Tango Argentino

Another tango festival is over.. This one marks my one year anniversary of Argentine tango. I remember last year, at the same festival, I was an antsy newbie volunteering at the door, barely able to dance. It was only 3 weeks since I started tango and all I wanted was to be able to carry on for one tanda decently without falling. I didn't think I was good enough even to take any of the workshops. What a mistake. I didn't know back then that I had wasted a great opportunity.

One year and I have been to three local, three out-of-town festivals, one workshop weekend plus another that I myself organized. 

Tango is like that, it takes you in without you realizing, you look back after one year and can't believe how big of a part tango had in your year past. I did this facebook thing at the end of last year, this one app basically makes a cool looking ppt slide with a random collage of your statuses in that year. My collage was full with tango, from the beginning till the end. 

Tango is just like that. It sucks you in so well that, you start dancing at noon, take 3 full workshops and bust your ass, stay for practica although you know your feet need rest, but you still dance. Your calves and your abs ache to accompany your feet. You go home for a quick shower and change of clothes, and you show up at the milonga. You dance non-stop only taking a break to watch performances for 15 minutes, and you go again. Midnight comes and passes, you are still on your feet. You still didn't have enough. This milonga ends, you wear all your winter outerwear, take your shoes and drive off to the other studio for the all-nighter. This is the best part. Only the passionate crowd remains, nonetheless remaining a crowd. You dance the night away. Your feet throb with pain, but you don't care. When the morning approaches, you drive home, after 18 hours of dancing, your feet hurt even when it touches the gas pedal. You are tired, but also incredibly happy and full of energy. You can't wait for the next day's workshops.

The best milonga in a festival for me is always the welcome milonga. Everyone is eager to dance, although many has just arrived from out of town, although the past week's stress and busy schedule only ended a few hours ago, the energy in the room is immense. I've always had my best dances on Fridays. Sundays are nice, too. After a full weekend of workshops and the high-end Saturday milonga, the atmosphere on Sundays is much less tense, people are more casual, floor is less crowded, dancing is relaxed. You can actually cabaceo for a change. 

Tango is such an interesting culture. It is old school. It is sexy, it is flirty, it is extremely flattering to the woman. You are being cared for, being hold close, being protected. But it is also very macho. The guy never comes and asks you to dance. No push-overs, no tipping on the shoulders. The guy only makes eye contact. If you'd like to dance, you reciprocate, and both of you meet at the dance floor. If you don't, the guy just turns his eyes away from you, and his ego is protected. No one has to know.

This is cabaceo.

The beauty of Argentine tango lays in so many layers of its culture. First of all, it's a social dance, which means, there are no competitions, no show, no stage. You dance for yourself. You go to a milonga, you don't need to know anybody. You can dance with total strangers. It is spontaneous. No formulas, no routines, no counting steps, no choreography. Every step is for it's own joy, every step can lead to every other step. As the lady, you only know the step you're taking at that moment. You live the moment. You connect with a stranger in a subtle but well spoken body language and let the music take you both over. And that is Tango Argentino.

I slept much less and worked much more this weekend, yet still danced all the time in between. Normally I skip a few things every festival, go to the milongas late, and rest in between. This time, I was in charge of setup and decorations, so I had to be there first, and had to leave last. I also hosted a very dear-to-my-heart couple for the festival. And I did not sit my butt down for a second - I danced non-stop. 

So here I am, on a Monday, after a full festival followed by a full day of work plus school, my feet still throbbing, but I'm mad because I couldn't go to the good-bye milonga - it overlapped with my school work. 'Coz it doesn't matter how exhausted you are. When you hear tango music, you stop hearing what your feet tells you... you only hear your heart. You dance.

Friday night with NM