Tango: Wondrous and Preposterous
How do I nurture an appreciation for the magic and mystery of tango?
(even when I am screwing up the steps or dancing with my least favourite partner)
Answer: Breathe in the WONDER.
Magical Mystery Tour, pt. 2
How competent are you? Unconscious Incompetence: We don’t know what we don’t know. Blissful ignorance. It is unconscious incompetence that allows the first-time follow to perform complex dance maneuvers without awareness of what he/she is doing or why. (see previous blog). He/she just blindly follows her partner and her instincts. Oh, that this could last. … Read more
MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR
MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR
Question: Do you have to be psychic to dance tango?
Answer: No, but it helps.
Here are a few of the magical mysteries that I experience in tango. Let’s explore.
VIOLENCE, VULNERABILITY AND TANGO
Exploring the calesita and volcada. (A tip of the hat to Vera and Daniel, Edmonton Dance instructors at Casa Tango.) Vera: “Remember guys, no violence here.” Really? No violence? How rough can things get? This is a dance class, after all. Vera’s caution is simply about the lead. Last class the boleo, this class the … Read more
No Violence, pt.1
“Remember, no violence here, guys.”Tuesday evening class at Casa Tango with Daniel and Vera Calcines. No violence? In a dance class? What is Vera thinking? I am just off reading a true story about a young female journalist from Calgary who had been kidnapped in Somalia and held hostage for 429 days. Now that was … Read more
BREATH AND CONNECTION, (vulnerability continued)
The first time I was encouraged to breathe in a tango embrace and then invited to breathe in unison with my partner, my gut reaction was: Yikes! What is it about breathing in an embrace that makes one feel so vulnerable? Certainly, it intensifies the chest-to-chest connection. Depending on one’s comfort level with close embraces, … Read more
torso-torques
(3 minute read. This blog is part two of a post from about a decade ago. Still relevant and fascinating.) Session #2 with Jean-Sebastien, Studio Ten. Tango is communication. Learning tango is like learning a language. The only difference is that with each tango lesson, I seem to have to relearn the alphabet. Case in … Read more