4 years ago, I got a new car and a car loan. Unlike my other cars, it is a gas guzzler, and it is really cramping my style. Driving two hours to Tango, four hours roundtrip, became unsustainable as I became more unemployable probably due to my age: 64. Consequently, I have not danced much tango in the last year and a half. I think I may be at the end of my tango journey.
Well, not quite at the end, there's still a lot to process about what I have experienced and that gives me great satisfaction. I know that may sound odd to those of you who are still on the road to Tango Nirvana, maybe one day you will come to understand.
I guess I am not at the end, I am merely transitioning, exploring in-depth the finer aspects of tango, such as connection. Connection in the tango embrace is such a subtle skill but absolutely necessary to the dance.
In my research on physics and the structure of the universe at the quantum level, I have come to believe that the basis of all matter is energy and frequency: an atom is made up of protons, neutrons and electrons composed of things called quantum particles. Quantum particles are very strange and what exactly they are depends on something called the Observer Effect which takes us out of the realm of science and into another field of study as yet unnamed. This mystery field is a cross between science and religion. What we see at the quantum level changes with each observation and I suspect there is nothing there other than pure energy or maybe just vibration or frequency. What exists there is not like light which can be a particle or a wave; at the quantum level there is just the wave or oscillation or simply a frequency just waiting for someone to listen.
Some ancient religious beliefs propose that all reality is just an illusion and it is possible that each of us is the central character in our own illusion. Our illusion is like a video game and we are players in our own game. To play the game you must be conscious and consciousness is the true fundamental building block of the universe.
All that we experience, all that everything is is consciousness and frequency.
Tango has helped me see the truth of that statement. Social tango is an attempt by two people to choreograph movement to a melody spontaneously. To do this a person must learn how to connect to his/her partner on a level that is simultaneously physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Tango is kind of like tai chi for couples, to do this we must learn how to move but first, even though we are unaware of its need, we must learn how to connect, how to drop our walls and let others into our space and to enter the space of others.
When I began my tango education, I thought I was learning how to move but I was really learning that I did not know how to connect. It was somewhat humiliating but humility is the beginning of all understanding.
To acquire knowledge we must first become humble.
Somehow, in my endeavor to lead a partner in this dance, I became aware of the supreme importance of connection in achieving proficiency and I did that through careful examination of past tango encounters and many, many workshops attended all around the USA.
While we may dance tango with no one other than a partner, the full tango experience is at the milonga, the place where tango music is played and many other couples are present. When we dance tango at the milonga, we make a connection not just with our partner but to the entire crowd as well. At the milonga, I am one person, one half of a couple connected to all the other couples present as we move around the room counter-clockwise, hopefully, in harmony.
Music is the key ingredient to a successful connection to the other couples in attendance. To move to the rhythm and melody of a song in syncopation with a myriad of other pairs of dancers takes a lot of thought, education and practice. This is what makes Tango one of the most difficult art forms to master. A proper Tango education requires constant inquiry into what is going on inside you as well as a rigid respect for the concept of balance in all its forms. It takes years to achieve competence and a willingness to start over from scratch in order to establish a proper foundation upon which to build a fruitful relationship with your partner as well as the crowd, and, though you might not realize it at first, to the universe.
I believe this connection to the partner/crowd/universe is only possible through the music. It is the music which helps us vibrate to the proper frequency that allows us all to join together as one. It is that feeling of oneness that is like tasting the fruit of the Garden of Eden that we find so addicting. It is that feeling of oneness that is the answer to all the questions we have but do not know how to ask. To be aware of the cosmic consciousness and to join it, if only for a few hours, is what keeps us coming back for more.
