Editor’s Note: This article is by Bryarly McEachern, a student in the Field Naturalist Program at the University of Vermont, Class of 2011. Names have been changed to maintain the inverviewees’ anonymity.
Sexy, powerful, deep. A ten-minute romance. Intimacy without strings. A profoundly honest connection between two human beings. A vehicle for inner transformation…
People who have found their way to Argentine tango are unabashed in telling you what they love about the dance. Some have found their soul-mate through tango, others say that it rekindled their love for life, and many claim that tango has made them a better person, transforming their relationships to themselves and others.
Since 2002 I have been exploring the Argentine tango, tasting its delicious rewards and asking dancers to share their stories; over the past few months I decided to get to the bottom of this question: Does tango truly have the power to change lives? If so, how?
My first encounter with tango was in 2001, when I visited my brother in Worcester, Mass., for the week. He encouraged me to come to his tango class, and I hesitated, not wanting to be the clumsy, awkward newbie. But I relented.
We entered a fluorescent-lit gym with wood floors, 15 university students were milling about, and warm tango music filled the cold, vacuous space. Hearing violins stretch their long, lugubrious notes over the more bouncy sounds of a concertina, and a World War II-era man croon away in Spanish, I thought, “How old-fashioned. But quaint. I like it. Where’s my flower-print dress?” I looked left and right, seeking a friendly smile from the other students and wondering whether I’d be an embarrassment.
I did fine for the first 10 minutes, because my brother volunteered to dance with me. But then the teacher, a grey-haired and somewhat serious-looking Argentine man, ushered me over so he could demonstrate a movement to the rest of the class. “What, are you kidding?” I thought. “I’m an absolute beginner! I can’t model what the follower is supposed to do.”
He saw the concern on my face and said “Don’t worry, just relax, lean a little forward, feel where I’m moving, and try to stay in front of me,” as he pointed to his chest. I quaked. The music began, and he took me in an embrace that felt like a gentle hug, our chests close, and my right arm was raised out to the side, right hand resting in his left. I could feel his sweat through the back of his shirt. His weight shifted, so did mine, and suddenly we were moving. I hadn’t learned any steps, so I didn’t know what we were doing, but I felt my feet pivot and swirl in figure 8 motions. I glided around him, side-step, back, side, forward, side, back…
I felt as graceful as an accomplished figure-skater on smooth ice. When he stopped to let go of me, I returned to the circle as if floating, not knowing what had just happened, but feeling light and more beautiful. Awkward self-deprecation gone.
He then explained in a smooth Spanish accent what he had done. “You see, Argentine tango is different from other social dances, like ballroom tango. First there is the embrace. In ballroom, partners arch their upper bodies away from each other, but in Argentine tango, the chests lean in, even touching if you are using the close embrace. So it is intimate- yes gentlemen, I suggest you shower and brush your teeth beforehand, because sometimes you are close enough to feel each other’s breath.
“Also, the hips stay a little further back than in ballroom, which gives space for delicate footwork. This is critical, because Argentine tango is an improvised dance, with no basic step. It is like speaking a language. You can learn many words or elements (there are over 4,000), such as the cruce (cross), giros (turns), ganchos (leg hooks), ochos (figure-eights), and sacadas (foot displacements), but each time you dance you say something new, because as a leader, you decide moment-to-moment which elements to combine to express the feeling of the music and your partner. Tango can be danced to any music, because it doesn’t depend on a set beat or rhythm.”
I forgot about this event until a year later, when I went to Edinburgh, Scotland, as an exchange student, and discovered a thriving Argentine tango community there. After a few lessons, I rallied my courage to attend my first milonga (a social dance), housed in the historic Counting House on West Nicholson Street. I was instantly impressed by the range of ages in the room- young university students, white-haired gentlemen, skirted women in their forties.
When I had the fortune of dancing with one of the better leaders in the room, the sensations I had felt a year before returned- beauty, lightness, awe at how our bodies could communicate subtle movements, and the sense of being totally consumed in the moment, his warmth and reassuring presence. I walked away in a daze- elated and drunk on dance. I was hooked for good.
Since then I have doggedly pursued tango down small alleyways in Buenos Aires, at festivals, and now here in Burlington. Addicted? Perhaps. Why? I spoke to a number of other tango dancers (tangueros) in Burlington, hoping they could help me understand my addiction.
First let me explain what Argentine tango is and what it’s not. It’s not the strident, melodramatic rose-in-the-mouth dance you see in Hollywood movies or cartoons. Nor is it a form of sexual seduction. Neither is tango a dance for stuffy elitists. Its origins in the poor barrios of Buenos Aires in the late 19th Century belie that myth.
Tango was an outlet for the frustrations that poverty, colonialism, and social isolation wrought on the lives of new immigrants. The lyrics are often tragic, conveying a profound sense of loss, but they are balanced by melodies that vary from slow and deeply stirring to sprightly and outright joyous.
Therein lies one of its secret powers. It seems as if most social dances, like salsa and foxtrot, maintain a consistently fast pace and exuberant energy from song to song; whereas, Argentine tango invites one to play with the pace and rhythm. One’s movements can slow, pause, and hang off the end of a long violin note, then reignite to a frenzied swirling with footwork faster than the eye can see as the bandoneon (Argentine concertina) gets rolling. One can move from dark reflective moods to a rambunctious ecstasy within one song.
In order for the dance to work, both leader and follower need to stay exquisitely in tune with the mood of the music and the feelings that arise between self and partner. “Leaders, what you’re trying to do is take the feeling you’re sensing from the woman, the music you hear, merge them, and orchestrate a dance that is completely improvised,” explained Yuri, a professional tango dancer and teacher in Burlington.
What is the result? Previously stifled emotions begin to flow, invoked by music and intimacy; tension is released and replaced by deep satisfaction. Andrew, a statistician and tanguero, said that dancing tango has been wonderful for his relationship with his partner; whenever there is unresolved tension between them, dancing together brings these feelings to the surface, some tears are shed, and they feel closer than ever. “It’s like couples counseling but more fun!”
Andrew wasn’t the first to compare tango to therapy. Others noted that it confers some of the same benefits as mind-body therapies and meditation. Because it is an improvised dance, leader and follower must draw all their awareness into their bodies and the present moment. In order to move in the right direction with only the subtlest cue, the follower needs to feel slight changes in the leader’s body, like a shift in weight or a small opening of the shoulder.
Although it may sound stressful having to be so present, it is liberating. I can’t think about work, an argument I’ve had with a friend, or the bills I need to pay when dancing tango. All my focus is on my body, my partner’s body, and the music. When I go into my body, I notice where I am holding stress and must release it in order to be an effective partner.
Some outsiders might perceive tango as an escape from reality, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Loreena, a woman who found her soul-mate through tango, remarked, “It opens you up to your authentic self and brings you closer to love and unity, which I think is everyone’s goal in life.” Sitting across from Loreena in Magnolia’s, sipping tea, I felt that I was in the presence of a self-realized woman- her love for the world radiates out from her wide blue eyes, her broad smile draws you in, and all her attention is right there with you.
Loreena spent 20 years in a stagnant marriage, gradually shutting herself off in an effort to be more compatible with her husband’s personality and interests. Then she found tango. Loreena was no stranger to dance, having danced contra for years. But she found in tango what she had longed for her whole life- deep unity with others, connection without words, trust, and inner strength.
“Tango teaches you what you need to have fulfilling relationships. It asks you to get close to and trust someone you may not know. But there are also clear boundaries. You and your partner have to hold your own axes, feeling strong in your core, and offering a dynamic presence as if to say ‘Here I am, strong on my axis; don’t try to push me around, because if you do, the dance won’t work. We need to be balanced like ying and yang.’”
Argentine tango is a salve for common societal ills such as social isolation. Sometimes a man will go to a milonga simply to hold a woman in his arms, and vice versa. Yuri mentioned that after a good night of dancing, he returns home alone feeling physically and emotionally satisfied, “and I assure you I don’t cross any boundaries,” he added quickly. “North Americans aren’t very good at separating intimacy from sex, but tango demonstrates that you can have one without the other.” It offers a ten-minute romance with no commitment, no heartbreak, and no STDs. And how salubrious tango must be for lone elders, who might have few opportunities to hold another person romantically.
The elderly have yet more to gain from dancing tango beyond its social benefits. A study at McGill University showed that 10 weeks of tango lessons (2 hr 2x/wk) gave seniors (ages 62-91) better balance, increased their walking speed, and lowered both their risk and fear of falling. These improvements surpassed the improvements achieved by seniors in a corresponding 10-week walking program.
Improvisational social dances like tango also reduce the risk of dementia. A 21-year study at Stanford University found that frequent dancing reduced the risk of dementia in seniors, 75 and older, by 76%. In contrast, bicycling, walking, and playing golf had no ameliorative effect on their risk of dementia. Dancing was even superior to doing crossword puzzles, which reduced the risk of dementia by 47%.
Dr. Katzman, who was involved in the study, explains that dementia can be averted by maintaining or increasing the complexity of neuronal pathways in the brain. Habitual ways of thinking and living our lives cause us to use the same well-worn pathways in the brain. Other brain cells die and neuronal pathways weaken as they go unused, then dementia, like a skulking opportunist, settles in. The best antidotes to cognitive decay are new activities that frustrate you and force you to make rapid-fire decisions, stimulating the use of new neural pathways. Sounds like tango if you ask me.
Finally, tango supports strong communities. La familia de tango is in every major global city, and if you were raised properly by capable tango teachers, then tangueros everywhere can trust that you understand the etiquette that underlie this tradition: couples follow the line of dance, whereby they move counterclockwise around the room to minimize collisions and traffic jams. If you bump another couple, you apologize. You dance for three to four songs with each partner, warming up during the first song, testing your limits during the second, and letting loose during the third and forth.
Respect for other couples is paramount. At traditional tango halls in Buenos Aires, old-timers used to monitor the dance floor for ill-mannered reprobates. If you crashed into others too many times without apologizing, you were told to leave.
Being a member of Generation Y, which has rather loose standards of etiquette and few meaningful traditions, a part of me relishes the behavioral expectations that tango sets forth. I like a community whose tenets promote mutual respect, skillful communication, self-awareness, and expressions of beauty. And in Burlington, we tango fanatics have the added perk of being part of a tango community in a city that values community. Burlington tangueros weave seamlessly together milongas, practice sessions, and potlucks, moving tango events from one person’s home to the next throughout the year.
Reflecting back on all the stories that tangueros shared, I am left wondering what the world would be like if everyone danced Argentine tango. Being a tango enthusiast, I realize that my view may be skewed, but my hunch is that it would be a better place. Sure, it can be tough to learn. James described his first year dancing tango as “unbelievable misery,” because he just couldn’t get it, but three years later he now acclaims it for helping him discover the lovely Loreena and liberating him to be the man he always knew he was but could never express. If tango cultivates self-confidence, strengthens relationships, and will keep my brain fit, then it’s an addiction I will happily indulge.
