TIME MOTION AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS IN TANGO DANCE

The aim of this study was to investigate the movement and choreography characteristics between four different quality groups in tango. Thirty-five dance couples competing in an international competition in the adult category were selected for analysis. The total time and average speed in each direction of movement and the number of changes of direction were compared between four different quality groups. The average speed of the movement and choreography path was 1.14 ± 5.1 m/s and 77.56 ± 11.1 m, respectively. Dancers mostly danced in line of dance (LOD) (M = 10.74 ± 5.2 s), diagonal to the center (DC) (M = 9.96 ± 4.5 s), and diagonal to the wall (DW) (M = 8 ± 3.1s). Although no significant differences were found, the time spent dancing in LOD decreased with the more successful quality group. Significant differences between the quality groups were found in the speed of movement in LOD direction (χ2 = 9.4, df = 3, p = 0.024), which decreased with the more successful quality group. Dancers made an average of 26.31 ± 3.4 changes in direction. Statistical differences were found between the quality groups (χ2 = 7.7, df = 3, p = 0.04). This is the first detailed study in tango analyzing the characteristics of movement and choreography. The quality groups differ in the speed of movement in some directions of movement and in the number of changes of direction. The results presented can help choreographers and coaches to adequately design the physical preparation of the dancers, the structure of the choreography and the technical and tactical requirements.