At a state dinner in Argentina, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were pulled onto the dance floor by two talented tango dancers.

At first, the President tried to slyly reject the offer but the woman, wearing traditional tango attire, convinced the leader of the free world to take part in the country's native dance.

The exact origins of the tango are sprinkled with a lot of myths and legends. But a general understanding is that in the mid-1800s, African slaves who had been brought to Argentina or their descendants began to influence the local culture. The word “tango” acquired the standard meaning of the place where African slaves and free blacks gathered to dance by the time Argentina banned slavery in 1853.

From the 1800s to the 1900s, Argentina had a massive influx of immigrants and became a melting-pot of cultures. The intermixing of African, Spanish, Italian, British, Polish, Russian and native-born Argentines resulted in dance and musical hybrids. Traditional polkas, waltzes and mazurkas were mixed with the popular habanera from Cuba and the candombe rhythms from Africa.

And then President Obama visited.

After a few missteps and slightly ungraceful moves, the President and his dance partner were gliding around the room.

President Obama, may be slow to admit it, but Mrs. Obama had more rhythm. She looked more natural as she twisted and twirled, back and forth, with her partner on the dance floor.

Argentine President Mauricio Macri held the intimate state dinner for the Obamas to celebrate the first time in nearly 20 years that a US president made a formal state visit to Argentina.

Obama called the trip to Buenos Aires “a new beginning” between the United States and Argentina, a chance to rebuild trust that may still be lost after the country's military coup 40 years ago.

President Barack Obama says the United States was slow to speak out for human rights in Argentina during a dark period in that country's history. However Obama is trying to make amends by declassifying even more documents that could shed light on the U.S. role in what is known as Argentina's "Dirty War." Thousands of people died or went missing following a 1976 coup that opened a period of military rule.

Obama recognized that it takes courage for a society to address uncomfortable truths about its past, but that doing so is necessary to move forward.

It may be easier to learn the tango, but President Obama still holds out hope to start a new relationship of trust with Argentina.