So next time you hear: “What do Tango and Pilates have in common?”,
you know the answer: “everything that matters.
And yet, they are completely different”.
At its essence, The T-DiTella Tangolates Trainer is about core strengthening and balance, fluid moves. It’s about sequential Tango inspired partner routines; its about concentration and coordinated moves between two people who move as if they were one, only that they do not touch. The T-DiTella Tangolates Trainer is about music, about fun and about hard work.
All that? Yes, all that.
Just as you can’t miss a step when you dance; you cannot lose concentration while you are working on a The T-DiTella Tangolates Trainer. Coordination is very important. So much so, that participants say that they are not only be physically involved, but also “here and present” with the mind fully engaged, and following the music.
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Can it be that two disciplines have common roots but they are different from each other?
You bet.
German and English are two languages with common anglo-saxon roots. Yet, German is one language and English is another language.
The same happens with the French and the Spanish languages. They both have Latin roots. Yet, Spanish and French are two different, distinctive and unique languages.
Something similar happens between Tango and Pilates. They both have common roots in human movement and expression. One, Tango, older and established, the other, Piates, more recently acquired by the general public. They share certain basic concepts. Yet, they are two very different manifestations of human movement.
The differences are obvious: one is a dance, the other a system of exercises. One is performed by two people, while the other is performed singly or individually. One, Tango, has music; the other, Pilates does not. One saw its origins at the port of Buenos Aires; the other, Pilates had its origins with wounded soldiers during the war. As for Tangolates: It is performed on a special apparatus called T-DiTella™, whie the other, Pilates, is performed on an entirely different machine called The Reformer.
These are some of the main differences. There are many others. These differencies are the reason why we can assert categorically that Tango and Pilates are two very different, distinctive and unique expressions or disciplines of the human body.
Basic Concepts of the T-DiTella™ Tangolates:
Core
It´s virtually impossible to dance Tango without making sure, right from the very start, that your core is nicely collected. If you watch Tango dancers carefully, you will see that the first thing they do, even before taking the first step y to collect at the center. In fact, if they are not perfectly collected at the center, they seldom start to move.
Balance
Another very important thing for a Tango dancer is the balance. Watch a couple closely. They face each other, then his arm raises slowly with an opened hand, palm up. Next, her arm goes up as she delicately places her hand in his. That is the beginning of the Tango embrace. Is that all? No, that´s not all. What follows is of utmost importance: he moves her from one foot to the other, back and forth, until they silently agree on which foot will move first. This subtle swing from the left to the right foot is called “searching for the balance” and this search is an absolute must to Tango. Imagine how important this search for the balance is that the dance itself does not start until an agreement is reached between the two partners which foot they will move first. If the right balance were not reached, they would risk starting both with the same foot and that would be a disaster. So, balance is the fundamental starting point for all Tango dancers.
Coordination
Most dances today do not require much coordination between the dancers. On the contrary, they swell on the free expression of the bodies. Freedom replaces coordination and spontaneity replaces choreography. Not so with tango. When you Tango, you think in terms of two perfectly coordinated bodies moving at the same time and as if they were one. “It takes two to Tango” means precisely that: two people coordinating their bodies to be able to move as one.
Concentration
Have you watched a couple dancing Tango? Have you ever seen more concentration than that? Tango must be the only dance that people dance with their eyes closed, turned onto themselves as if they were holding a secret. Now that is Tango for you, a highly concentrated sentiment two people share in perfect harmony.
So next time you hear: “what do Tango and Pilates have in common?”, you know the answer: “everything that matters. And yet, they are completely different”
Core 
