Hi Everyone: The goal of practice is to become more effective at dancing. Practice may be helpful, but only if it is done in a manner that is consistent with effective tango dancing itself.
What are the elements of effective social dancing? Such dancing cannot be reduced down to a set of mechancial skills. The embrace, the relationship with one's partner, the relationship with others on the dance floor, and the relationship with music are the context within which we dance tango. Practicing by oneself may help develop some mechanical skills, such as balance, musicality, knowledge of step patterns, etc., but they also remove the entire context of tango. Practicing with a partner improves matters considerably because it is closer to dancing. Practicing in a room full of others improves matters even more but it is even closer to dancing. Some might go even farther and claim that practicing at a milonga is even better, but it is reasonable to recognize that social norms separate practice and social dance. Tango is a dance in which is it easy to become obsessed with perfection. The taste of heaven that is found within tango may encourage some to seek perfection. Others may bring their own perfectionism to tango. But we should never confuse heaven and perfection. They are very different. The path of perfectionism often leads away from heaven--as we find ourselves accompanied and driven forward by demons (aka a monkey mind) that become quite familiar. If we pursue perfection in our practice, we are likely developing the demons that seek to keep us from effective dancing. In tango, heaven is found through the simple gift of grace. That comes from getting out on the dance floor with the person that happens to be right for the moment, opening one's heart and falling in love again. The times that this happens, one is just happy to be in the arms of another at the end of the tanda. Many blissful tangos, Steve _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
