Tangodurians

Tango has social hierarchy. Yup, that's right, as much as we like to think the Milonga floor is a level playing field, Tango has all the constructions of mimicking the real world. As beginners, we are so unaware of what is in store, thinking molinete's are impossible (they are with beginner leaders), wondering how we will ever make ochos look good, wondering how people can react with near perfect timing (that is called connection). First Milonga, November 2009, Bubble Tea involved, a reluctant CC, 10:30 leaving the apt for Vitosh. Darkness, surrender, nervousness, knots in stomachs. Random people asking us to dance, apologetic us, having no idea what is going on. Love, right there. Completely and utterly gave in to the dance willingly. Never looked back since. Last Vitosh Milonga, May 22nd 2010, familiar faces, familiar chatter. Names thrown around, Felipe Martinez performing. Excitement. Letting go. Eyes shut, close embrace, confidence. Can't believe this is the last o...

I've pinpointed why Tango is so appealing. Well, not really, more like really acknowledging it now! We all want to be that one dancer that leaves our follower/leader gasping BECAUSE. Well, they would never have felt such an amazing connection before. It's honing ourselves to that point in time where we can meet any leader and be confident in our own skills to be able to match whatever he is throwing at us. Then leave, like a gust of wind, woosh! Good Tango week in KL!

After the countless videos, watching the performances by passing Tango teachers, performances by stage Tango dancers, sitting and absorbing Milongas, the one couple that sticks in my mind has to be T and his fiance who met through Tango in Argentina. Their seamless blending, the fact that she didn't even need to be wearing shoes and their swapping of roles. Even though I was exposed to this early on the clueless beginnings of Tango, you could already appreciate the intimacy between the two. In hindsight after a bit more experience, it becomes even clearer that, that would be the ultimate Tango experience. It's like staring at something without the tools to understand it, then later when you come back with the tools in hand, it hits you, "ah hah!" that's what it is! It's like being told, "this will be useful in life later, trust me", and staring at math sets that have no correlation with your life, until later when you're facing a job assessme...

Milonga tonight at Avare apartments near KLCC. Slightly apprehensive, nervous, not sure what to expect, don't know whether I can dance anymore (probably can't reconnect for a bit). Why does this dance have to be so emotional! Seems like yesterday two naive girls walked into their first milonga and fell in love. Is this going to be it again then?

Posting up Julio Bassan and Carolina Mueller's tango vid from Triangulo suddenly got the passion going for Tango again. Amidst the pain of moving and job search and saying goodbye to a loved one and packing and oh the CHAOS I definitely lost the spark. But just listening to a good piece, or watching the musicality and gorgeousness of some of the dancers, I realize that this Tango journey is FAR FAR FAR from over. If anything, it gives me a reason to visit any city in the world and check out their Tango scene. This is way exciting. I think I'm gna try Hong Kong next =). It's funny, Tango reminds me of the time when you're being picked for teams. Not even in the sporting field, but in peer groups. You naturally gravitate to a certain bunch of people and for the rest of your schooling life you're almost pigeonholed into that role. Sometimes waiting for someone to ask you to dance is just nerve-wrecking. Milongas always seem to feel like I'm warming up an engine, ...

When I said bye to Ann Arbor and when I said bye to Tango. I was really saying goodbye to a way of life that has made me so utterly joyous for the past 9/10 months. Withdrawal hasn't been easy, it's weird to say that a dance changed my life but it honestly did, and now that I've left the cradle of comfort that was Ann Arbor, which I had known for three years of my life, I was floundering. I checked out Practica here, found new people to say hi to, found an Avik reminder which I was SOOOOOOOO happy about. Maybe life isn't quite over yet.

i've not been immersing myself with dancing as much as i should or would a few months ago. The feeling of euphoria after a dance has slowly dwindled down to just merely feeling satisfied that I have not screwed up yet another tanda with another dancer. It's been that way for a while. I've felt numb about Argentine Tango and maybe that's the reason I've been nonchalantly missing the few milongas and classes I was all gung ho about last term. It's been difficult. Maybe in trying to deal with so many other things and feelings, I've neglected to supplement my own desires and needs in dancing. Tango became a chore for me in April. I went to classes because I've paid for them and not because I really wanted to go. It just morphed into this thing I had to continuously do because I've started on it and not because it gave me a certain degree of joy in execution. I have since then taken a step back. I removed myself from tango events and everything that cam...