The bright red curtains swish open and the lights go down. The audience quiets and the music begins. Towards the back of the stage, a quartet of grand piano, double bass, violin and accordion weaves an authentic and complex musical arrangement.

A group of male and female dancers appears, and the show begins. I sit back, sip my cappuccino and immediately lose myself in the alternating rhythms and tightly choreographed footwork. The women look ultra-glamorous with their top knots, colourful make-up and slinky satin dresses with asymmetrical hemlines. The male dancers wear straight-cut pinstripe trousers, matching waistcoats, white shirts, hats and braces.

We enjoy the nightlife narratives and the dynamics at play between the couples. Red stage lighting shapes the line of their silhouettes. The music builds into stronger, more upbeat rhythms and the dancing is seamless. Their legs intertwine and hook together. The weaving notes of the accordion resonate in time with their varied steps and continuous changes in direction.

Timing is of the essence and the bold dancing routines gradually grow more sensual, spirited and lively. It’s incredible how each couple is acutely attuned to each other’s movements and emotional moods. The drama unfolds and dancing cheek to cheek and even kissing, he then holds her by the nape of her neck, then spins her before she hits back with her own highly charged and aloof steps.

The torso of a ballerina draped in purple sequins reminds us of the dusky streets of Buenos Aires as nightlife takes a hold. I let myself be swept into the narrative and feel that there is no sunlight here; the dancers are turned into reflections of one another as music cascades into the darkness of nightfall.

This dance form evolved in the 1880s, in the dance halls and, yes, brothels of the lower districts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo in Uruguay. Back then it was an underground style of dance created within communities of Africans, European immigrants and indigenous South Americans.

By the early 1900 it had reached Paris and then moved to other European cities. By the time it landed in America faster tempos developed into the Spanish tango – a variety of flamenco merged with the milonga, a fast and sensual dance incorporating Cuban habanera influences. By around 1915 it was socially acceptable and becoming a craze within fashionable European circles. Nowadays, of course, tango is a much-loved and mainstream type of ballroom dancing.

Part two begins with a silhouetted feminine figure. Her moves start slowly as she takes her time to make her presence felt, stepping from the smoky air, she takes centre stage; her black satin dress and sequins shimmering in the darkness. She is captivating, flamboyant and empowered.

Her dance partner soon appears and their moves ignite into a carnival of twists and turns. One minute fiery and explosive, the next slow and mellow. He holds her close, then lifts her closer still, they are mouth to mouth until she releases herself from her temporary submission and spins away.

Melancholic musical notes of a solo violin and accordion merge with their elongated figures. For a second, their frozen shapes hang in the air, their lips touch, tormented and aflame with one another, both equal in prowess; she yields to him entangled and enmeshed, yet within seconds she has unfurled herself and remains cool and aloof in her own self-containment.

Clearly, the fundamental theme of Argentinian tango is that of human relationships, the interplay between the sexes or between masculine and feminine principles. It intrigues me how the man appears to be an anchor, guiding and almost controlling the woman’s movements somewhat, but without her, he is redundant. He captures and recaptures her, but their merging is temporary and in as sense an illusion for she is just as strong as him in posture and momentum; just as self-empowered and precise in her steps, wedded to her own fire and speed.

The show moves up an echelon, and the second half feels more improvised and contemporary in style, almost impulsive at times. We enjoy four separate couples who take their turns to take the floor and amaze us with an abundance of adept ochos and ganchos and boleos.

The build-up towards the grand finale involves high lifts and irregular speeds as the passion builds. Red slinky dresses flutter like scorching flames illuminating the dark skies almost freeing the dancers through the structure and discipline of tango.

This has been the Tango Fire dance company at full volume. At the end of the show the crowd cheers and many spectators are on their feet, whistling and yelling Bravo! Given the applause, the audience has been mesmerised by such skills, dramatic emotions and improvisations, the flamboyant outfits of taffeta and brocade, the close connections between the dancers and such captivating musical compositions. As we walk home in single figure temperatures, I feel buoyed by how high they turned up the fiery Latin heat tonight and can’t feel the cold at all!

  • Marisa Laycock moved to St Albans in 2000. She enjoys sharing her experiences of living in the city. These columns are also available as podcasts from 92.6 FM Radio Verulam at www.radioverulam.com/smallcitylife