A mash-up of things overheard at class:
Brand-new male beginner: This is boring, all this walking. When are we going to learn how to dance?
Intermediate female dancer: When I walk in tango it feels like heaven.
Brand-new female beginner: What is the count for tango?
Brand-new male beginner: I can’t hear the music. How do I find the count?
Intermediate male dancer: You need contra-body for it to work and feel like tango.
Brand-new beginner (male and female): Can you do a demo with some kicks, jumps, and fancy moves? {BTW it was at practica and my answer was no.}
Intermediate dancer: I just can’t get enough of …Canaro, D’Agostino, Di Sarli, Calo, D’Arienzo etc…
What’s my point? Well, many people come to tango with a pre-conceived notion of what tango is. I have seen people come to tango for one reason and then stay because they experienced something they never had before. There are, however, folks that just don’t fall in love {gasp} and that is okay too.
I think most of us come to tango – and pretty much everything else! – with preconceived notions of what it will be, what it should be. Like pretty much anything I’ve ever done that has lasting meaning, the beauty of tango reveals itself slowly over time and practice. And every once in a while this incremental falling-in love is punctuated by moments of bliss (along with moments where I just seem to be ‘not-getting-it’). Patience. Practice. More practice. Commitment to doing the seemingly simple, mundane things (the walk, the embrace) yields deep joy. Like I said, learning this dance is like learning so much in my life.