Musings on Tango, Sensuality and Spirituality
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
A spiritual take on dance. Dance is a moving mindfulness meditation, an embodied prayer, a self-emptying surrender to the eternity of the moment, a deep bow to the bewildering grandeur of what is. We are all participants in this dance. We are all dancers. We are all moving in response to the primal thrumming of … Read more
I am happy before I have a reason. I am full of light even before the sky Can greet the sky or the moon. Dear companions, We have been in love with the Divine For so very, very long. What can we now do but Forever Dance! Hafiz “We can … through dance … discover … Read more
Why the knees? Yes, focusing on how we move our knees when dancing is a little peculiar but I think there are at least a dozen good reasons. Typically emphasis in Tango movement is placed on the feet and the chest. The feet define the step and the chest communicates lead and follow. Both are … Read more
Remembrance Day. The Serenity Prayer God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change The courage to change the things I can and The wisdom to know the difference. Reinhold Niebuhr How do I write, today? A dullness, a paralysis of body and spirit has settled in like a heavy fog. How … Read more
(No, not too much communion wine. And we seldom drink at milongas. Read on.) The hangover. Reflections on the night before the morning after … I took time to revisit the previous night’s dancing. What stuck with me, what I cared to hold on to, what opened me up emotionally and stretched my heart, was quite … Read more