Tango

We did it. We tangoed last night and it was pretty fantastic. Rose and her uncle suggsted this spot where you pay $20 pesos (around $5 US) where you spend the first hour in a class, the next hour tearing up the dance floor with your new moves, and then eventually they put on a show where they show how the pros do it. So we arrived an hour late, missing the initial class. One other detail they semi explained in broken english is that most people go to this sort of thing with a dance partner. When we first got there I was determined that we would still dance so I started studying the guys and tried to force Teri to dance with me, but luckily some tango efficiantos rescued us. Mine was a middle aged argentine pop musician metro sexual who knew a little bit of english. Enough to get me to follow his footsteps anyway. Teri’s was an older, slightly fatter tango man who taught her a thing or too as well. We both loved it. The focus on learning this dance is trusting your partner. It’s a pretty slow dance and the steps are relatively easy, yet there are a lot of different ways to put the steps together so you really just follow what ever the guy wants you to do. It might sound lame, but the coolest part of this dance was when you could really relax, lean into your partner and just go with it. Sounds weired, but once I was able to do that it was soooo cool. We want to Tango more. I also danced with this old guy who spoke NO english, but one of his lady friends explained to me that the group they were with (6 or 7 old folks) are a part of a senior center (over 60) that get together every Saturday to take Tango lessons. They were my idles. Out at 2 in the morning with all of their compadres drinking, eating and dancing. Loved it.
Lastly I danced with an Argentine closer to my age. He was an unlikely find at a Tango Bar (or so I thought)because he was hippyesque, young, and a hip hop/pop musician (I have yet to look up his band, but I feel like this could either mean something really interesting, or really no bueno). In his broken english and my next to nothing Spanglish we talked about how Argentines and most of the hispanic world partner dance from such a young age. He first started dancing with his mom when he was a kid and next with girls he knew at dance party/get togethers that start when he was around 12. It’s really natural for them to dance with a girl, whether they’re attracted to them or not. He asked me something like “How do you know how to socialize with boys without being able to dance with one?” I like the idea of this question/statement. Men here are so confident and natural about talking to you, makes me wonder if this has something to do with it. Here Americans are known for being stiff. They put their hand out to greet rather than the traditional cheeck kiss greating they all do here. When dancing it’s really natural for me to want to pull away a bit and look at my feet instead of rest up against a stranger and relax. It’s one thing to think “ya. I want to relax more and be more open”, and it’s been another to actually do it, especially in Tango. I’m giving it a try.