There are a number of professional bodies at a national and international level that look after the needs of dance teachers and who help to promote dance in general, but there are very few that really understand Argentine Tango. Those of us who dance and teach the tango know that the challenges we face and the solutions that work for us are very different to most other dance styles, and so The Neotango Collective was formed to fill this gap.

Our basic principles are:

We make no distinction about how often you teach, whether you make money from tango or do it for the love, whether you run one class or twenty, or if you teach or dance other styles as well. If you are involved in tango, you are welcome into the collective.

There are a few rules we ask you to follow when you join the collective, but these are around promoting inclusivity rather than imposing restrictions, so it is unlikely that these will cause any major disagreements.

Our focus is on supporting tango and those that teach it, and promoting it to the widest possible audience. We welcome any style of tango and any style of group into the collective, so long as you embrace inclusivity and place no unnecessary obstacles in the way of people who want to enjoy the dance.

We are starting small, but it is our intention that The Neotango Collective will grow to:

• Offer insurance package for teachers and event organisers [available now]
• Develop templates and document samples that your organisation might need [available now]
• Develop and offer training courses for health and safety, first aid, dance techniques, teaching techniques, musicality, business skills, etc.
• Offer advice and tips on remaining legally compliant in a digital world [contact us]

Additionally we will:

• Represent the needs of tango teachers, organisers, and anyone else involved in tango
• Promote our members and their organisations wherever possible and practical
• Break down some of the myths around Argentine Tango that might be preventing people from taking it up as a hobby
• Encourage the growth of Argentine Tango as a dance style

And of course there is the major benefit of being part of something larger than just one dance school.

Accreditation Scheme

As the collective grows we will also be offering an accreditation service for tango teaching organisations as well as for individual teachers. More information about this will be available soon.

Inclusivity

We talk about making tango inclusive and ensuring that it is open and welcoming to all, and for the most part it is obvious what we mean. The teaching environment, the language we use, and our marketing or promotion material all play a part in ensuring a welcoming and open environment for people to come and learn tango.

But as our understanding grows about how some people are affected by certain situations, we are discovering that some elements of tango itself may need to be revisited and approached with an open mind to see if there is any way we can improve. The most significant of those is the Cabeceo, the non-verbal invitation to dance that is seen as such a part of tango culture. This has been found to be a major obstacle for some people to enjoy tango, and we discuss the Cabeceo here at length to explore why it may itself be an 'unnecessary obstacle'.