Here is a catalogue of games we can use at birthdays, milongas etc. We could post these on our SoMe at some point because they’re fun!
1) “Blind tango” Freeze-stop the music sometimes, followers keep eyes closed while leaders switch to a new follower. Great for breaking the ice between new dance partners
2) “Snowball tango” One/two couple(s) starts dancing, then they split up and each chooses a new partner from the audience, then they split up and look for new partners, and so on! At the end, everybody is dancing
3) “Tango bingo” Make a bingo card grid with goals like “dance with someone new” or “dance with someone wearing red pants” or whatever. Great for engaging newbies during a milonga.
4) “Tango relay race” Divide in groups of 5-6 people. Place teams behind a starting line and as many chairs as teams a few meters away from the line. Each team sends a couple to dance around the chair and back to the starting line. Then the leader becomes follower, and a new leader switches in. The whole team needs to dance at least once in either role. the fastest team to finish wins.
5) “Balloon/cupcake tango” Place either a balloon or a paper cupcake form on the chest between dancers. Dancers need to keep the object in place without letting it fall. Great for teaching closed embrace.
6) “Tango bumper cars” People dance in a ronda with the explicit goal of *gently* bumping into other players.There is no winner but the game is fun to teach about space in a busy ronda.
7) “Balloon boleos” (pair with game 5) Oce you have all these balloons lying around the floor, why not continue with a game of kicking the balloons? Dancers need to lead a boleo or a planeo, where the follower needs to kick the balloon off the ground. Teaches about adornos and encourages followers taking charge of their feet.
Comment to add more!