Amague
A led or improvised feint in Argentine tango that fakes one movement to launch another
Tango argentinoLevel: Intermediate2 min read4 citations
An amague is a deceptive embellishment of Argentine tango in which a dancer launches a movement in one direction and then withholds or redirects it, so the gesture registers as a threat rather than a completed step; the name comes from the River Plate Spanish verb amagar, to feint or threaten.[1] On the floor it reads as a quick beat of the free leg — typically a small, sharp cross in front of or behind the standing leg, made without transferring weight — that cuts across the cadence the partner has been led to expect.[2]
Functionally the amague is most often a charge: a preparation that precedes and energizes the figure to follow, lending added impulse to a gancho, a boleo, or a change of direction.[3] It may be led from the embrace as a momentary indication that is then drawn back, or it may surface as the follower's own improvised adornment over the leader's base.[4] Rhythmically it belongs to syncopation, slipped in as an off-beat check between two strong beats rather than counted into a fixed measure.[2]
Current across Buenos Aires and the wider Río de la Plata, the word amague travels abroad largely intact: because tango's movement vocabulary stays anchored in porteño practice, it is retained untranslated worldwide, with English-language schools glossing it simply as 'the feint'.[1] Layered onto the walk, turns, and kicking figures rather than taught among the first steps, it sits in intermediate-to-advanced repertoire.
How it's danced
Lead and follow cues
CountNot metered in salsa-style measures. Phrased to the music as a syncopation — a quick off-beat check (the 'and') inserted between two strong beats of the underlying 4/4 and resolving on the following beat. The feint borrows a fraction of a beat from the surrounding walk rather than occupying a fixed count.
Lead
From a stable axis, indicate the start of a step or sweep through the chest and embrace, then arrest and reverse that intention before any weight transfers; let the free leg flick a quick cross in front of or behind the standing leg without taking weight, and immediately channel the stored energy into the real figure (a gancho, boleo, or change of direction). The amague is the cancelled first intention, not a completed step.
Follow
Begin the movement the lead appears to indicate with the free, unweighted leg, then withdraw it as the lead cancels — brushing a quick cross or beat past the standing leg without committing weight and staying over the supporting axis. Keep the torso connected so the redirected energy carries cleanly into the figure that follows; do not chase the feint with a full weighted step.
Song timingBest on classic 4/4 orquesta-típica tango at moderate, walkable tempos (roughly 100–135 bpm) where a phrase offers a pause or marcato into which a syncopated check can be slipped — Di Sarli- to D'Arienzo-range repertoire. The feint needs musical space, so it is harder to place cleanly in fast vals passages or busy milonga, which leave little room for the borrowed off-beat.
Learn first
Prerequisites
- confident tango walk with a maintained axis (eje)
- weight-change control and the ability to keep a free leg genuinely free and unweighted
- torso-hip dissociation (disociación)
- familiarity with the figures an amague prepares — e.g. gancho, boleo, change of direction
Watch out
Common mistakes
- Taking weight onto the feinting foot, which turns the cancelled intention into a real step and kills the deception.
- Telegraphing the feint with the whole body so it no longer surprises; the amague should stay a contained free-leg gesture over a stable axis.
- Leaning or collapsing the axis during the flick, so the standing leg cannot support the quick redirection.
- For the leader, feinting with the arms or hands instead of leading the cancelled intention through the chest and embrace.
- Letting the amague go limp so it fails to store energy for the gancho or boleo it is meant to launch.
Don't confuse with
Easily confused moves
- Boleo/voleo — a whipping free-leg lash driven by a pivot; the amague feints and withdraws rather than whipping out and back.
- Gancho — a hooking of the leg around the partner's; the amague often precedes a gancho but is not itself a hook.
- Lápiz — a circular drawing of the foot on the floor as an adorno, not a directional feint.
- Cunita (little cradle / rock-step) — a led rock that changes direction but completes each weight change, unlike the weightless amague.
- Cross step (paso cruzado / cruzado) — footwork terminology, not a feint figure.
Around the world
Other names
Buenos Aires / Río de la Plata (Argentina, Uruguay)
amague
Canonical term; from the verb amagar, to feint or threaten.
English-speaking scenes (US, UK, Australia)
amague (glossed as 'the feint')
Spanish term retained in teaching; explained in English as a feint or fake.
References
- 1.Amague AKA the feint - advanced tango figure — endretango.com
- 2.Argentine tango dance terms — www.tangoconcepts.com
- 3.TERMINOLOGY | Argentine Tango Vancouver — argentinetangolab.com
- 4.Argentine Tango Terminology | Brisbane House Of Tango — brisbanehouseoftango.com.au
How to cite this article
Choose a style and copy the citation.
Bailar Editorial Team. (2026). Amague. Bailar Biblioteca. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://bailar.site/biblioteca/move/tango-amague
Bailar Editorial Team. “Amague.” Bailar Biblioteca, 2026, bailar.site/biblioteca/move/tango-amague. Accessed 29 June 2026.
Bailar Editorial Team. “Amague.” Bailar Biblioteca. Accessed June 29, 2026. https://bailar.site/biblioteca/move/tango-amague.
@misc{bailar-move-tango-amague, author = {{Bailar Editorial Team}}, title = {{Amague}}, year = {2026}, howpublished = {Bailar Biblioteca}, url = {https://bailar.site/biblioteca/move/tango-amague}, note = {Accessed: 2026-06-29} }
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