Tangodurians

The more and more I think about WHERE I want to be with this dance, the more I'm leaning toward being a visually fun and fantastic person to watch. I know, everyone says the best Tango can never be seen, and I do not disagree with that, in fact I wholeheartedly agree, but at the same time, I find that putting on an 'act' or a persona, allows me end up inhabiting my moves so much more. That the fact that you can fake it til you make it actually has some truth to the matter. When we see teachers, and when we see professionals dance, all I see is the gloss and polish and shine. The confidence is palpable, sometimes because they have a set choreography (which can either be discernible or not), sometimes because they have practiced together since they were 5 and know how just about every sequence will feel like before it is done. Practice. One thing I've always tried to not do is..not practice. I have always felt that practicing takes away the rawness of matching energi...

There's a clear distinction why, despite the fact that Sg has so many more male leads, that I prefer the Malaysia dance scene. Company. Socialisation. This ever more so important with gender balances at the rate that they are, you have to have someone to talk to, laugh with, discuss, debate...and practice your terrible leading on. Girls. The ones who will take your dances, and the ones who will also uplift a lousy milonga where your butt sees more action on your chair than on the floor. The discussions and times over margaritas at Tios with newly found friends. The connections made over banana flambe's, tiramisu and other yummy food in La Boca. Taking time to teach a new follower the finer points of this dance. Getting advice from each other, pushing each other to progress, to dance better, to enhance the following. Beyond that, having a dedicated partner, both in Tango and in life (in that moment at least), I've forgotten this already. Entirely. Seeking differ...

Taught a class at a bar high up in the roofs overlooking PJ and One U today. Crowded floor, complete newbies and people stepping on each others toes, the hallmarks of a beginning tango class. Laughter, conversation, partner switching. Echoes of a time back in a dusty Mason Hall classroom with friends, lovers and strangers. A memory past. I guess I did not highlight what we were dancing to. Amidst the laughter and social chatter going on, if only they knew what we were dancing to were such profound lyrics like " Think it well, I have loved you so much and you have sent me into the past perhaps for another love." How to convoy the paradox that exists in Tango? That everything is an illusion, the intimacy, the feeling, the need to connect as a pair yet to do so by looking inward first. That little spark that follows you forever, that connection that happens in one moment but never again and that embrace you'll spend the rest of your life searching for. Tango is...