Resurrection Tango: the birth of a new dance form.

It’s Easter. A time of death and rebirth, endings and new beginnings. The first full moon after the spring equinox. Daffodils pushing up through the crusted soil, cats in heat bawling on fence posts, birds scavenging for fluff and fabric for nest building. The whole world is bursting at the seams ready to give life another go. 

Except us. 

Here we are, for the second Easter in succession, hunkered down in our living rooms, watching the virtual world go by.

What sense does any of this make?

 

Allow me to do some cross-referencing between Tango and Easter – Tango because it provides a useful metaphor as well as social practice for addressing social dynamics, (and keeps my comments grounded and practical), Easter because it encapsulates the death and rebirth motifs.  

A few weeks back there was an international video conference discussing the future of Tango; Can we expect to go back to the way it was pre-pandemic or will there be something distinctive about post-COVID Tango? Here are a few summary reflections of my own.

 

1) Death to the old.

No same old same old. No going back. This time is a major reset and the first stage is saying good-bye to the old way of doing things, including life, including Tango. A lot of dying, the non-essentials, the extravagances, the superfluous, the irrelevant, the idle, We won’t be picking up where we left off. 

 

2) Birth to the new.

This is a major reset. We will be entering a brave new world and we will be travelling light. We will only be allowed to take with us what is core, what is truly essential for our well-being. This is a time of evaluating what is really important: What is it that we are really missing at this time? Is Tango one of those missing pieces and if so why? 

 

3) A balancing of cyberspace and personal space.

One of the miracles of this time, certainly, is how we have managed to maintain contact through virtual media. This will certainly remain a big part of our reality going forward.

But at the same time, we have also had the painful experience of appreciating – through its absence – how important physical contact and person-to-person sharing are to our well-being. We are now hearing that the long-term mental health consequences of this time will be as significant as the disease itself. We need human contact, flesh to flesh, whether it is within a love relationship or on the dance floor or in casual engagement.

 

4) Global consciousness.

The virus has brought the world community together in a way nothing else has. Governments are cooperating, focus is being put on the health of the citizenry. We are paying attention to what is going on on the other side of the world as an indicator as to what our world will look like. All very positive changes.

What I have noticed in the Tango world is that it has become far more cosmopolitan. Until now, the focus has remained on Buenos Aires as the place where all the good dancing and instruction takes place. 

Two things have changed. One is international travel which may never revive, at least not to the extent the prevalence of before. 

Secondly, the teachers who have risen to prominence are those who have mastered a web presence. For the past year, anyone following the Tango online is discovering excellent teaching and dancing from all corners of the world. Virtual instruction will not replace in-person instruction entirely, now quality, in-home instruction is available at your fingertips.

 

5) Spiritual awareness. 

Permit me to incorporate some faith reflections in this discussion. My understanding of the Christian Easter narrative is that body and spirit are inseparably intertwined and knit together in the death and resurrection of Jesus, metaphorically and energetically. This gives me hope for the future of Tango, but with a particular flavour and emphasis. 

For the Tango to be relevant in the new world, it must take seriously its genius of integrating and balancing male/ female energies, on a spiritual, psychological and physical level. 

This is true about all the arts certainly, and especially music and dance. But the Tango is distinctive in the degree to which it weaves together the yin and yang in a cooperative and generative fashion through its offset lead/ follow structure. And all with a rich infusion of sensuality and elegance.

 

This year, more than ever, we have the opportunity to reflect on what dying to the old and being born to the new might mean. Let’s make the most of it.