Was that serendipity, my good Karma or destiny that I came to learn Tango with Daniel Trenner. I ask myself. I asked Daniel, "if you had seen my earlier Tango videos, or even my pictures, why did you take me? I was pathetic. Terrible. If I were you, I would not have taken someone as bad as me." He replied smilingly, "I knew we begin from the beginning."
One big difference between my earlier learning and now. My first teacher told me, "Wait for the lead. Listen for the lead. Oh! you are overthinking. You are overshooting. Where is your mind? Look where am I. You went ahead of me. Collect. Wait." And all I became was, "An obedient slave." I thought I "followed perfect". That I never missed the lead. That I had to bring my full mind and attention to his lead. That I could perfectly be where he wanted me to be. That way I was so lost, that I found it, "Blissful", Zen, meditative.
Daniel on the other hand says, "GO". What are you waiting for? Daniel showed me that the follower's part of Tango is unbelievable, sophisticated expression of humanity, of beauty, art, emotion, form, shape. Daniel tells me, "Don't teach the follower to follow and behave". I told Daniel, "you are spoiling me. This way, I won't find any leader good enough to dance with me". He told me, "Do you know, there is a secret to survive in milongas in Argentina. Everything is planned. In Argentina, the good dancers get the best dances. The moment they enter the milonga, they have everything planned in their head. They know and decide who are the next 5 leaders they want to dance with. Argentine girls are picky. And these girls make sure that those 5 leaders come and ask them for a dance. If you are a good dancer, you get to choose."
I told Daniel, now I work so hard, am so attentive that my bliss is gone. Daniel laughed. He said, earlier what you had was not a true bliss. Now what you will get is going to be true and ultimate bliss. Slowly now the true bliss is coming and I am understanding the difference between what I had and felt before and what and where I am now.
And now I am not just a follower. I lead too. Today Daniel told me, "you are already among the top 25% leaders of the world." That made my day.
The pictures below are taken at a Mexican restaurant today, where I went with Daniel. Its snowing here. And yet, I comfortably wear a single layer of chiffon top, capris etc. And yes, I can venture out like this. I take sunshine with me where I go.
One big difference between my earlier learning and now. My first teacher told me, "Wait for the lead. Listen for the lead. Oh! you are overthinking. You are overshooting. Where is your mind? Look where am I. You went ahead of me. Collect. Wait." And all I became was, "An obedient slave." I thought I "followed perfect". That I never missed the lead. That I had to bring my full mind and attention to his lead. That I could perfectly be where he wanted me to be. That way I was so lost, that I found it, "Blissful", Zen, meditative.
Daniel on the other hand says, "GO". What are you waiting for? Daniel showed me that the follower's part of Tango is unbelievable, sophisticated expression of humanity, of beauty, art, emotion, form, shape. Daniel tells me, "Don't teach the follower to follow and behave". I told Daniel, "you are spoiling me. This way, I won't find any leader good enough to dance with me". He told me, "Do you know, there is a secret to survive in milongas in Argentina. Everything is planned. In Argentina, the good dancers get the best dances. The moment they enter the milonga, they have everything planned in their head. They know and decide who are the next 5 leaders they want to dance with. Argentine girls are picky. And these girls make sure that those 5 leaders come and ask them for a dance. If you are a good dancer, you get to choose."
I told Daniel, now I work so hard, am so attentive that my bliss is gone. Daniel laughed. He said, earlier what you had was not a true bliss. Now what you will get is going to be true and ultimate bliss. Slowly now the true bliss is coming and I am understanding the difference between what I had and felt before and what and where I am now.
And now I am not just a follower. I lead too. Today Daniel told me, "you are already among the top 25% leaders of the world." That made my day.
The pictures below are taken at a Mexican restaurant today, where I went with Daniel. Its snowing here. And yet, I comfortably wear a single layer of chiffon top, capris etc. And yes, I can venture out like this. I take sunshine with me where I go.
