It was
after a few good years of studying and trying to grasp the concept of tango
that I came to… let’s call it The Revelation: tango is what happens between 2
steps. It’s not a new idea. The great Carlos Gavito says it: “The secret of tango is in this moment of
improvisation that happens between step and step. It is to make the impossible
thing possible: to dance silence.” But as always, with any kind of new concept in your
life, you need to really experience it in order to understand it completely.
And the process does not end
with a revelation. Actually, it merely begins with one. Until then there’s a
lot of work, research, tests, successes, failures, almost quittings etc. All of
these build a foundation so that you can understand the revelation.
I
remembered this Revelation a while ago, while watching a ronda and its
participants. It seemed that almost everyone was in a hurry, they were trying
to catch the next step and they looked more like participants in a marathon,
rather than a milonga. And this went on, regardless of the speed or the story
of the song. I suddenly felt the need to make the music play very slowly in an
infantile attempt to make them slow down. Just like you can make a video play
very very slowly. You know? : )
This scene
made me realize that, for me, these simple words - “tango happens between 2
steps” - have become very important. There’s an entire world in that movement
that begins with one foot and ends with the other! Now imagine what Universe
you can create with the hundreds of worlds that are the “in between steps” of a
song, or a tanda… Can you imagine that? And we – the couple dancing – are the
creators of that Universe. And it’s a different one every time.
How do we
get there? Well… first of all stop! Just like when you are on a trip – if you
want to see the view better, you have to stop, get out of the car, look around,
breath in the air, take in the colors, listen to the sounds, open up to what
the surroundings have to offer you! Just the same in tango – stop and listen to
your heartbeat and the partners’, to the music, to the pulse of the ronda… take
in the movement, the intention, the reaction and the action. It’s like Horacio
Godoy said: “in order to own a movement, you have to practice it on a large scale
and very slowly”.
So, learn
when you are in class and when you are home – read about tango, about its
world, its rules and social codes, listen to music (that makes a big
difference!), observe your own movements… With all this you become part of its world.
Then
practice a lot! In the practicas (and don’t be afraid to ask the teacher for
feedback), at home, while taking a stroll in the park, or while shopping in the
supermarket : ) And have fun with it! The mind and the body
learn easier if you have fun with the process. I see a lot of people just
dancing in the patterns that they already know, without minding any thoughts of
progress.
And when
you feel comfortable with moving through the music, in the movements, slowly
and peacefully (that includes dancing milonga, too!), go to milongas and turn
it around from being a marathon to being amazing Universe that it is!
And
Cora
Article published in Gancho, July 2015: http://gancho.info/the-road-of-tango/
