ARGENTINE TANGO

History

The Argentine Tango has its roots in Buenos Aires towards the end of the 19th century, and was developed from a variety of dances with influences from Spain and Uruguay. Len Goodman tells us that the dance should remind us of the gauchos coming off the pampas meeting up with the ladies of the night. It should be powerful, expressive and passionate.

The dance

The hold in the Argentine Tango differs from the Tango ballroom hold and is called the abrazo (or, in English, the embrace), and can be either open where the woman is held at arms length from the man, or closed where the upper bodies are in complete contact. The dance is led through the upper body while it is expressed through the intricate movements of the legs and feet.

The basic step, la caminata (the walk), is where the weight is gradually transferred over one leg leaving the other free for other movements and gestures, such as Sacadas (displacement), where one of the dancers feet or legs is displaced by their partner. Ochos (eights) are basic walks, either forward or backward, with a pivot in between the two steps so that the dancers make a figure of eight. The Ganchos (hooks), are where the couples legs are flicked up and hook together.

The judges in Strictly Come Dancing will be looking for fire and passion with the chemistry between the couple being essential, along with both tight hold, loose hold and fast pivots.

Strictly statistics

	Overall	Female		Couple	Male		Couple
Number of dances	27	12			15
Average score	34.5	35.0			34.2
Highest score	40	39		Rachel & Vincent (Series 6)	40		Jason & Kristina (Series 9) Harry & Aliona (Series 9)
Lowest score	26	28		Tina & Jared (Series 8)	26		Colin & Kristina (Series 10) Michael & Natalie (Series 10)
Number of 10s	27	10			17

*As at the end of series 10 excluding Christmas Specials.

The best of Strictly

In the semi-final of series nine, Jason Donovan and Kristina Rihanoff gave a dramatic and intense routine danced to "Assassin's Tango", earning a standing ovation from Alesha, Bruno dubbing it "Daath by Kristina" and Craig suggesting Jason should "put that woman on an assault charge". The judges felt it was perfect and gave the pair the perfect four 10s. One week later in the final, Harry Judd and Aliona Vilana reprised their routine for the final at Blackpool as the choice for their favourite dance, one which initially Len had complained didn't have enough passion. Harry gave it his all as his last dance on the series, and was rewarded with another perfect 40.

Mark Ramprakash & Karen Hardy in Series 4 semi-final gave an electrifying performance of the Argentine Tango, danced to bond theme 'Goldeneye' and receiving 39 points from the judges, with Len Goodman saying it was the first dance of that night to deserve a place in the final.

Interestingly, the male celebrities seem to score better than the females, especially when it comes to the number of 10s awarded by the judges, with the men notching up and impress seventeen 10s compared to just eight 10s from the women.

The worst of Strictly

In series eight, the dance was changed from being a semi-final only dance, to being included in the normal rotation of dances, and it was danced much earlier in the series. This meant that the couples had less dance training and experience under their belt and the standard of the performance lowered. It was in series eight when Tina & Jared danced their Argentine Tango and while the judges didn't slate it, it wasn't up to the same level of dance we've come to expect to see in this dance, and they received 28 points.

Scores for all Argentine Tango performances:

 

Series 4

			Judges scores
Couple	Song	Date	Craig	Arlene	Len	Bruno	Total
Emma & Darren	Santa Maria	Week 11	9	9	9	9	36
Matt & Lilia	I've Seen That Face Before	Week 11	7	7	8	8	30
Mark & Karen	Goldeneye	Week 11	9	10	10	10	39

 

Series 5

			Judges scores
Couple	Song	Date	Craig	Arlene	Len	Bruno	Total
Matt & Flavia	La Yumba	Week 11	8	9	9	9	35
Alesha & Matthew	I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You	Week 11	9	9	10	10	38
Gethin & Camilla	The World Is Not Enough	Week 11	9	9	9	9	36

 

Series 6

			Judges scores
Couple	Song	Date	Craig	Arlene	Len	Bruno	Total
Lisa & Brendan	Infiltrado	Week 13	8	8	10	9	35
Rachel & Vincent	When Doves Cry	Week 13	9	10	10	10	39
Tom & Camilla	Por una cabeza	Week 13	8	8	9	9	34

 

Series 7

			Judges scores
Couple	Song	Date	Craig	Darcey	Len	Alesha	Bruno	Total
Ali & Brian	Pa Bailar	Week 13	8	8	9	8	9	42
Chris & Ola	Bust Your Windows	Week 13	8	8	9	9	8	42
Ricky & Natalie	Verano Porteno	Week 13	9	10	10	10	10	49

 

Series 8

			Judges scores
Couple	Song	Date	Craig	Len	Alesha	Bruno	Total
Tina & Jared	Beautiful Monster	Week 5	6	8	7	7	28
Matt & Aliona	Bat Out Of Hell	Week 5	8	8	9	9	34
Kara & Artem	Los Vino	Week 7	9	9	10	10	38
Patsy & Robin	They	Week 9	7	8	8	7	30
Scott & Natalie	Época	Week 11	8	8	8	9	33

 

Series 9

			Judges scores
Couple	Song	Date	Craig	Jennifer	Len	Alesha	Bruno	Total
Harry & Aliona	Asi se Baila el Tango	Week 7	9	-	8	10	10	37
Anita & Robin	Cirque de Soleil Tango	Week 7	7	-	9	8	9	33
Chelsee & Pasha	Una Música Brutal	Week 9	8	-	9	9	9	35
Holly & Artem	Por Una Cabeza	Week 11	9	-	9	9	9	36
Jason & Kristina	Assassin's Tango	Week 11	10	-	10	10	10	40
Harry & Aliona	Asi se Baila el Tango	Week 12	10	-	10	10	10	40

 

Series 10

			Judges scores
Couple	Song	Date	Craig	Darcey	Len	Bruno	Total
Colin & Kristina	Goldeneye	Week 3	7	7	6	6	26
Michael & Natalie	Bust Your Windows	Week 8	6	7	7	6	26
Nicky & Karen	Skyfall	Week 9	7	8	7	8	30
Dani & Vincent	Libertango	Week 11	9	9	10	10	38

 

All dances from highest scoring to lowest scoring

Couple	Song	Date	Score*
Jason & Kristina	Assassin's Tango	Series 9, Week 11	40
Harry & Aliona	Asi se Baila el Tango	Series 9, Week 12	40
Ricky & Natalie	Verano Porteno	Series 7, Week 13	39.2 (49)
Mark & Karen	Goldeneye	Series 4, Week 11	39
Rachel & Vincent	When Doves Cry	Series 6, Week 13	39
Alesha & Matthew	I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You	Series 5, Week 11	38
Kara & Artem	Los Vino	Series 8, Week 7	38
Dani & Vincent	Libertango	Series 10, Week 11	38
Harry & Aliona	Asi se Baila el Tango	Series 9, Week 7	37
Emma & Darren	Santa Maria	Series 4, Week 11	36
Gethin & Camilla	The World Is Not Enough	Series 5, Week 11	36
Holly & Artem	Por Una Cabeza	Series 9, Week 11	36
Matt & Flavia	La Yumba	Series 5, Week 11	35
Lisa & Brendan	Infiltrado	Series 6, Week 13	35
Chelsee & Pasha	Una Música Brutal	Series 9, Week 9	35
Tom & Camilla	Por una cabeza	Series 6, Week 13	34
Matt & Aliona	Bat Out Of Hell	Series 8, Week 5	34
Ali & Brian	Pa Bailar	Series 7, Week 13	33.6 (42)
Chris & Ola	Bust Your Windows	Series 7, Week 13	33.6 (42)
Scott & Natalie	Época	Series 8, Week 11	33
Anita & Robin	Cirque de Soleil Tango	Series 9, Week 7	33
Matt & Lilia	I've Seen That Face Before	Series 4, Week 11	30
Patsy & Robin	They	Series 8, Week 9	30
Nicky & Karen	Skyfall	Series 10, Week 9	30
Tina & Jared	Beautiful Monster	Series 8, Week 5	28
Colin & Kristina	Goldeneye	Series 10, Week 3	26
Michael & Natalie	Bust Your Windows	Series 10, Week 8	26

*The score for any dances marked by five judges have been adjusted down to allow for fair comparison, so the score in this column is the adjusted score followed by the actual score in brackets.

The iconic routine from Mark & Karen in series 4 (and remember, the phone lines closed years ago, so don't phone as your vote won't be counted!):

Ricky & Natalie's Argentine Tango from series 7:

How about Rachel & Vincent in series 6:

And a great routine from Lisa & Brendan in series 6: