The Vortex of Tango

“Stronger, faster, higher…

And that, for me, is the vortex of tango.”

Dimitris

40 icons of tango, judges of the world tango championship, world champions, and experienced maestros came together to create one remarkable book.

Click here to read the topics discussed in the book.

–It feels like a vortex, Isabel Marques said, signalling with her hand an upward spiralling movement.

-Why is tango able to do that? I asked silently in my head.

I stopped for a second to visualize it.

Starting small, low, rotating slowly.

And then, the circles get bigger, faster, going higher.

Pulling first the embrace…

Then the couple…

And finally everyone in the milonga.

I felt goosebumps on my skin, as if a stream of cold air was passing over it.

This feeling of tango grabbing me, my partner, and then everyone else around us in a rotating madness was not unknown to me.

I had felt it in great milongas, when the DJ managed to synchronize us all, tanda after tanda, till a beautiful vals made us feel we were flying centimeters above the dance floor.

Till that moment I couldn’t put it in words.

But this one image that Isabela gave me during the Al Tango festival in the south of Portugal felt… right.

The Vortex of Tango.

Why is tango able to do that?

If you are a subscriber of this blog, you will remember the blogpost that “made people cry all over the world”. 

In there, I shared how asking our partners a single question had led me to the extremities of life itself.

What I didn’t know back then, was that in each event I was going after that, people would come to me and tell me what happened to them, when they asked the same question to their partners.

During the Al Tango festival, two women, without having talked to each other, described with almost identical words their experience.

This “coincidence” made me pay attention.

The discussion started with me saying that the majority of the women I danced with, when asked why they dance tango, responded that they like the connection.

For me, that means nothing and everything at the same time.

It is like asking your tango teacher to help you with a step you are struggling with.

If (s)he says “You need to do the step with the right energy” (s)he is 100% right; and the response is 100% useless (most of the times).

I feel the same about the word connection.

Yes, tango is all about connection, but what kind of connection?

I left that thought on the side, listening to exactly the same words coming from Susana Gomes and Sara Roda:

-When I ask leaders why they dance, our next dance becomes better, and feels better. This happened again and again. I don’t know why.

Suddenly, a thread started connecting the vortex and the “what kind of connection” question in my mind.

We all look for connection.

But there are multiple types of connection:

-The hug connection (when we hug each other)

-The music connection (when we listen to the same music)

-The technique connection (when there is body mechanics compatibility)

-The musicality connection (when we interpret the music together)

I could list at least twenty different types of connection and the list would still not be complete.

But why am I saying that?

I believe that tango is able to grab us in this tango vortex because it allows us to create multiple connections.

It just ticks many boxes.

More boxes than other dances.

So, why did the dances improved for both of those women?

As I said in The 3 Reasons We Dance Tango, we need to feel understood.

When you ask someone “why” (s)he dances, and then shut up and listen, (s)he feels understood.

One more connection is established.

The “(s)he understands me” connection.

And the more connections you add… the stronger the vortex.

The deeper each connection… the faster the vortex.

The stronger your realization of those connections… the highest the vortex.

Stronger, faster, higher…

and at the same time deeper, subtler, easier.

That, for me, is the vortex of tango.

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