Why Dance A Tango? More than just steps and figures, to dance a tango is to unlock a profound experience of joy and wisdom. It’s a journey that goes beyond the surface of movement, delving into the depths of self-discovery and human connection. However, this transformative value isn’t found in rigid routines or pre-planned steps. True tango emerges when we embrace spontaneity and presence.
Embracing the Present Moment on the Dance Floor
The magic of dancing a tango lies in letting go of control in the conventional sense and becoming deeply attuned to the present moment. It’s about training your body to be relaxed and comfortable, finding control by surrendering to the flow. Forget anxieties about what’s next; instead, focus on breathing, suspending judgment, and opening yourself to the unfolding dance. Accept what has just happened and be joyfully aware of what is becoming. This mindful presence is the cornerstone of truly dancing a tango.
Beyond Performance: Tango as Self-Exploration
There’s a distinction between performing tango and dancing a tango for its intrinsic rewards. Performers focused on choreography often seek applause and validation, bowing to an audience that expects entertainment and recognition of skill. But dancing a tango at its heart isn’t a performance. It’s a powerful way to explore, recreate, and refine ourselves. We must be mindful, however, that the dance floor can sometimes mirror our personal shortcomings if we are not conscious and present in our approach.
The Tango Community: Connection and Shared Humanity
Many dedicated tango dancers build connections within the community, often dancing with partners who are spouses, close friends, or simply fellow enthusiasts. Whether dancing with a long-term partner or embracing the spontaneity of the milonga (tango social dance), the common thread among great tango dancers is their pleasant company. They are individuals who are enjoyable to be around. People are drawn to dance with them, not out of obligation, but out of genuine desire. As they continue to dance a tango, their skills refine, their humanity deepens, and they naturally find themselves sharing dances with those they truly connect with. Remember, milongas are celebrations, parties – not a job. There are no obligations in tango, including the choice of who to dance with.
Freeing Yourself from Expectations and Insecurities
Imagine going to a milonga and feeling no pressure to dance. If you don’t feel like dancing a tango with anyone, you simply don’t. The enjoyment comes from being present in the atmosphere, appreciating the music and the energy. And if a dance arises with someone you connect with, and it becomes a wonderful shared experience, that’s an amazing bonus! It’s about moving away from the idea of expecting others to fulfill fantasies or alleviate insecurities before we can enjoy life. This shift in perspective, from seeking external validation to finding internal joy, is a crucial step in truly embracing the tango.
True Control Through Presence, Not Rigidity
We often delude ourselves into thinking we are naturally in control. However, true self-control is cultivated through consistent and mindful practice. Often, we mistake rigidity for control, distancing ourselves from our bodies and authentic movement. But in dancing a tango, and in life, true control comes from being present, adaptable, and responsive.
Often (very often), the corrections you need to apply to your dancing are corrections needed for your life.
This profound insight highlights that dancing a tango is not just about physical steps; it’s a mirror reflecting our inner selves and offering pathways for personal growth.
Competition and the True Judges of Tango
The idea of tango competitions raises an interesting question: who are the real judges? Are we seeking validation from arbitrary panels? If judgment is to be considered, shouldn’t it come from those who truly understand the essence of tango and humanity? Perhaps the most meaningful “jury” would be composed of individuals of proven humanity, those who embody the grace, connection, and emotional intelligence that tango represents. While technical skill is important, the heart of dancing a tango lies in the human experience, something that transcends mere expertise.
Suspending Judgment and Embracing Freedom
As tango dancers, we learn to suspend judgment, much like the ancient skeptic philosophers. Our bodies carry the imprints of societal conditioning. Dancing a tango allows us to break free from these ingrained prejudices. It’s about exploring alternatives, moving beyond limitations with patience and honest self-reflection. This process of self-critique and exploration is essential for developing an authentic and personal tango.
The Path to Becoming a Good Tango Dancer
Becoming a proficient tango dancer is a journey of self-development. It requires dedication: learning from experienced teachers, practicing diligently, and, importantly, venturing out to milongas to gain real-world experience. It’s in the milonga environment that we discover how we respond to different partners and situations, allowing us to reflect, learn, and refine our dance – and ourselves – as a work of art in progress.
Always a Beginner: The Beauty of Continuous Learning
In tango, there’s a perpetual state of beginning. The best mindset to cultivate is that of a continuous learner. Never lose that beginner’s feeling, that sense of wonder and potential for growth. While embracing this beginner’s mind, we also strive for constant improvement.
It is not important to dance more, but to dance better.
This emphasizes the quality of the dance experience over mere quantity. It’s about deepening our understanding and expression within each dance.
Fulfillment in Tango and Life: Sharing the Joy
When we approach dancing a tango and living life with fulfillment, our company becomes enjoyable to others. This positive energy is contagious and enriches the experience for everyone around us.
Interest in Others: Expanding Our World
To truly connect in tango, and in life, we need to be genuinely interested in the people around us. If we find ourselves uninterested, it might be a sign that we’ve become insensitive or are limiting ourselves to a narrow perspective.
Discovering Worlds Within Each Person
Each person we encounter is a new world to explore. Through these interactions, especially in the close embrace of a tango, we discover more about ourselves and participate in another person’s self-discovery. If our tango interactions are no different from transactional exchanges, like paying for museum tickets, we are missing the deeper potential of the dance.
Beyond Raw Sensations: Maturing the Tango Experience
While initial tango experiences might be filled with exciting sensations, true tango maturity lies in moving beyond these raw feelings. It’s about cultivating a deeper connection that enhances our humanity, enriching our emotional and interpersonal intelligence.
Giving and Receiving in Tango and Life
In tango, as in life, we receive in proportion to what we give. Our commitment, energy, and openness directly influence the richness of our experience.
The Joyful Essence of “Serious” Tango
We can only claim to be “seriously” engaged in tango when it becomes a joyful experience, not just for ourselves, but for those we dance with and the community around us.
Embracing Challenges and Understanding Limits
Dancing a tango is undeniably challenging, but we have the choice to determine how deeply we delve into its complexities. We can choose how far we want to explore the art, ourselves, and our connections with others. While excuses for shortcomings are always available, aspiring to be good tango dancers – and admirable human beings – requires acknowledging and overcoming limitations. We cannot demand what we are unwilling to achieve through dedication and self-improvement.
Tango: A Unique Art Form, Distinct from Ballroom
Another crucial step in our tango journey is recognizing its distinct nature from ballroom dances. The connections are superficial at best. Many believe that you cannot truly dance ballroom and tango simultaneously. It requires a commitment to one, perhaps letting go of the other, to fully embrace the depth of tango.
Learning Tango in the Milonga: Real Human Connection
Where can you find authentic tango instruction? The best place to start is the milonga itself. Observe experienced dancers. Find those whose dance and humanity resonate with you. Approach them, express your admiration, and ask them to teach you. No institution or reputation can replace the inherent wisdom of experiencing someone’s dance firsthand. Tango is learned from individuals, real, tangible human beings, not from abstract institutions or theories.
Tango as a Way of Life: A Human Culture
Dancing a tango is more than a hobby; it’s a way of life, a way of being human. It’s a profound form of expression. If we were to represent humanity to an extraterrestrial civilization, a milonguero/a, someone who embodies the essence of tango, would be a fitting ambassador.
Tango Music: Guiding the Dance
Tango music is not meant for passive listening like a concert. It’s music born from the human body, from our world, designed to be danced. The most knowledgeable tango DJs at milongas play music, often from the “Golden Era,” that embodies this essence. Truly knowing tango music means understanding its characteristics, being able to discuss it with specific references and examples, moving beyond vague feelings. This deep understanding of the music manifests clearly in the dance itself.
Tango is human. I think it is meant to be the culture of humanity.
Beyond Words: Expressing Through the Body
Spoken and written languages have limitations. They can never fully capture the depth of human expression. Where words fail, our bodies begin to speak. And then, we dance a tango.
It is always our choice. We are free to take it or leave it.
Tango Excellence: Human Excellence
Being excellent at dancing a tango has no correlation with being a professional dancer in other genres. You can be a technically brilliant professional dancer and not grasp the essence of tango. An excellent tango dancer, however, embodies human excellence in a broader sense, demonstrating qualities that extend beyond the dance floor.
Habits and Continuous Self-Reflection
We are shaped by our habits. If these habits become unconscious and mechanical, we risk becoming like robots, losing the spontaneity and presence that define tango. To be good tango dancers, we need to constantly review and reconsider our habits, both in dance and in life.
Tango Community Dynamics: Diverse Approaches
The tango community, like any social group, is diverse. People approach tango with different goals: some dance primarily with friends, others seek partners who match their dance exploration, some look for romance, others socialize. All these approaches are valid as long as they are respectful of others. While you may not agree with every approach, it’s important to respect the diverse motivations within the tango community. These approaches are fluid, evolving and mixing in each individual over time.
Finding Your Tango Path: Patience and Authenticity
It can be challenging to find people who resonate with your specific tango interests and approach. Your personal tango journey might be unique, shared by few. There’s nothing wrong with this. Patience is key. A common mistake for newer tango dancers (those with less than ten years of experience!) is feeling entitled to dances or partners. In tango, the focus is on your own dance, your personal involvement, and your progress as a dancer within the milonga culture. Often, people struggle to articulate why they dance tango, resorting to vague explanations. But in reality, the best explanation of why someone dances a tango is their dance itself.
Mutual Desire: The Foundation of a Tango Dance
We should never feel entitled to dance with anyone. A tango dance is most meaningful when there is a clear mutual desire to dance together. For milongueros, those who are regulars at milongas, the intention is often to dance regularly with chosen partners at each encounter.
I always prefer regular milongas to festivals.
This highlights the value of consistent connection and shared experiences within the local tango community.
The San Francisco Bay Area Tango Community: A Thriving Scene
The San Francisco Bay Area tango community is recognized worldwide for its high quality, characterized by lovely, friendly, warm, and kind individuals.
The Teacher-Student Tango Relationship: Personalized Learning
Each student learns best with a particular teacher. Tango teachers may sometimes spread themselves too thin, trying to teach everyone and competing for students. However, a student who is meant to learn from a specific teacher might not benefit as much from another. Conversely, a dedicated student can learn even from less-than-perfect teachers, while a less engaged student may struggle even with the best instruction. The teacher-student relationship in tango is a personalized journey.
