Tango is very addictive. Although the consequences of this
addiction are primarily positive, many dancers have reported experiencing
withdrawal symptoms when they don’t dance. The symptoms include being sad and
feeling uncomfortable.
Tango comes as a package. It
is highly volatile and full of emotions that are not fake. One feels and
experiences love, anger, frustration, guilt, sadness, everything and one keeps
going back to it with venegeance. Relationships are made and broken in tango.
Break ups happen but tango continues.
There are self-confessed
tango addicts, whose addiction is not limited to tango. Tango takes over their
life, lifestyle, choices, sleep, etc.
One travels for tango, to
attend festivals or workshops with their favorite maestros or let me put it
more clearly, in search of that one magical and blissful tanda, that one
magical embrace that transports you to heaven. Tangueros shop keeping tango and
milongas in mind. The whole wardrobe undergoes a change. Shoes and dresses get
piled up. We have tango friends and non-tango friends clearly demarcated and
slowly non-tango friends are pushed away somewhere far in horizon and tango
friends rule. Normal regular music ceases to please tangueros and only tango
music heard around them.
Having
bad nights are part of tango. Be prepared to accept this because we all have
them. Sometimes the music sucks, or none of your favorite partners came.
Sometimes everyone comes with a partner, or perhaps it’s just the full moon.
There is always tomorrow night. Remember this and it will be easier to pick
yourself up again and put on your tango shoes.
Whenever you invest in anything, you become more addicted
to that. Today people are very addicted to facebook because they have invested
a lot of their time, shared pictures, moments and their life on it. Freebies
might sound very catchy but at the end of the day, they cause more harm than
benefit. To reap greater benefits from anything, you need to invest in it.
What makes Tango very addictive? The amount of investment
you put in an art form is directly proportional to the level of addiction and
to your enhanced skills. This investment can be in terms of time spent in
taking lessons, attending workshops and festivals, going to milongas,
etc.
You reap plethora of rewards
that range from learning to pleasure, freedom, feeling exhilarated and stress
free always. The sea is so vast that every time you go to a milonga, your
happiness level goes up just thinking of what you will explore today. The steps
are countless. Few people ever got bored of tango (who learnt it the right way)
because they knew "all the steps"." At the age of 60, after
having danced for decades, Pablo Veron, in his own words, "had still more
to learn about tango".
Tango experience is often
referred as “Bliss”. It is no coincidence that tango connection makes a person
reach sublime pinnacle. Amongst all other dance forms, tango seems to unique in
its experience. It is often called addictive and alluring. What is it about
tango that two individuals with different mindsets, two strong personalities,
come together and merge as one? They seem to have same mindsets, they
communicate silently, they share the axis, their heartbeats become one,
intention of one partner is clearly understood and responded by the other. They
move together like one animal with four legs in a close embrace, improvising,
embellishing, imagining, smiling and becoming lost in exalted encounter. They
become two bodies with one mind, one heart and one soul. There seems to be this
paranormal, mystic and occult fusion of two bodies, the dynamics of which is
beyond human comprehension. Most of the tango dancers are addicted to this
feeling of unexplainable bliss, the connection, the musicality, and the
meditative mode that they experience during each dance. This is the moment when
time and space dissolve. Tango is seductive, flirtatious, graceful, artistic
and exquisite.
Lot of scientific research has been done on
tango experience that remains a puzzle for many. Human mind has an unlimited
prospective to learn. There is scientific evidence that proves that to develop
skills for social dancing, the kinesthetic awareness is heightened. It is the
sensory skill that body uses to know where it is in space. The nerve receptors,
which send specific information to the brain, are definitely functioning better
in a tango dancer, as compared to a normal individual, which makes tango
dancers more aware of their space. The brain of a tango dancer has
inadvertently learned to move backward without knocking down things, to
identify the edges. There is heightened awareness about impetus and extra
senses in action.
Human minds and bodies adapt and respond pretty
quickly. Whenever you work with a particular object continuously, it becomes an
augmentation of your own self. For a pianist, a piano feels like second skin, a
violinist knows his violin like a back of his hand. Similarly, there is
scientific evidence that shows that for tango dancers, another body is like an
augmentation of their own self. Here two bodies, four feet move simultaneously
on the same beat. Tango is not just a dance form. It transcends beyond. It is
meditation in motion; it is connection and relationship between two individuals
and embodies time and space. It is romantic, spiritual and profound.
Tango is expensive,
exclusive, elite and sophisticated passion to pursue. Like golf, it is an
activity, which requires that you have lot of money in your pocket. The Tango
lessons, world over are expensive. Tango privates are even more so. Practicas,
milongas, etc. do cost money and also your time. There are no free lunches. The
more qualified and experienced, the teacher is, the more expensive, he/she is.
You have to invest in classes, practicas, milongas, Tango clothes, Tango shoes,
etc. Tango is very social. There is a lot of entertaining, going out, expensive
wines; constant travels to attend Tango festivals for Tango addicts. Every
Tango addict, dreams of traveling and spending big chunk of time in Buenos
Aires. No one earns in Buenos Aires. There, everyone pays from their pockets
constantly for every Tango lessons.
Yet, people of all ages, gender, nationalities
join Tango and get addicted. Because it is fun, it is social; it is good for
the mind, body and soul.
Here are signs of a tango
addict
1.
You have a tango blog or
spend a lot of time in reading tango blogs, watching tango videos, etc.
2.
You keep a pair of tango
shoes in the boot of your car and even at work. Who knows when you might want
to practice?
3.
You are practicing your boleos
and lapiz even at a bus stop or while buying groceries.
4.
You would choose to go to a
milonga over any other social do and engagement.
5.
You have created space in
your house and rearranged your furniture so that you can practice.
6.
You social activities (i.e
if you still have any) revolve around your tango calendar.
7.
You always have deodorants
and breath mints in your bag.
8.
You consciously collect your
feet when you walk. Your weight is always on one foot when you pose for
pictures.
9.
Your travels must include
tango, classes, festivals, milongas, etc.
10.
Your phone has a list of
friends and names, which have tango in front of them.
11.
Your facebook friend list
has many tango friends from all over the world that you met during your tango
journeys.
12.
When you shop for dress or
shoes, you think if you can wear it to a milonga or a class.
13.
No other dance form appeals
you as much as tango.
14.
Tango conversations surely
light up your face.
15.
You have hosted a milonga.
16.
You enrolled in Spanish
class.
17.
Red and black are your
colors.
18.
You know that sandwich is
not just something you eat.
Did you agree to most of the above? Then you
know you are a tango addict or a tango junkie but the good news is that it is a
good addiction to have that has more benefits. Tango is therapeutic, meditative
and mood enhancer. It uplifts you and certainly keeps you stress free.
Are you
hooked on Tango? I know just how you feel. In fact, many others
have felt the same way! After extensive research I have found that,
although Tango is not incurable (like crack or heroin) most Tango dancers
just don’t want to be cured! And most of us are likewise not willing to toss out all
those gorgeous shoes!
Tango dancers get strung out on the endorphins produced by
dancing. But I’m not talking about just any kind of dancing. Jumping up and
down by yourself in a crowded room full of people jumping up and down may be a
great cardio workout but it’s not going to make your body produce
endorphins. No, for that you need the close physical touch and embrace of
Tango.
Dance, surrender, reciprocate to the leader’s moves, send him
silent messages, take advantage of this tango to say the impossible, to speak
words that no man will ever understand, a message that no woman can say with
words. Pass secrets to him, … allow him to feel the mysteries of your
body wrapped in diligent giros, in tiny steps… Do what comes naturally, don’t
think about what others will say. Play tranquilly, surrender to each
other, that’s what tango’s all about, this celebration that puts your heart in your legs and
your head in heaven.
It occurs to me that Right/Left brain concept just might embody the
very essential nature of our universe. I don’t think I want to mess with
that! That would be like cracking the cosmic yin/yang. Seas would part,
we might all be walking on water with no water wings. Maybe these
contradictions are what Dark Matter is made of, you know, the invisible ruling
force of our universe. The Chinese figured this out a long time ago. The I Ching describes
this delicate balance of opposites. I’m beginning to think that it may
also explain the addictive power of Tango, despite (or because of?) its
stunning, mind-wrenching contradictions! Without our very own Tanguero
duality there would be no Pugliese, no Piazzolla, no bandoneón, no tango shoes!
What a sad dark silent universe it would be!
Geez, do I
sound like a Right-brainer? No kidding! Glad you finally figured it
out!
Alright, end of discussion.
You’re addicted and you know it. You’re secretly quite pleased with
yourself. In fact, you wouldn’t trade places with anyone. Tango is the
illness and the cure. This quote you can
print out and pin on the fridge, dangle it recklessly on top of your work
computer, wear it in a locket close to your heart:
THE RULES OF ADDICTION
1: you keep doing it
2: every time you do it you feel happy
3: it turns your life upside down but you
don’t care.
How is NDTS- New Delhi Tango school different from others?
In the words of my partner Naman, "In Tango we have 2 parts- First part is structure, shape form, posture. The second part is creativity. To be able to dance tango and to be a good tango dancer, you need to have both. In most of the tango classes, maestros focus on the first part a lot but not on the second part at all. Nobody talks about creativity. Everyone says learn the step and do it right. No one teaches how you will be able to do and create your own things and have right posture and right technique. Having right posture and good embrace is the right thing to do. But doing the step that a teacher tells you to do is not the right thing to do. In our classes, we combine both the things- structure and creativity. Structure gives you sense of belonging to the tango community and creativity gives you your individualism. So we NDTS-New Delhi Tango school want to focus on both. So that you are able to stand out and create your own tango".
