November 11, 2023. Remembering…
A Tango instructor of mine compared Tango to Aikido, which he also instructed. His comment: “There is a core similarity between Tango and Aikido. Both seek to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the other’s positioning. The difference is, that Aikido uses this to take advantage of and overpower the other. Tango uses this awareness to support and guide their partner.”
Peace doesn’t just happen….
Peace is not just the absence of conflict. It is a focused practice. It requires commitment and discipline of mind, body and spirit. Certainly as much as does war.
Tango is a dance of peace.
It is the practice and discipline of attending to our partner’s energy, rhythm, balance, strengths and weaknesses and complementing and meshing these with our own skills and limitations.
Tango is a dance of vulnerability, inter-dependence, attunement. Each holds the other in a close embrace, just snug enough to give comfort and support, just relaxed enough to create space for individual creativity.
Tango was born in some of the most squalid, deprived social conditions of the early 20th century. The flood of immigrant workers required to man the cattle slaughterhouses created a torrid market for the international sex trade. Lonely, homesick men sought what little solace they could in the whore houses and bordellos of La Boca. Impoverished women from Europe, lured with the promise of riches, spent the few remaining years of their lives enslaved in prostitution.
In the midst of this social and spiritual depravity was birthed a dance of elegance and creativity. Men standing in long lines in front of the brothels, passed their time playing music and dancing. Prostitutes, relieved of their duties for an evening, chose the most skilled dancers to guide them around the floor with grace and elegance. In this manner, the Tango evolved with gentleness, touch, respect, artistry, and beauty as a counter to the destitution and collective heartache.
Tango is needs to difficult.
It is not an easy dance, nor should it be. It is the complex, intricate and demanding practice of peace.
Tango, worldwide, exemplifies a model of displacing the ache of injustice, homelessness and heartlessness with the sensuality, elegance and artistry of an embrace, danced.