Secreto Tango tickets: what you get

What the ticket gets you

The ticket is entry to a live tango performance by professional dancers and musicians, held in a hidden venue at Gorriti 5801 in Palermo. Unlimited wine is poured during the show, and the seating is arranged to keep the audience close to the performers. A host speaks English and Spanish, so you have someone to ask on arrival. The length and start time for your night are on the booking calendar and your confirmation. Dinner and the ride there are yours to arrange. The meeting point is Secreto Tango Society at that address, so the street number and your confirmation are all you need at the door.

• Live tango by professional dancers and musicians
• Unlimited wine during the show
• A host who speaks English and Spanish
• Food and hotel pickup are not included

How a small room changes the show

Distance is the point. The venue says its performances unfold a few feet from the audience, in a small, carefully designed space that offers an alternative to large-scale productions. That changes what you notice: the dancers' faces and footwork, the singer's phrasing, the bandoneón's bellows opening and closing. It also means the room fills quickly, because seating is limited. Expect something nearer a salon recital than a theatre spectacle, with the music carrying as much weight as the choreography, and an audience that is part of the room instead of facing a stage across a gap. In a room this size you can follow the dancers' hands, the way partners trade the lead, and the musicians watching the floor for their cue.

Who performs

The venue's artists page lists a singer, a bandoneón player, a pianist, dancers and choreographers, under the direction of two artistic directors. The collective says it brought together dancers and musicians to explore, improvise and inspire one another. Line-ups can change, so treat that as the shape of the show rather than a cast list, and check the artists page for current names. If you listen for one thing, make it the singer: tango's songs are built around the voice, and in a small room it carries without effort. Bars and brothels in the port neighbourhoods hired bands to play for their customers when tango began, and a small room keeps that live exchange between music and dance in view.

Wine, food and what isn't included

Wine comes with the ticket, in unlimited amounts while the performance runs. Food does not: there is no dinner on the ticket, and the venue suggests booking dinner before or after your visit. There is no hotel transfer either, so work out how you will reach Palermo and return. Anyone who wants dinner baked into the booking will find that at a dinner-show hall, sold as a package. Here the product is the show plus the wine, and the table at a restaurant of your choosing is a separate decision. Eat first if wine on an empty stomach doesn't suit you.

Language: do you need Spanish?

No. The show is mostly non-verbal, with brief remarks in English and Spanish, and the host speaks both. Tango songs are sung in Spanish, so you won't follow every lyric, but the themes the venue names, love, loss, betrayal and nostalgia, come through the voice and the dancing. The venue's website comes in English, Portuguese and Spanish. If you want some background before you go, our guide to where tango came from covers the music, the dance and the poetry behind it. You don't need to know the dance either: this is a performance to watch.

Read next: Tango explained: from the Río de la Plata

A good first tango show?

For a first visit, the question is what you want from the evening. A small room is a good first look at the art itself: you see how the dancers lead and follow, how the musicians watch them, and how a singer carries a lyric. It won't give you the spectacle of a large production, so if a stage show is what you picture when you think of tango, the dinner-hall format is closer to that picture. Both teach you something, and they teach different things. With two or three nights in Buenos Aires, seeing one of each is a fair way to compare, and a milonga adds a third view.

Choosing a night, booking ahead and cancelling

Seating is limited, so the venue recommends booking a week or more in advance. Choose your night first and fit dinner around it; each day on the calendar carries its own start time. If your plans are loose, the pay-later option holds a seat without a payment today. Cancelling carries no fee until a day before the show, with a full refund; after that it does, so note the deadline when the confirmation arrives.

Booking through this page or directly

The venue sells tickets itself as well, and its site lists more than one session, with different lengths and line-ups, from a shorter one to a longer one with extra performers. The GetYourGuide ticket linked on this page brings free cancellation until 24 hours before and the pay-later option. A direct purchase falls under the venue's own conditions, which are worth reading first. If you want one particular line-up or session length, look at what the venue's site lists for your date before you decide where to book.

A small room or a dinner-show hall?

Buenos Aires stages tango at very different scales. The city's tourism site describes theatrical shows with live orchestras, often sold as a dinner-and-show package. This ticket sits at the other end: no stage production and no meal, just a band, a singer and dancers in a small room. Neither is better. Choose a hall for spectacle and a full evening in one booking, and the small room for music and dance you can watch up close. The table above sets the two side by side. If you are unsure, ask what you would remember most: the production, or a face a few feet away.

Read next: Small tango show or dinner hall?

On the night

Arrive a few minutes before the start time shown on your confirmation. The venue is billed as hidden, so look for the street number rather than theatre-style signage. A host welcomes guests, and wine is poured during the performance. Afterwards you step back out into Palermo, a barrio known for its restaurants and bars, which suits a dinner built around the show. Our practical guide covers getting there and the neighbourhood in detail. Have the confirmation ready on your phone.

• Keep your confirmation and the street address, Gorriti 5801, to hand
• Settle your ride home before the show begins
• Reserve dinner before or after, because it isn't part of the ticket

Read next: Secreto Tango location and getting there

Who this isn't for

Skip this ticket if you are travelling with children under 14, because the show isn't suitable for them. It is also the wrong choice if you want dinner included, hotel pickup, or the scale of a large stage with a big cast and an orchestra. If you would rather dance than watch, a milonga is the place for that, not a seated show.