Are you here for tango lesson?
Yes, sir.
I'm here for a private one.
Oh, great!
I guess just you and me, Jon.
That’s what exactly looks like.
I haven’t actually ever told anyone this before,
it’s kind of a dream and aspiration, if you will, to master the tango.
[One Star Reviews]
So I just came across a place called Tango with Jon.
“I have words for you, Jon,
I have zero respect for you from the first time we spoke...
and wanted to know how much I paid for my rent.”
“If you are truly interested in learning tango,
then run in the other direction.”
It would have been funny if they had said “tango in the other direction,”
but... it still nonetheless
doesn’t seem like a positive outlook on this place.
So I’m going to book a private lesson to tango with Jon.
After all, you cannot tango alone.
It takes two to tango.
So, I got my dancing shoes on,
I got me,
now all that’s left is the need for one more person
because it does take--
Are we even on 31st Street?
I feel like I’m actually doing the tango right now
while trying to locate the tango business.
Yo, I made a sick tango joke.
Uh huh. Right, I found it.
“He is full of insults for women.”
“Really not quite sure where to begin with this
because of how obnoxious a man Jon is.”
-Hi, I’m Taji. -Hi, I’m Jon.
-Jon? Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you.
Are you here for tango lesson?
“He never dances with his students.
He only dances with students who buy private lessons.”
Yes, sir.
I'm here for a private one.
Oh, great!
I guess just you and me, Jon.
That’s what exactly looks like.
Are you nervous?
-Um, not really. -That’s good.
-It does take two-- -To tango.
So, simply we play the music.
So, the music is...?
-The key. -The key.
Give me a second, please.
Lucy, can you help me, please?
OK, connected now.
But it's still not playing.
I guess it takes two to figure out the Bluetooth
as well as to tango.
I guess so!
-Thanks, Lucy. -Thanks.
Lucy’s the best.
So on the street, I cannot do this.
People will think that something is wrong with me, right?
But on the dance floor, I cannot do this.
We go side.
Go side. Side step to the other side. Good!
So, my first tango with Jon was underway.
[Lesson One: Form] First thing, form,
and there was a lot of things to think about.
Embrace the girl here.
-Pretend it’s a balloon? -Yes.
The idea in tango, I say let from your heart
not from your arms.
You don’t hop like a rabbit.
Why are you pushing yourself back and forth?
You just want to go sleep at home,
the way you’re going like this.
How do we walk on the street, like this?
I’d say like this, usually.
Where are you going?
Not to the corner.
Possibly, you can find somebody in tango, too,
and you can have a good family with her.
Is the tango a form of meeting your significant other
when you’re out and about?
If you clean up a little bit.
If I clean up a little. OK, I got you.
You might be looking a little bit--
What if I can tango so well that it doesn’t even matter?
It matters.
[Lesson Two: Mastering the Embrace]
OK, I’m going to fall. Do you see that?
It was hard not to fall for Jon’s seduction.
So, in tango we don’t smile.
Keep the idea serious because all tango songs are about love.
It was the night I met you,
the kiss I remember,
beautiful and sexy.
You don’t want to kill somebody.
The way you’re serious, that’s too serious.
Right when I began to find my momentum,
Jon seemed to get distracted
in a way that I probably should have expected.
“Barely teaches you anything in between taking phone calls.”
You getting a call? You want to take that?
No problem.
-It’s not too important? -We’re in the lesson.
The tango’s more important?
Absolutely.
Have you ever had any experiences
where people haven’t taken the tango seriously enough?
There are some people that don’t want to dance with a beginner.
If you’re a superstar, it doesn’t matter, who cares?
“He tells the male dancers how to treat women with attitude
with a rude gesture of flicking his fingers under his chin.”
You're here for tango.
You dance, otherwise out.
Otherwise...
Yeah, that’s more rough, like you’re killing the person.
How do you do it? You do a gentle.
-Yes. -OK.
Being up close and personal with Jon felt so right,
but also the perfect moment to challenge the negative reviews.
-But yeah, I noticed-- -Five to the left!
Have you ever checked out--
And ocho.
Perfect, then turn.
Have you seen any of the reviews before, some of the--
-And-- -Some of the Yelp things?
Have you seen them?
This is tricky stuff.
-Not really. -I understand it’s hard.
But how about you learn something before you talk something?
OK.
We saw a few people had written some complaints.
-OK, good. -Have you seen any of them?
Not exactly.
You don’t really look at the reviews?
-Well, whatever people write, we can’t stop the people.
In one hour... we’re working on this move.
Would you want to maybe chat about a couple of the reviews?
-Oh. -It’s pretty simple.
-OK. -So, for example, someone writes,
“Rude and irresponsible.”
Good!
So, what happens in the class, nobody is rude.
I guess they said it about you.
Tried to say that you are rude, irresponsible.
-Interesting. -And that you mentioned that you pay
a large sum in rent in midtown.
OK, wait a second.
Stop the camera, please.
We had to stop filming for a moment
while our producer tried to regain control of Tango Jon.
I am not interested in talking about the review.
But we did see them,
so we wanted at least to give you a chance to just--
I don’t need that chance, thank you.
I don’t care.
We sell some deals on--
Some sort of generic site out there.
They still ask for the same price.
-Got it. But this one-- -One second.
Sorry, I’ll let you finish.
Then when we said, “No, this is not the price,”
and then they go sit on the computer and whatever they like.
-We can’t stop. -Totally.
But I think this person wasn’t actually mentioning the deals thing.
Of course they will not mention the deals.
They will mention whatever they like, but we need to pay our bills.
So maybe some of these people have gotten the wrong impression of it.
Nobody gets the wrong impression.
Everybody tries to think about themselves, which is perfectly fine.
We can’t stop people, but we continue to spread the love
and the dance.
That's what we're here for.
Do you have a message
for the people that are hiding behind their computers and writing?
I don’t have a message for anything.
I just have a message for you to learn tango.
Show me exactly what you learned so far.
[Final Test: Do The Tango]
As I say, let from your heart not from your arms.
Tango is in you already.
You just dance.
Good!
Bravo!
All was well with Jon and I.
I had made him proud,
and he left me with some final wise words.
We don’t know you, what you do,
how nasty you are or how nice you are,
but in tango, you are part of the community.
We treat you as a family member because we embrace with a stranger.
So you have to be respectful to each and every one.
I like that.
Am I in the tango community now or not?
-You’re absolutely a tango dancer, -I am?
and you’re an amazing person, and we welcome you.
But don’t ask for a discount.
[Member of the Tango Community: Amazing Person Taji Ameen]
-Thank you so much for having me. -We welcome you.
But don’t go sit on the computer and talk baloney and write baloney.
That's not my plan.
That’s a good way to end this.
I appreciate you addressing that.
Thank you, and we hug always.
Thank you. Thank you, Jon.
You're welcome.
Alrighty.
So the rumors are true,
it does take two to tango,
and I learned that from my experience with Tango Jon.
Bravo!
He was very patient with me as a novice.
He certainly has a strong dedication to the tango,
which he demonstrated as a way of life.
That said, If you are not going to tango and take it seriously,
then this is not the place for you.
And a little word of advice,
do not mention the reviews
or you will certainly be tangoing alone.
Thank you, Tango Jon.
How do you initiate a tango?
We never go ask the girl, “Would you like to dance?”
No. Always, we give the eye contact.
But you just kind of, I guess, cruise over, you know?
No, you’re not sneaking like a cruise over.