then shows them how to embroider on the essential tango moves: Tonight that includes "syncopation with circle," "basic number one with syncopation," and "changing direction with circle." Referring to the third, Nel tells his class, "It looks easy, but it's not."
Yet even in the hands -- well, the feet -- of these beginners, the tango looks kind of sexy. And it certainly sounds sexy. Lusty piano, careening accordion, and lush strings emanate from a CD player behind a podium at the far end of the ballroom.
Nel teaches his class from 7 p.m. to approximately 8:30 each Thursday, after which students can, if they wish, continue to practice for another hour. But tonight's lesson has not quite concluded. Nel wants to review that difficult "changing direction with circle" thing one last time. "Pay attention to the music," he commands. "Ladies! Try to follow the beat."
-- Michael Yockel
Argentine tango classes are held each Thursday beginning at 7 p.m. at the Empress Ballroom, 125 Avenue L, Delray Beach, 561-276-1845. Cost: $10 per session.