Is this a normal style to Tango...or is the instructor getting off?

Question:I'm a new student, and today I was taught the Tango basics. Later on the studio had a dance party for the students where you can try out your moves, etc. I danced with my instructor to a Tango, but this time he basically pressed his body completely into mine and moved that way. That wasn't the way he taught me, but I could feel every curve of his you know what, that is how close we were. Is this normal in Tango?? Or was he just getting on me?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I'm a new student, and today I was taught the Tango basics. Later on the studio had a dance party for the students where you can try out your moves, etc. I danced with my instructor to a Tango, but this time he basically pressed his body completely into mine and moved that way. That wasn't the way he taught me, but I could feel every curve of his you know what, that is how close we were. Is this normal in Tango?? Or was he just getting on me?

Its true what he is doing is the proper way. At higher levels and even more so at competition level, you always dance with body contact. In the lesson he was just teaching you how to dance, but at the danceparty/social he was just plain dancing, without trying to teach you. I say that because its is through body contact that a boy leads his partner. And all the power comes from the hips. That is where the man leads from, not from the hands, not from the torso but by the hips. without body contact, a man can not properly lead the girl. In the lesson he had to teach you how to dance the tango for yourself, so he was mainly trying to get you to know how to dance the routine. But at the social dancing he was just dancing with you, ~it is proper for a boy to lead his partner. and he was just soocialy dancing not trying to teach you but to dance, thats why he had body contact. I dont have body contact in my lessons either but when i dance with someone outside of the lesson. I do body contact.
It is also perfectly normal and quite common for a person who finds body contact awkward to say to their partner that they dont wish to keep body contact for certain dances.
I guess thou that he should of asked you first, at my studio we dont have body contact often for plain, social dancing and if we do we ask our partner if they would like to dance proffesionaly. But I guess different studios act differently.

That's quite unusual for an instructor to do with a new student. On the other hand, it's perfectly normal if both partners are experienced. The body contact in tango is the closest of any dance. If it made you uncomfortable, it's perfectly OK to refuse the contact.
By the way, you didn't mention which style of tango you're learning. If it's one of the ballroom styles, you'll find that when you become an intermediate dancer, you'll use close body contact, though not as close as tango, in the other standard dances as well.

That is the normal way to do the ballroom tango. When the two people's hips are pressed together, it is called closed position. It allows the follower to feel what the leader wants her to do.

In your case, you state you are new at this. The instructor should know that you shouldn't get into a closed position with a new dancer until they become more familiar with the dance. I think the instructor danced the way he's most comfortable, but forgetting that you may not feel the same.