The habit

The amount of time you spend on personal grooming has doubled
The amount of money you spend on personal grooming has trebled
You have a special bag for tango paraphernalia
You keep a pair of dance shoes in your car
You go shopping for a sensible coat and somehow come back with ‘tango’ clothes.
Your wardrobe is predominantly black
You always carry peppermints
You have become nocturnal
Your interest in shoes can easily be mistaken for a fetish

the tango fix

You have to dance. You have to dance
You’ve worn out more than one pair of shoes
You attend all the pre- milonga classes
You teach the pre-milonga classes
You have experienced a unique tango moment
You have danced with a star
Your bag is stuffed with flyers and notices about tango events
You have a little tango book for noting down all the moves
You’ve thrown away the book
You’ve trembled with fear in someone’s arms
You’ve trembled with passion in someone’s arms
You’ve made someone else tremble

social life

You've been dancing over a year and still don't get bored talking tango.
Everyone else is (non tangueros) but you haven’t noticed
You've had the big tango-fight with your partner
You have to work hard to maintain non-tango friendships (if you have any left).
You have a little black book of tango dancing contacts
You plan the rest of your social life so it doesn't conflict with tango nights.
You loathe being asked to a Saturday night party or a movie
You now view the world in terms of people who tango and those who don't.
Friends and family now give you tango-related gifts
You treat yourself to private tango lessons

home

You hardly ever seem to be at home
You’ve pulled up the carpet, cleaned up the patio or laid a wooden floor
You have improved your hi-fi system
You have bought a video camera
You have stopped watching TV
You practice moves while you are waiting for the kettle to boil
You dance with the broom or mop
You have put up visitors from Argentina in your spare room
You no longer have parties at your house; you host milongas.
You've put your house on the market to support your tango habit or move closer to the hub
You've sold or moved most of your furniture to give yourself practice space

work

Your computer passwords at work are all phrases related to tango
You see every wooden floor or open space as a potential tango event
You secretly tango in corridors, aisles and lifts
You have to fight the urge to gancho people who get close
You use a pillar or hand-rail to practice a boleo or pivot when no–one is looking
You don’t know what your tango friends do for a living- as long as they can tango
Little else in your life gets done compared to your pre-tango days.
What pre-tango days?

physical shape

You stand up straighter
You walk differently
You’ve started looking down your nose
You bring your ankles and knees together all the time.
You automatically do something Tango-ish whenever you navigate through a crowd.
You wear heels where you’d have worn trainers before
You have danced the tango barefoot or naked
No matter how tired you are, you can dance another tango
You dance tango in your sleep
Subtle moves have begun to reveal themselves (without lessons).
You have developed a signature move

travel

You are prepared to travel further to tango than you would for work
You are willing to spend twice as much time getting to a milonga as you actually dance.
Before travelling, you check out the net for tango events in that area.
Locations you’ve been to before seem new now you’ve found the tango clubs
You are beginning to run into people you’ve danced with in some other town…
You would not book a holiday somewhere that you couldn’t tango
You’ve booked a tango holiday
You are thinking of taking Spanish lessons.
Ocho is more than just a number
Your fantasy travel destination is Buenos Aires
You’ve been to Buenos Aires

music

You listen to tango music when you're not at a practica or milonga
You listen out for the tango possibilities in all forms of music
You have made a tango disk/s of your favourite tunes
You bring your own tango CDs to parties etc to inspire others
You raid the esoteric departments of music stores for obscure tango music
You see yourself as a tango DJ
You know the names of all the great orchestras

withdrawal

You go through withdrawal without at least one tango-high per week.
You try to tango at least twice a week
A sandwich means more to you than lunch
You dance tango in your mind (or at the bus stop)
You look forward to dancing with complete strangers
You've stopped saying sorry when you screw up
You remember the place and partner with whom you danced your first real tango.
You’ve forgotten how many years you’ve been dancing tango
You've danced long enough to realise that less is more
You realise that dance inaction is as important as dance moves
You know you are hooked for the rest of your life
You know there is no withdrawal