Couples give tango twirl with champs

The chance to learn the tango from New Zealand champions was an opportunity too good to pass up for one Tauranga couple.

Henry Claydon and Liz Popowski were one of five pairs who took a beginners' lesson in the steamy Argentine dance style with teachers John and Felicity Flower at Mount Maunganui Citizens' Club yesterday.

The couple, who already compete in ceroc dance competitions, saw the three-times New Zealand tango champions perform at Baycourt on Saturday night and decided they would give it a whirl themselves.

"We saw these guys do a demonstration at one of the ceroc nationals and that totally blew me away so I said we should go and check their show out," Mr Claydon said. "I guess the fact that they were doing a class afterwards was an opportunity not to be missed."

Having dance experience made it easier to pick up tango as some of the ceroc concepts transferred over, Ms Popowski said.

Mr Claydon encouraged anyone tossing up the idea of learning tango to take a class.

"Jump in and give it a go. It's definitely a lot of fun," he said. "I never saw myself ever dancing but once you get into it you meet a lot of people."

The couple said they would definitely be back for more lessons with the pair, who planned to teach in Tauranga once or twice a month, and would be encouraging their friends to go along.

The Auckland-based dance instructors took the couples through the basic steps and gave out pointers as the students had a go themselves.

"The secret is having a strong connection with the person you're dancing with it's all lead and follow. It's driven by the man. It's all done from the body. It's a very creative dance, it's not a sequence of steps," Mrs Flower said. "It's a dance you never stop learning. It's also a developing dance. It's a lifelong journey basically."

Mr Flower hoped the lessons would see tango as a dance form grow in Tauranga.