It Takes Two ...

... to tango. Or so the saying goes. Last night Amy and I renewed our off again, on again affair with tango lessons. This time we did it Italian style. The Arabesque Academy Dance is quite literally around the corner from us, just off Via Vetulonia.

As the name suggests, they are a ballet school, but they offer lessons in many different styles of dance including our favorite, the Tango Argentina. Signing up for lessons is an interesting process. You don't just walk through the door and plunk your money on the counter. Well, actually you do, but there is more to it than that. First you must get a certifico medico for which you must visit a doctor. Rather than just signing a waiver saying you are in good health, you must get a doctor's note saying the same thing.

Our trip to the doctor took place on Monday. In principle, in order to establish yourself as a patient you must pay a 50 euro, non-reimburseable fee. Once you have done that, all future doctor visits are covered. Amy went earlier to have her prescriptions transferred and didn't pay the fee. This time we didn't even see the doctor. In fact, I have never laid eyes on him even though he has certified me as healthy and good to go. We walked in and were handed a sealed envelope by the receptionist containing the necessary documents. No money was involved. It appears that the doctor waives the fee for the American faculty at the school. That makes some sense given that the school brings him 50-60 new students a year for whom the most care they will need is a flu shot, treatment for digestional tract upset and caring for the occasional sprain or broken bone. He makes out well in the exchange. So, last night, armed with our medical certificates we headed to the dance studio.

Once there, we had to pay an annual fee to join the studio. This amounts to a fee to cover fixed costs such as insurance. At 30 euros each, it isn't cheap unless you plan on dancing often and spreading the cost out over many visits. Then you pay for the lessons themselves. In this case, tango meets once a week so the cost was 80 euros per couple for a month of lessons. Considerably lighter in the wallet, we made our way to the dance floor.

The dancing itself was enjoyable. There were approximately 30 people on the floor, paired up roughly equally with a few extra women, and a pair of instructors. We were greeted warmly by several people when we arrived and it was clear that everybody was there to have a good time. Abilities ranged from absolute beginner to essentially intermediate. After we got our bearings we were closer to the top in terms of experience than to the bottom. Language was more of an issue for me than for Amy. I was basically watching what was happening and trying to copy it, relying somewhat on our previous experiences. However, even I know "bravo" which was all the instructor said to me as I practiced my moves under his watchful eye and then danced him around the floor. Amy was a little more flustered, but by the end we were just dancing with each other and remembering some of the things we used to do. We will clearly go back, even beyond the month of October which we have already paid for. As we were leaving the female instructor overheard us speaking English and bubbled over to apologize for not having given any instruction in English. Apparently she is trying to learn enough of the language to be an effective instructor in English so she welcomes the opportunity to practice and will try to do some of that next week.