In love!
With tango!
Seriously, I'm swooning, almost punch drunk, and I feel like my heart is open wider than my arms could reach to demonstrate.
Tonight I went to Tangoed Up in Blues, the monthly Blues/Tango event I've been trying to go to since I first heard about it maybe 7 months ago. I managed to have other plans or be out of town the last several months, so this was my first opportunity with nothing else to trump it.
Tangoed Up in Blues is actually a weekend full of workshops and dancing, but I went to just one of the classes, Tango for Blues Dancers. It was a two hours class, and I think it was the best dance class I've *ever* taken. Granted, I have a lot of experience that has built the foundation for what I learned tonight.
I learned how to dance tango tonight! It's only the key to open the door to tango in the large picture, but I learned where the lead and follow is. I've never understood the lead and follow in tango before- where does the lead end and the improv begin? What is the rhythm, where and when do you step? What the class covered was an epiphany to me, and I not only have several steps down but I could follow steps I had never done before. I have a new dance language!
Once again, I am incredibly impressed with the Blues community, and the safe place they create for dancers. I spoke up, asked questions and made comments, which I often shy away from in new places.
I danced with a few leads who I've met and danced with before, and several new ones. The great thing about learning with people is how much support you are able to offer one another. The honesty and intimacy I had with the leads I danced with tonight was tremendous. Sure, I'm enthusiastic tonight because I was successful with my attempt at a new thing, but I feel very centered and inspired. Dancing satisfies me in ways nothing else does.
I love the challenge of following, of being submissive yet being so engaged - having to pay such extreme attention to the lead. My mind stops its normal ramblings and there is nothing else in the world but that moment. The element of following where you agree to do what the lead has invited you to do is delicious, a deep intimacy that you share for a dance, which makes it a private collaboration and a playful one at that.
I'm super excited and want to find more Tango classes. Oh, and the time to take them. :
Seriously, I'm swooning, almost punch drunk, and I feel like my heart is open wider than my arms could reach to demonstrate.
Tonight I went to Tangoed Up in Blues, the monthly Blues/Tango event I've been trying to go to since I first heard about it maybe 7 months ago. I managed to have other plans or be out of town the last several months, so this was my first opportunity with nothing else to trump it.
Tangoed Up in Blues is actually a weekend full of workshops and dancing, but I went to just one of the classes, Tango for Blues Dancers. It was a two hours class, and I think it was the best dance class I've *ever* taken. Granted, I have a lot of experience that has built the foundation for what I learned tonight.
I learned how to dance tango tonight! It's only the key to open the door to tango in the large picture, but I learned where the lead and follow is. I've never understood the lead and follow in tango before- where does the lead end and the improv begin? What is the rhythm, where and when do you step? What the class covered was an epiphany to me, and I not only have several steps down but I could follow steps I had never done before. I have a new dance language!
Once again, I am incredibly impressed with the Blues community, and the safe place they create for dancers. I spoke up, asked questions and made comments, which I often shy away from in new places.
I danced with a few leads who I've met and danced with before, and several new ones. The great thing about learning with people is how much support you are able to offer one another. The honesty and intimacy I had with the leads I danced with tonight was tremendous. Sure, I'm enthusiastic tonight because I was successful with my attempt at a new thing, but I feel very centered and inspired. Dancing satisfies me in ways nothing else does.
I love the challenge of following, of being submissive yet being so engaged - having to pay such extreme attention to the lead. My mind stops its normal ramblings and there is nothing else in the world but that moment. The element of following where you agree to do what the lead has invited you to do is delicious, a deep intimacy that you share for a dance, which makes it a private collaboration and a playful one at that.
I'm super excited and want to find more Tango classes. Oh, and the time to take them. :