When I quit dancing figures (“steps”) and learned to improvise, I learned musicality bit-by-bit, as listed below. You might see what you do already and what else you might want to learn. (Tango “musicality” has to do with feeling the rhythms – your interpretation is your own).
- Hearing the rhythm of the music, when listening to a tango.
- Walking on the beat – exactly (mostly step on beat 1 and 3)
- Hear the Quick-Quick-Slow rhythms, when they occur, and step accordingly (not every time, but enough to be synchronizing with the music.)
- Noticing the “rhythmic silences” and pausing (men) or playing (women). These occur when the string bass player stops, or sometimes it’s the piano. See: https://youtu.be/Yzt5h8BmOrQ
- Hearing the legato and staccato phrases and using movements which match.
- Hearing the variations in loudness and interpreting them.
- Hearing the syncopations (note-displacement type) and dancing them. https://www.jaytango.com/?p=317
- Being aware of the violin (especially) solos, and dancing in half-tempo.
- Noticing the bandoneon flurries, and dancing in double-time.
- Hearing the periodic “oomph” on the downbeat in De Caro, Pugliese, Calo (and others) and pushing off energetically.
- Hearing the “Habanera” rhythms (mostly in Milonga) and moving in sync with them.
- Syncopating on beat 5 or 6 or 5½ in Vals – aware of the significance of each.
- Hearing the key changes between major and minor in the chord progression and moving accordingly.