“Sometimes we are doing what seems impossible, dancing the silence.” Carlos Gavito. The deliciousness of the Tango, its enticement, its enchantment, is that each step, each moment, each movement is complete unto itself. It is a hologram that holds within it an entire universe of feelings and sensations. The essence of the dance, its tension, … Read more

The cartoon depicts a family of three sitting in cross-legged meditation. The caption reads, “On the road to Nirvana.” The blissful silence is broken by the child’s impatient query, “Are we there yet?” Do we ever arrive?  Do we ever let ourselves off the incessant self-improvement hook? Do we ever get to the place where … Read more

To everything there is a season, … A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance… The Book of Ecclesiastes. It seems almost shameful to speak of grief or sadness this time of year, like we are undermining the good cheer or betraying a dark secret. … Read more

A Christmas wish courtesy of your dance community. Dancing the Silence Remembrance Day Milonga. We danced to Lovers in Paris, (Jacob Gurevitsch) as our song for peace. In the middle of the song, the music was silenced while everyone continued to dance. For one minute there was just the soft shuffle of shoes and rustling … Read more

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. … Read more

More hard-won lessons from COVID. Not that we ever want to repeat the unpleasantness of dancing with masks but there were some lessons to be taken from the experience.  Apart from keeping us from getting sick, assumedly, it taught us all to pay attention to our breathing while dancing. Conscious Breathing (Tango Flo exercise #5) … Read more

Tango is an amazing practice for relationship skills. It requires attentive listening and adaptation to one’s partner, while at the same time tending to one’s own positioning, axis and musicality.  Consider other partner dances. I can come off the floor from doing a jive or line dance or whatever, having had a wonderful time, and … Read more

“If one does not keep pace with their companions, perhaps it is because they hear a different drummer. Let them step to the music which they hear, however measured or far away.” (changed to inclusive language). Henry David Thoreau The above quote was formative for me some 50 years ago. I am now revisiting it … Read more