Writer/Director Sonja Strathearn And her husband Lane took tango lessons with Joan Bishop in Houston Texas for five years before she moved to Iowa. Joan agreed to play herself in the film on the condition that the main actor Joseph Thorin was an absolute beginner and she would teach him when she came. She didn't want someone pretending to be a beginner. However it was very difficult to teach him quickly once filming started because it usually takes years to learn. Joan returned 4 months later for the closing scenes while the director Sonja and her husband Lane tried to teach him and his wife Abby who plays his new love in the story.
Tango dancers from Eastern Iowa traveled long distances to volunteer for the milonga scenes. While the first milonga scene was constructed, the second milonga scene was a real event with a Tango workshop by Joan Bishop where the money paid by class members used to fund Joan Bishop's airfare from Texas to Iowa.