Better than sex. And if not, one could say that the scene that unfolded this weekend at venues across Moscow were as close to world class foreplay as possible. The verve and vigor of the tango came to Moscow this August to give our sensuous Russian ladies a chance to strut their sultry stuff and Moscow’s men the opportunity to make them sparkle. The Moscow International Tango Festival welcomed special guests and over 5,000 keen participants, showing great demand for the Argentine dance of pulsating passion.

Tango, the forbidden dance, has through the years absorbed the heart and soul of Argentines reflecting the nation’s style and grace, turmoil and grief.

Dubbed Milonguero Nights, the annual Moscow event is named after a particularly erotic tango that incorporates intimate embrace, small steps and dramatic body movement.

This version of tango was cultivated in the 1950s in the busy, dynamic clubs of Buenos Aires, and the name is now used to describe anyone who dances tango. Indeed, the scene at the Cicterna Club in central Moscow this Saturday was straight out of a Buenos Aires tango club…saucy Slavic ladies lined up against the wall, their hair up, decked out in backless pencil dresses, tight at the hip and sporting spiked dance pumps awaiting eye contact with a prospective partner. Protocol has men catching the object of his desire’s eye from across the room then nod. This gesture called a cabeceo and enables a woman to avoid a man she doesn’t want to dance with. It also saves the delicate male ego the embarrassment of being turned down in public. In some circles its even considered taboo walk over to a woman when she hasn’t accepted a man’s non-verbal invitation.

Dancing in close embrace, many with their eyes closed, one could almost hear their quiet gasps and groans as the women seemed to reach orgasmic peak with each movement of their partner’s hips.

Celebrities and tango professionals from across the globe infused the event with glitz and glamour, giving smoothly coordinated couples the motivation and inspiration they truly deserved. The world’s most

talented tango DJ, Damian Pablo Baggio of Buenos Aires, played to the dancing crowds who were also kept moving by the best tango music from local ensembles such as the Soledad Orquesta.

Partners were given professional demonstrations of the famous moves by rising stars and tango legends including pairs Sebastian Arce and Mariana Montes, and Mariano ‘Chicho’ Fromboli and Juana Sepulveda, all of Argentina. These internationally acclaimed performers and connoisseurs of the sizzling art gave eager students a real flavor of South American tempo and improvisation, injecting some pulsing electricity into their Russian souls.

The tango has always been a popular form of sensual expression among Russian women who were particularly excited to take advantage of the free classes where they could join with a more than willing partner for some flirtatious and intimate fun. Thousands of enthusiastic single ladies took part in the event hoping to bag a handsome Fred Astaire to hit it off with on the dance floor. The Moscow International Tango Festival is just one of many cultural and open social events throughout Moscow in summertime that provide the opportunity to mix with the opposite sex.

Festival president Alexander Vistgof said "This dance is about emotions and passion. The partners dance for each other only. It is just about him and her….man and woman"