That Gabriel Misse guy is SHARP! Well grounded, super sharp, and incredible footwork. Speed, precison, power, balance, everything. You can’t help but notice what an athlete he is. His partner Analia is also quite athletic to be keeping up with him. She looks soft but actually feels quite strong and dare I say, muscular.

So here’s what I got from a quick hour lesson in a Gabriel Misse and Analia Centurion tango workshop. Here’s what he taught at the workshop:

There is no such thing as “milonguero style” or “milonguero position” or “villa urquiza” style. The milonguero position he explained was a technique of chest leading that started in 1996 by inept dancers that didn’t learn how to lead properly. Because they didn’t know how to use their core to lead, they relied on the chest connection to lead & follow.

He said the result was marketing hype and made up terms used by these dancers to sell the flawed technique as the “authentic argentine tango” and blames it for hurting the real art of the dance. He said the true milongueros from back in the day never referred to their style as “milonguero style”.

As for Gabriel Misse’s tango technique:

• The right way to lead is not the chest, it’s the hand. It was the way he was taught, knowledge passed down to him by the legends before him. If you try to lead from the chest, the man will always be stuck to the woman. If you free your chest, then you can dance independently from her and move around to your own dance as she is free to express herself completely as well.
• It’s hard to dance with both feet flat on the ground. It’s fine when you’re stopping but if you’re moving through steps, it’s natural to have one heel up especially when your feet are spread apart. The trick is to know which heel to come up and to make it natural. This will helps with tricks later.
• Toe walking. Misse is a prominent toe-walker. He does it because it looks better, feels better, gives more grip and stability. He demonstrated toe-walking for us and it certainly looks more powerful and showey.

Here’s the MISSE we all know and love. What a monster.