Two’s good company. It takes two to tango, and the seven couples in the Argentine company called Tango x 2 danced very enticingly in a program called ”Una Noche de Tango,” which opened a two-week season at City Center on Wednesday night.

The popularity of the tango has increased enormously in recent years, and there are now two tango shows to delight New Yorkers: this one by Tango x 2 and the unrelated ”Forever Tango,” which continues its run at the Walter Kerr Theater.

Tango x 2 set its presentation — conceived, choreographed and directed by Miguel Angel Zotto and Milena Plebs — in a nightspot that changed in ambiance as the evening proceeded. The production, designed by Roberto Almada, showed how over the decades the tango has proved an irresistible temptation to people from many countries and all levels of society.

In both its gritty and polished manifestations, the tango has been an implicitly erotic dance in which the performers’ upper bodies stay cool and collected while their legs and feet do the talking, kicking and swiveling as if making sly innuendoes and, sometimes, passionate propositions. The tango can thrive in dives as well as in posh clubs. But wherever it is found, its footwork is as fancy as the ornamentation on a Baroque palace.

Jorge Ferrari’s neat but never elaborate costumes made most of the dancers in the opening section of the two-part ”Noche de Tango” seem to be working-class couples out for a night on the town. An orchestra, directed by Daniel Binelli, sat on a ledge above the stage, and singers both gathered with the instrumentalists and wandered among the dancers. Unfortunately, wherever they were, the musicians were badly amplified, and some electronic squawks resounded throughout City Center that were not part of the score.

All the performers had strong theatrical presences. That the troupe included both young people and gray-haired performers indicated that the tango can appeal to dancers of all ages. It is never too late to fall in love. But courtship in tango rhythms has its own rules. When a man tried to grasp his partner too roughly in one little dramatic episode, she abruptly left him, as if to demonstrate that passion and decorum must remain partners.

Several scenes were unusual. In one, men danced with other men, as was the custom in some tango clubs earlier in this century. Gabriel Misse and Graciela Porchia and, later, a whole ensemble of dancers offered examples of a form known as the tango waltz, which combines the seductiveness of the tango with the lilt of the waltz. And Mr. Zotto, wearing a gaucho costume, cracked a whip at Ms. Plebs in a duet inspired by the flamboyant tangos danced in silent films by Rudolph Valentino and Natasha Rambova.

When the cast returned to the stage after the intermission, they found that their nightclub had had an elegant facelift. They, too, ascended the social scale, for they appeared in formal attire and elegant gowns. The tango was now the rage of European high society. Steps were refined, especially in a suave duet for Ms. Plebs and Mr. Zotto. But emotions could still take fire, as Gachi Fernandez demonstrated when she wrapped her legs around Sergio Cortazzo in one number; later, in the same piece, he swung her about with glee. And the tango team professionally known as Carlos and Alicia began one dance in a haughty manner, only to grow increasingly uninhibited. Yet no one went out of control.

As a dance of love, the tango is like a game. Everyone associated with Tango x 2 knows the rules and plays the game well.

Photo: Graciela Porchia and Gabriel Misse performing at City Center. (Sara Krulwich/The New York Times)