The Last Tango

Tonight was my last Argentine tango class. I know I shared with you all my disappointment with the intermediate ballroom class, which I ended up dropping, but I don't think I share my first impressions of Argentine with you. Allow me to do so now...

I was entirely uncertain of the dance form in the beginning. It was unlike anything I've danced before. There didn't seem to be a specific structure. For the first couple weeks we weren't taught a basic, as would have been the case with waltz or salsa. No, no. We learned to walk tango-style. To be more specific: Argentine tango style. It's a whole new world of how to put one foot in front of the other and move in a forward direction. I was also thrown off by the fact that we weren't taught to do anything by counts or to have feet in a designated spot at a designated musical moment. Argentine tango has blown my mind, so to speak, when it comes to dancing. I just didn't get it and I certainly didn't see it. I was taking tango because my friends from ballroom had wanted to take it.

Through out the semester my friends fell to the wayside one by one, except for Sarath (thank God!). I meandered through the classes, not really dedicated, not really caring about the dancing for the first time in my entire life. I'm not exaggerating. This was the first time when I didn't find myself practicing at random moments during the day or wishing for some opportunity to whip out the latest move. I really cannot express just how weird it was for me to be in a dance class and not "get it." I can honestly say that I hardly remember the classes of March and April. They all blur together.

Somehow things have fallen together in the last three classes and now I'm actually tempted to keep going with Argentine. Before then I would have dropped it like a hot potata. (Bing Crosby, Going My Way. Watch it.) I get it! And I want to dance it, even though it's the first time with a social dance form that I feel uncertain about myself. Before this class I could dance without thinking too much and I knew enough to help the leader when they wanted help. With Argentine I've got all I can do to stumble through it myself.

My appreciation for Argentine has certainly grown over the last couple weeks. It's a dance form where the interaction between the follower and the leader is what it's all about. One can't dance without the other and they are entirely dependent on each other to make it through the song. With foxtrot, chachacha, or swing the couple does interact; but you can each dance your own part without really paying too much attention to the other person. I mean, you do have to pay attention but...not in the same way as Argentine. I wish I could explain it to you, but I hardly know how to express it myself.

Well, tonight was our tango party and I got to dance with everyone that I wanted to dance with...and some people who were...nice. I've said my good-byes and wished them well. As of now I have no plans of putting my tango skills to use, but you never know! Maybe one day I'll be passing by a cafe playing a milonga and someone will give me the eye and I'll give them the cabeceo and we'll tango-walk off into the sunset...And I'll be wishing I had paid better attention to the difference between milonga tango, waltz tango, and regular Argentine tango. It's a wild world out there. Gotta watch your step.