TACKLING THE TANGO: Princeton’s many tango enthusiasts gather regularly at the Suzanne Patterson Center to learn from the pros and hear music by prominent groups from around the world.

When fans of tango travel to foreign countries, it doesn’t take them long to locate kindred spirits. There are tango communities all over the world. Princeton boasts its own active group, Viva Tango Inc., which meets regularly at the Suzanne Patterson Center to learn new dance steps, hear music, and socialize.

“Tango is a very friendly dance, a very social thing that’s taken off worldwide,” said Dennis Matthies, a retired physicist who is active in the group. “Twenty years ago, there weren’t that many places you could go and find it. Now, it’s in almost any city. We have members who have gone to Russia, Europe, Thailand, and other places on vacation and found tango. When I go on vacation, I go to a city and walk in to a tango group, and they’re very happy to have an outside visitor.”

By most accounts, Argentine tango originated in 19th-century brothels and portrayed the relationship between a prostitute and her pimp. But over the decades, the dance has come to represent something more glamorous and elegant. The male dancer still dominates and the female follows, but the tango of today appeals to a much wider audience and is more accessible than some might assume.

“People think tango is harder than the other dances, but it’s not,” Mr. Matthies said. “It’s free form. It is very different for men and for women, or leaders and followers.”

A description of tango in the British publication International Business Times describes it like this: “Tango is playing chess, having a work-out, being on a date, traveling through space and time, discovering a foreign culture, going to a concert, and exploring one’s creativity … all at the same time. Does it sound complicated?”

It isn’t, the description goes on to say. “It is best described as having a warm conversation with very close friends. The biggest misconception in tango is that the man ‘decides’ and the lady ‘executes’ — in fact, the man’s role is to make the lady shine on the dance floor, so all his attention is put towards this goal. It is therefore a truly selfless act.”

Mr. Matthies explains the style. “The leader has to decide what he’s doing. He can’t just go out there and expect the follower to do anything. The follower has to have reactions. It’s not like fixed steps and routines. It’s walking and turning. There are short sequences that have various Spanish names, but you kind of listen to the music and make it up as you go along according to the mood and the partner’s ability. Then, the follower gets clues from movement of the leader’s chest and shoulders and pressure in the arm. She senses, and reacts.”

Tango has been popular in Princeton since a group of Princeton University graduate students organized a tango club in 1998. Mr. Matthies, an alumnus, was on a committee that funded social events. It was through helping the club that he got hooked on tango. That club is still in operation, but Viva Tango Inc., a separate group that meets at the Suzanne Patterson Center on Thursday evenings now boasts some 50 to 60 regular members.

Three Thursdays of each month, instructors teach and, sometimes, perform. After the class, the lights are turned down, food is brought out, and people dance for a few hours. “Over the years we have had some premier people [teaching and performing],” Mr. Matthies said last week. “The first United States tango champion from 2007 is teaching this week, and then we have some prominent musicians coming next week. These are known, world-class performers.”

Mr. Matthies credits Viva Tango Inc. president David Kalmus as the heart of the organization. “He does the vast majority of the labor of buying the food, setting up, and end-of-event cleaning up 12 months a year,” Mr. Matthies said. “He is assisted by a small group of dedicated helpers.”

While most people attend the gatherings to dance, some come just to watch and listen to the music. “People drawn to tango are atypical,” Mr. Matthies said. “They tend to be diverse and extremely accomplished in their areas of expertise. Many discussions go on during the evening.”

As for the actual dancing, “The hard part is to make it look graceful,” Mr. Matthies said. “It takes some time to do that. But we enjoy the process.”