"Dancing through the Minefield": Passion, Pedagogy, Politics, and Production in The Tango Lesson

This article provides an in-depth analysis of Sally Potter's The Tango Lesson (1997), viewing it as a highly theoretical and pedagogical work of feminist film theory. While creating a modernist narrative concerning her real-life adventures in learning the tango and falling in love with her dance instructor, Potter simultaneously touches on such complex issues as female authorship, sexual representation, the politics of romantic pleasure, the history of the film musical, and the cultural and gendered legacy of ballroom dancing.