What can be said of an older lover can also be said of an older dance partner:
We are grateful.
As we age, we invest ourselves more fully in the moment. We take time to savour, to linger over simple pleasures. We put our nose to the wine glass before our lips and we sip slowly. We draw as much nurturing from a hug or a snuggle as from a passionate embrace. We bother to watch a flower bloom or a sun set. We rock to the rhythm of rain. We spend as much energy reflecting on memories as planning for the future.
The same is true of our experience on the dance floor. We trade the glitter and glamour for the comfort of the familiar and affirming. We take longer pauses and shorter flourishes. Slower steps and simpler spins.
We pay more attention to the support we are giving to our partner than the gratification from executing a complicated sequence. We take greater care settling into the embrace and are more reluctant to surrender it.
We relax. We release the tension from the shoulders and hips. We delight in the simple gift and grace of the moment. We smile warmly, affectionately. We squeeze our partner’s hand when the tanda ends. We are thankful to our body and the dance that we can still create with beauty and elegance. Perhaps even more so.
Less becomes more.
A Quote from Cacho Dante, speaking from the experience of a seasoned tanguero, “Thirty years ago, the tango wasn’t a trapeze act. When guys … didn’t really know how to dance, they did 20 steps; when they knew a bit more, the did 10; and when they really knew what they were doing, they danced five .. but with real quality.”