Discover Argentine Tango
Argentine Tango is more than just a dance. It's a wonderfully diverse art form.
Across the entire UK we have a vibrant, welcoming, active community where ordinary people, from all walks of life enjoy tango as a regular social activity.
What attracts people to tango? Take a look at this lovely short film by one of our members and come and join this amazing community.
Summary & Conclusions from the UKATA Teacher Survey 2024
136 teachers were registered as members of UKATA and received the survey. 40% returned the survey completed. Marketing professionals advise us that a response rate of c40% to any survey is considered to be in the Very Good – Excellent range and can be taken as a representative sample.
At this stage, we do not know precisely how many teachers are not yet members but internet research and local knowledge indicates that the 136 represent the majority. UKATA continues to encourage all tango teachers to join UKATA and participate.
Nearly 70% of responding teachers have been teaching for more than 10 years. That shows a strong and consistent teaching base that in many cases has created the environment for some of their student dancers themselves to develop into new teachers.
It is encouraging that there has been a steady stream of new teachers starting each year, including a strong emergence in the last 12 months.
UKATA encourages the increase of teaching capacity, and essentially its geographic spread, in order to meet every new enquiry from the public and to retain those students who have already started their tango journey.
87% of respondents provide classes at least once a week (48% weekly, 39% more frequently).
It is encouraging that responses show that in all regions there are classes on offer more than once a week. On paper that is a healthy learning environment but of course the regions are large (for example one ‘region’ is the entirety of the country of Scotland) meaning that there are still many villages and towns without any opportunities to learn to dance tango.
The optimistic view is that these ‘untouched’ locations present opportunities to grow the tango market. As we start to quantify and learn about the national teaching capacity, the more UKATA will be able to identify opportunities to increase the offerings to the public in under-represented areas.
Styles of tango music played in classes: Traditional, Contemporary, & Mixed
Traditional (recorded in Buenos Aires 1920s to 1950s): 53.5%
Modern or alternative: 28.5%
Mixed traditional and modern/alternative: 18%
Nearly half of the respondent teachers favour using modern/ alternative music for their dance classes either entirely or in part. The UK Argentine Tango Association promotes culturally-rooted music (that which was recorded in Argentina, or inspired by it). Many teachers choose modern non-tango music that may be more familiar to new students, prior to introducing the ‘classic’ tango repertoire.
