The Healing Power of Tango

               Many times I have danced with a woman who was new to tango and thought that she found our encounter a therapeutic experience. It is as if I am some sort of tango medicine man who can heal with my touch. I am not bragging; it is simply a natural phenomenon that can occur when two people, guided by the sorrowful music of Argentina, join together in a sensuous embrace.

               In order to experience the healing forces of tango, a dancer needs to let go of his or her inhibitions. We hear the music with our ears but we listen to our partners with our sense of touch through our physical connection. Engaged thus, we are ready to open up ourselves to the curative powers of tango dancing.

               Dropping our defenses and allowing another human being into our personal space can put us in a precarious position. Thus exposed, a dancer, after completing an unexpectedly successful movement, might experience a spasm of delight that has curative properties. It is also possible that a person might suffer a devastating emotional blow after an unforeseen faux pas on the dance floor.

               At fifty-three, I now see more clearly the effects of stress on my health. I can no longer remember how I felt before I started dancing tango all those years ago. I was like a knotted old oak tree, twisted and bent over by the constricting forces of parenting and the guilt of a good old-fashioned Catholic upbringing.

               Today, I feel ‘clear’ and I can thank tango for that. Along the way to clarity, I experienced emotional setbacks but they were few and far between, especially when compared to the many episodes of absolute ecstasy that I experienced along the way.

For more of the Kayak Hombre, read my book Fear of Intimacy and the Tango Cure or River Tango. Available on Amazon.com in paperback or Kindle.