Get Lost!
Is your mind spinning from the countless steps and improvisational possibilities that tango has to offer? Stop the dizziness and reflect upon what keeps your tango flame alive and what drew you to the dance in the first place.
Riddle Me This
- When and how did you first encounter Argentine Tango?
- What appealed to you about the dance?
- What positive benefits has the tango given you?
- How much better are you today than your first tango dance or lesson?
- How drastically has your schedule changed so you can get your tango fix?
Remember and Reflect
My tango dancing has hit a plateau as of last month, but it’s no new thing. Last December marked my first encounter with conformity that reminded me change was on the horizon. My gut told me to try a new teacher and it was right! I have noticed obvious improvements since my rut even though it’s creeping up on me again.
Your bad habits may stand out like a sore thumb to you, but chances are that the good things out-weigh the bad. Answer the questions above and you’ll definintely agree that your tango life isn’t so bad.
What’s Ahead
Take this time to reflect in the comments section and keep your eyes peeled for the Intend, Extend, Send Series starting this Friday. Thank you all so far for your incredible support of The Tango Notebook!
Keep dancing,
Panayiotis Pete Karabetis
P.S. – Just for fun.
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{ 17 tango-induced comments… read them, love them, and add your 2 cents! }
Great post!
1. When and how did you first encounter Argentine Tango? Tango music – about 7 years ago. Tango dancing – about 7 months ago.
2. What appealed to you about the dance? Connection, expressiveness, grace and the interconnectedness of the two dancers with the other dancers, the music, and the floor.
3. What positive benefits has the tango given you? wow – that’s a novel in itself. Community, comfort, belonging, pain relief, stress relief, better balance, better coordination, better mood – so much more….
4. How much better are you today than your first tango dance or lesson?
Better at tango? Same as everything else I guess. The more I learn, the less I know.
5. How drastically has your schedule changed so you can get your tango fix?
My calendar completely revolves around the milonga and practica schedule. I don’t like to travel to any other city until I know I can find a milonga or practica.
Why thank you, Mari for that awesome reply.
You other readers are really slacking. I can’t believe you got the admin leaving the second comment… geez!
1. I encountered tango 5 years ago the same time I fell in love with Capoeira.
2. It reminded me of American Kenpo Karate, which is what I was into at the time. Plus, the music was another form of jazz to me. It wasn’t until a year later that I could really respect the temporary intimacy between my partners and I.
3. Because of tango, I’m able to focus on movement again and keep my injuries from acting up. That is my MAJOR benefit and motivation for continued learning (that, and, because it’s never-ending).
4. I went from performing patterned steps to more improvisation. That is my ultimate goal, much like it was in the martial arts (non D&D).
5. I work in a dance studio… so, not much. Before making plans – business or pleasure – I check to make sure they don’t interfere with my tango practice. Yes, I’m serious.
Next… Who’s up?
1) When and where did you first hear about Argentine tango. – I thought tango was tango. I didn’t know there were different kinds. I was just so lucky to fall into the close embrace right off the bat. I have been dancing about 4 years ago. I did a google search for tango teachers. I was surprised there were none that were local. I drive about 140 miles round trip each time I dance.
2)What appealed to you about the dance? – I just had to try it just once. Well here it is four years later. I didn’t want to be on my death bed thinking about regrets of things I didn’t do. I thought it would pass as other hobbies have done over the years.
3) What positive benefits has the tango given you? I have balance again. I didn’t realize how bad my balance had become. My ankles are stronger now to. I don’t seem to twist them as much. The social aspect has been very good for me. And the shoes are a great benefit to women because they are so cool. The men enjoy looking at the women wearing the shoes. It’s all good.
4) How much better are you today than your first tango dance or lesson? – ROTFL Really! I am better today than my first tango only because of all the encouragement the Leaders have given me. I continually strive to be a better follower.
5) How drastically has your schedule changed so you can get your tango fix? – My family knows I dance one night a week and there is a monthly milonga I attend. If I get grouchy they ask when I get to dance next? My attitude is so much better after a lesson or milonga. Tango is very good for me. I would dance more often if I lived closer to our tango community.
@LeeAnn,
I love that your family knows you need to dance tango when you get grouchy! Be thankful that that is all it takes to put you back into a good mood. High five!
LeeAnn – I’m right there with you! When I get grumpy, my husband asks when the next milonga is. And I *do* get grumpy if I go more that a week without tango.
It’s safe to say that tango is more chemically persuasive than the food at McDonald’s, hands down.
1. When and how did you first encounter Argentine Tango?
9 years ago at the Stardust Dance Weekend
2. What appealed to you about the dance?
Great music, nice types of people in the tango community, enjoy intimacy with women on the dance floor
3. What positive benefits has the tango given you?
admired by other dancers, great social activity, good exercise, learned new steps to incorporate into other dances.
4. How much better are you today than your first tango dance or lesson?
Extremely better
5. How drastically has your schedule changed so you can get your tango fix?
I always danced a few nights each week. I still do the same except, at least, 50 – 75% is tango …the rest is other dances.
@Andrew
What’s your second favorite dance? I go nuts for Salsa!
1. When and how did you first encounter Argentine Tango?
I don’t think it was Argentine, but when I was probably 5ish there was a Pepe’ Le Pew cartoon where these two people were tango-ing at a french bistro and Pepe’ walks by cause he is chasing this black female cat the ended up with a white paint stripe on its back so he thinks she is a girl skunk and he is in love, anyway as he passes by the dancers they both fall over from the stench. I remember asking my dad what the lady and the man were doing, and he told me they were dancing tango. Obviously if I remember this from when I was 5, tango made a lasting impression.
2. What appealed to you about the dance?
I think I like the closeness and connectedness the best, two hearts beating and moving as one. Also I like how you have to be in the moment and feel the lead, you can’t anticipate what your partner is going to lead you to do, you have to feel it and react to it as it comes. Its sort of a loss of control but in a good way. In order to achieve that you must completely trust your partner not to steer you into a wall, or other dancers and I guess I’m just saying its nice to be able to trust someone that much. Also, as someone that spends a lot of time pondering over whatever thoughts race through my head, its nice to just be in the moment and not have to think about anything. Although its really hard to achieve that non-thinking part, I have done it a few times but it only seems to last a few seconds and then I think Yay! I’m actually not thinking and in the moment! and then all is lost because now I’ve gone and had a thought and it screws it all up.
3. What positive benefits has the tango given you?
I always feel rejuvenated after a tango lesson, it seems to be helping my balance.
4. How much better are you today than your first tango dance or lesson?
I feel I am a million times better than I was at my first tango lesson. Every lesson I take it feels better and better.
5. How drastically has your schedule changed so you can get your tango fix?
I try to make my work schedule so that I am off on Wednesdays so I can take tango, unfortunately the guy that has the final say on the schedule doesn’t always see my tango class as a priority.
Beth,
It only gets better, I promise you! I’m working on a surprise for the subscribers of this blog that will help further your education. You’ll know when it’s out and you’ll love it!
See you in class!
1.When and how did you first encounter Argentine Tango?
Five months ago I went looking for CEROC (someone once said to me its good have a social life Plan B and I decided it was time to put Plan B into action). When I got there I found an Argentine tango class had taken over the venue, so I joined it and am loving it! I have a great teacher who is dedicated to bringing tango to those that really want to do it. I was just lucky, right time, right place.
2.What appealed to you about the dance?
It’s like time travel to a far away long ago time and different culture, an exciting time with lovely people and fantastic dancing and music. Tango has such a depth in history, styles and music.
3.What positive benefits has the tango given you?
Socially I meet lovely intelligent people, I escape from the pressures of work life for a while, I’m getting fitter & losing weight – 10 kilos so far! – better balance, discovering and developing in myself in quite interesting ways, and I’m a lot happier in my own skin.
4.How much better are you today than your first tango dance or lesson?
Argentine tango is a long road, not instant gratification – I gotta “walk my kilometers” like anyone else – but I can now certainly dance an adequate basic social tango and feel comfortable about it, help the real beginners a bit, and am just getting to learn some nice turns. I’m not worried about learning fast, as long as I keep improving even if only gradually. I love it, its good for me in so many ways, I’m getting better and enjoying the journey. Bear in mind until 5 months ago I couldn’t dance ANY kind of partner dance at all and was too shy to ask any girl for a dance – now I’m finding out how to lead colgadas/volgadas and I get to dance with beautiful women.
5.How drastically has your schedule changed so you can get your tango fix?
Ha ha yes! I finish work a different time, rush about to get ready, do things on different days to fit in… yeah, gotta have my fix
Kevin, welcome!
I know you’re not from the USA because you’ve kilos, instead of pounds, and you meet lovely people (which I imagine you saying with an accent).
I imagine you smiling as you wrote your comment. Your enthusiasm will take you VERY far, especially if you’re already rigging your work schedule to get to Tango class.
I hope to hear more from you on future posts.
Where are you from, anyway?
Well we use Stones (16 Pounds) as well as kilos here in the UK.
I dance with Tango Serendipity in Cambridge UK.
With the university here it’s a very international group. At least 13 nationalities have been in our group so far that I know of.
Most have at least two languages, usually some English or Spanish, so we get by OK.
Of course Tango is learned by doing – applying balance and impetus, and watching, not words anyway, so there is no language barrier at all really.
Music is an international language too, and tango has a history and culture (and even a language – lunfardo) that is equally “foreign” to almost everyone except maybe Argentines and Uraguyans, so it’s almost perfect for people from many different parts of the world to have a great time together socially.
The internationalism of the group I dance with is another one of the things I really like about it.
In D.C., the diversity of Tango groups varies much more than here in Baltimore; my opinion.
A side-note:
When you refer to stones, I think immediately about the F.Fighters skit on the show Little Britain. Pardon me if you don’t care for that show.
The first 3 episodes of Season 1 gave me great enjoyment! Not as much as Tango, of course
Little Britain really was a hit here in the UK. Many of its catchphrases like “computer says no”, “yeah but no but” and “we are ladies” have gone into common use here. Now can you imagine the Little Britain cast doing a tango sketch? I think that would be soo funny.
Over on your side of the pond, I think Woody Allen should make a movie about tango, his deeply insightful but strangely comic psychoanalytical style seems to fit it so well.
In our small dance group, four of us majored in psychology, and we have a brain scientist as well. I can’t help thinking “psychology is over-represented in tango”, which seems a strange but possibly true thing, and a very “Woody Allen” kind of phrase.
I saw my first Woody Allen film 2 months ago: Vicky Christina Barcelona. I liked it so much that I rented Annie Hall the next day. He thinks and talks too much, but it suits him. It’s all part of the charm, I guess you could say.
It’s early here as I type this, but yeah, but no but, I’m heading to Philadelphia for a Tango Brunch at Atrium Dance Studio. Something different
I don’t exactly recall why I first came to a Tango. But I go now because I like women physically. And tango is a close, intimate experience.