Hey luvinlavidaloca,
Thanks for joining DanceScape's forums! OK, this might help! If you can download some music (e.g., from Kazaa or even iTunes), do a search for "TANGO". You'll get some music that are very typical of Tango and listen to the rhythm. Some standard classic music -- La Comparsita, Jealousy, Fernando's Hideaway. First listen to the type of music to get used to the "rhythm".
"Ballroom" is kind of a term that is used to describe many types of dances that you do in a Ballroom! There are two main styles of "Ballroom":
International Style Standard "Ballroom":
Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz, Quickstep
International Style Latin "Ballroom":
Samba, Cha Cha, Rumba, Paso Doble, Jive
Now, Latin dances can also include "club" or "social" styles like Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, Mambo
OK, so how can you tell the different dances? Well, to tell you the truth, it's going to be very hard to "describe" using words here!
If you rent movies like "Scent of a Woman" (with Al Pacino) or "True Lies" (with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tia Carrera, & Jamie Lee Curtis), they do an Argentinian or Social style of Tango near the beginning (and think the end also).
If you don't want to spend a lot of money on videos, you might try your local Library and ask the video department if they have any instructional or demonstration videos with the Tango or "Argentinian Tango". Ask them also if they have "Ballroom" videos. Then rent them out and check out the different styles.
You might want to check out also any local dance studios that offer lessons and tell them you are interested in possibly Tango and other Latin dances. If they have free lesson trials, or group lessons, try signing up. A lot of beginners classes probably wouldn't introduce Tango first ... but if you check out "Argentinian Tango" classes, you'll at least get to focus in on this style, which is really the "root" of International Style Tango.
Please feel free to ask any other questions you may have!
