Argentine Tango dance, which emerged as a result of cultural diversity in the cities of Buenos Aires-Argentina and Montevideo-Uruguay between 1880-1900, has some peculiar features. Perhaps the most important of these features is the delay of movement and improvisation during dance. The aim of the study is to explain the improvisation phenomenon in Argentine tango dance on the basis of a dancer and to show the dance with this phenomenon through movement patterns. Semi-structured interview technique, one of the qualitative research methods, was used to examine the improvisation phenomenon on the basis of a dancer. Demonstration of the improvisation phenomenon in dance was done using the Tracker video analysis program. A new “semi-structured dancer form” was developed to investigate the effect of the factors that the dancers were influenced while performing their dance, and this form consisting of 11 questions was applied to 30 dancers with various experience levels. Using the data obtained by applying the semi-structured dancer form to the participants, the factors affecting the movements of the dancers were examined. Three different attempts were made to demonstrate the improvisation phenomenon in Argentine tango dance over the developing floor patterns. These trial results, which examine the number of repetitions, the effect of different couples and tango music, show that Argentine tango dance performed for social purposes is not performed according to a certain choreography. Dance changes momentarily due to various factors and is performed improvisedly. Our study is completely original in terms of bringing a scientific approach to the improvisation phenomenon in Argentine tango dance and investigating the factors affecting it, and will shed light on the understanding of the improvisation phenomenon.

Argentine Tango, Improvisation, Dancer Form, Dance, Tracker