Musings on Tango, Sensuality and Spirituality
How to keep your thinking out of your dancing. “We practice technique to get to know our own bodies. And then we take what we know of ourselves, our movements and musicality onto the dance floor to join up with our partner.” Carolina Bonaventura, milonguera y profesora. Me first? Who knew? Sure, there was always … Read more
Yikes! The first time I was encouraged to breathe in a tango embrace, I froze. What is it about breathing that makes one feel so vulnerable? There is something intensely personal and vulnerable about the rise and fall of one’s breath. Ancient traditions define this primal motion as the drawing in and releasing of Spirit. … Read more
10 years after this was originally posted I learned this lesson: Dance is play. Have fun. ego rub #1 The sign over the garbage can at the entrance reads: “DEPOSIT EGO HERE.” Missed that. When will introductory classes stop feeling like introductory classes? How many years will I be dancing before I can walk away … Read more
We ought to dance with rapture that we are alive, and in the flesh, and part of the living incarnate cosmos. D. H. Lawrence.* The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not extinguished it. Gospel of John* This little light of mine. I’m going to let it shine. Traditional* …..A friend recently … Read more
Is $20 good value for a street-legal hug? It’s hard to keep track of the street value of differing commodities these days, in large part because the neighbourhood has changed. There was a time when you could buy almost anything on almost any street corner, from drugs to sex to pieces from your neighbour’s bike. … Read more
Just off one of those humiliating videotapings which due to some masochistic tendency, I feel compelled to subject myself from time to time. This is my desperate search for perspective and consolation …. “The two distinguishing elements of the Tango are sensuality and elegance.” Carlos Gavito. – “Ah, therein lies the rub.” Shakespeare. – … … Read more
The inspiration for this blog is a brilliant post from www.DailyOm.com “Learning to Follow” (included below in full), that encourages us to approach and inhabit everything we do, including dancing Tango, with a child’s mind. “(Children) live their lives fully immersed in the present moment, seeing everything with the open-mindedness born of unknowing. This enables … Read more
“Of course! the path to heaven doesn’t lie down in flat miles. It’s in the imagination with which you perceive this world, and the gestures with which you honor it. – “The Swan,” Mary Oliver…. Perilous Pretense. Tango is a dance of smoke and mirrors, an embodied metaphor for what goes on at other times … Read more
My sister, Nikki, passed away Monday Jan 20 with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). It was a long and tortuous journey in which she slowly lost her ability to walk, talk, swallow and toilet herself. As we lived in different provinces, our recent contact was limited to three visits, once at my daughter’s wedding and twice … Read more
Ever wondered if Tango is really worth the effort? The answer will surprise you. Read on… Non-verbal Communication “Tango is a secret between friends shared without words.” Carlos Gavito. Eighty percent of all communication is non-verbal. Why do we not know this? Typically we are unaware of the what or how we are communicating. The … Read more