Back in my 4th post, I mentioned the Argentine tango. I started studying the dance about 2 years ago.....frustratingly. I didn't understand it at all. It was the most difficult ballroom dance I have ever learned. I lost patience with my partner quickly but he remained determined and actually kept his patience. And of course now he is an instructor at a ballroom school. Which is really inspiring to me.
This year I actually studied the cultural anthropology surrounding the Argentine tango and it made a huge difference in the way I danced. If you're curious, Julie Taylor wrote a fantastic ethnography called "Paper Tangos" on this topic.
The last few months, I have been going to the free practica abierta (open practices) at a tango school in my city. I love the atmosphere and how the room is dimly lit. And how wine and cheese and crackers are set on a table nearby for breaks between sets (usually 3 songs danced in a row with one partner). I mean, c'mon, does it get any classier than that?! Oh, and the wine is always from Buenos Aires. These people are the real deal!
So the last time I was dancing there, I was dancing with one of the instructors (who so happens to be one of my favorite dance partners of all time though he is shorter than me). Quick side-note to paint a picture of this accented man: he has curly, long, gray hair that achieves afro status but he keeps it loosely tied. And he always wears the gentlest, cheery smile. After giving me about a dozen gentle, not forceful or demanding, corrections on my technique I finally tried something new.
But before I tell you what this new thing, for me anyway, is I have to rewind and explain a little something. You see, I have this problem with leading. And I'm the follow. Follows can't lead. Many, many reasons for this but I digress. There's something unique to this tango that is not done in the rumba, waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, cha-cha, and certainly not the jive or lindy hop; what is commonly done in the Argentine tango is that partners will close their eyes while they dance together. THEY CLOSE THEIR EYES!
So I just let go of my thoughts and worries about how to move and anticipating the lead's desires and just closed. my. eyes.
........Completely relaxed. Oh my word, what a difference! It was a feeling I had never experienced before! Not to sound cheesy but the best way I can describe it is that the way my body moved no longer felt forced or predicted. It felt effortless. It felt like dancing on a cloud. And I no longer felt controlled. I felt worthy of being admired :)
So ladies, if you don't know how you should be treated by a man, ballroom dance will teach you a lot! Do it. No matter how dumb, clumsy, or ridiculous you think you will look. And men.....for the love of God, learn the Argentine tango. It's not overtly romantic (like the waltz), or sexy (like the rumba), but it is enthralling, enticing, and fascinating when you know the feeling of loneliness and exile that the tango was born out of. That is what makes closing your eyes exhilarating and tranquil at the same time.
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