Monday, November 5, 2018

Not Letting Go

This is not a complaint, in fact, it is just an observation about an infrequent experience I have had with women who are new to tango. In my tango travels across America, I have danced with some ladies who do not disengage from the embrace entirely when the song has ended. She simply stands there, gripping my left hand with her right, her left hand still on my shoulder. I suspect this is not a conscious act. I can remember when I first started dancing tango, I couldn't breathe. I was oblivious to the fact that I wasn't taking in breaths but it was quite noticeable to my partners. Such are the mysteries of human behavior when two people join together to move to the music.
My initial reaction was to forcibly disconnect; not in a rude way, or so I thought when I was just a novice tanguero, maybe they did find it upsetting. Then I spent a year and a half studying the close embrace. Through frequent discussions with my girlfriend, I learned that the concept of ‘touch’ has an entirely different meaning to women than it does for men. Though I cannot quite say what that meaning for women is exactly, it is enough for me to know that it is different from mine. I must treat the act of embracing her with great care and not to come to any unfounded conclusions as to what she is experiencing.
I think this approach could apply to all people as a way we should all treat each other in all our social interactions. We should act as if we don’t really know what the other person’s experience of our encounter is and not to make any assumptions based on whatever biases we may have. This kind of behavior could do a lot to restore civility in America today.
After five years dancing tango, I learned that final impressions were just as important as first impressions. For the next three years I worked on finding the right moment to disengage from the close embrace. It is possible to ruin the memory of an entire tanda, regardless of how well you performed, by breaking contact abruptly.
I think the reason women find it so enjoyable to dance with other women is because they know exactly how, when and where to touch each other.  
I realized that my concept of the meaning of ‘touch’ had to change. I am not ‘touching’ her anywhere; she is merely settling into my embrace. Even though there is contact between our bodies, I am not taking notes on the specifics of which body part I am feeling, but rather, I am using that point of contact to find out where her balance is. My hand beneath her shoulder blade is where I see how she is connects to the ground.
The tango embrace is more than just two bodies coming together; it is a physical connection, yes, but it is also a mental, emotional and maybe even a spiritual communion as well. To find her balance I must establish a mood, I must make her feel respected. My frame is not so much a place for me to hold her as it is a room where she feels safe and free to enjoy what? Me? The music? The crowd? Who knows? I don’t. I can only hope that she is comfortable being with me and that I must work to make sure she stays that way.
I firmly believe that, as much as men have no clue as to what is going on inside a woman, women have no clue as to why men do what they do: they can only guess. My advice to any tangueros who may be looking for answers as to how they can become better partners, is this: don’t keep her guessing. Let her know that you enjoy the touch of her hands on your body, not through words but by your demeanor, smile honestly if you can and make eye contact. Above all, try to create a feeling of respect. For the next ten minutes, you will not be a man directing her backwards through a crowded room, you will be a place for her to go and to enjoy an experience that will reverberate back into you. If she chooses to stay connected to you through that awkward silence between songs, consider yourself lucky and enjoy the moment for what it is: a blessing.


For more thoughts on tango and life by the Kayak Hombre, check out my books available on Amazon.com. Special thanks to Lutin Wu for helping me redesign the cover of my second book 'Fear of Intimacy and the Tango Cure'.








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