The Dance Primer

Notes from my first workshop session at TangoFest today: As expected, there are many women in beautiful, sexy blouses - and exactly the right shoes. Luckily, there are other women in slacks and simple shirts… except most of them are ten years my senior. I DO feel out of place. Then again, it’s been years since I’ve been THE BEGINNER out there, and since I’m now writing for beginners, I’m almost enjoying this awkward feeling.

I’m taking beginner track lessons. However, watching these beginners move around the room certainly makes me feel inadequate. They twist, turn, and glide in ways that look so complicated. Thank goodness for instructors with a sense of humor!

Tango comes complete with its own house rules and vocabulary ( “say milonga, say cortina, say…”). It’s nice having someone explain this upfront! I’m still insecure, but life gets easier when there’s smiling and laughing involved. Except…

I made a mistake already, and we haven’t even started dancing yet! We’re putting into practice the tango tradition called cabeceo, where you ask someone to dance by making eye contact, and accept with a nod. Suddenly, I notice - TWO men are headed my way. Here comes a man I don’t remember looking at. “I’m sorry,” I say, “I thought I was saying yes to someone else.” There it was; the whole rejection thing that this cabeceo business is supposed avoid.

I guess the lesson, as one student pointed out during the workshop, is that tango is not for the near sighted. (Or, just find someone standing closer.)

more notes to come…

*photo by Kris Martis on flickr.