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Better Things
Apr. 8th, 2011 12:22 pmI realized recently that, while I talk a lot here about what's on my mind, as always, I don't talk so much about what's going on in my life. And that, when I do, I tend to focus more on the stresses, disasters, and catastrophes more than the bright spots and the highlights. So today, in an effort to remedy both of those shortcomings, I am going to talk about my tango class.
I love dance, in all forms, but some are more natural to me than others. There are dances that just come naturally to me, like contact improv, and flailing-around-a-club - while I can learn, and adopt other patterns, they just seem to suit my body and my personal style of movement. There are others that are just intrinsically hard for me, like Middle Eastern dance - they violate rules that I learned in other forms, or they ask my body to move in ways I'm not used to, but I find them fascinating enough that I push and persevere anyway. And there are the styles of dance that, when I start out, they seem impossible, but after a little while of frustrated pushing, they turn into my deep and adored favorites. This was the case with 16th Century Italian dance, and it's turning out to be the case with tango.
Tango is, in its movement style, very different from other forms of ballroom dance, which surprised me at first. I spent most of the first time through the class just learning how to balance my weight in towards my partner, instead of leaning back into the hold, and figuring out how to follow a lead that came from the torso and shoulders instead of arms and body. But it was enough fun that my friend and I decided to take the beginner class again, and the second time through is turning out to be purely amazing.
There's just a level of joy and delight that comes from finally starting to feel comfortable with the steps and the style, from being able to start the transition from thinking-about-steps to thinking-about-the-dance as a whole. There are the grins and excitement that you share when you realize that you maneuvered a new step properly, and the fun of trying to puzzle something new out on your own, even if it winds up with tangled feet and almost-toppling, and there's the sheer pleasure of movement, and feeling your body fit into the music and the rhythm.
Of course, it also helps that our teacher is apparently a slightly crazed Super Dance Hobbit, and that she sneaks us extra new steps on the side since we are now her Advanced Students, at least in comparison to the rest of the beginners. (Advanced enough that I seem to have become her demo model, even when she's teaching steps I haven't done before, but that's an entirely different source of amusement.) And it's always fun to have something to share with a friend, and to enjoy their excitement and happiness as much as my own.
Next week is our last class, and I'm not sure where to go from here. I don't want to just give up on tango entirely, but taking the beginner's class a third time would probably no longer be helpful. Our teacher runs an intermediate class, but it's on Mondays, and soon I'm going to be working until 7pm most Mondays. I'm looking forward to dipping my toes back into Middle Eastern dance once my Thursday nights are free again, but before too long I'm going to start having to look for a new alternate tango venue.....
I love dance, in all forms, but some are more natural to me than others. There are dances that just come naturally to me, like contact improv, and flailing-around-a-club - while I can learn, and adopt other patterns, they just seem to suit my body and my personal style of movement. There are others that are just intrinsically hard for me, like Middle Eastern dance - they violate rules that I learned in other forms, or they ask my body to move in ways I'm not used to, but I find them fascinating enough that I push and persevere anyway. And there are the styles of dance that, when I start out, they seem impossible, but after a little while of frustrated pushing, they turn into my deep and adored favorites. This was the case with 16th Century Italian dance, and it's turning out to be the case with tango.
Tango is, in its movement style, very different from other forms of ballroom dance, which surprised me at first. I spent most of the first time through the class just learning how to balance my weight in towards my partner, instead of leaning back into the hold, and figuring out how to follow a lead that came from the torso and shoulders instead of arms and body. But it was enough fun that my friend and I decided to take the beginner class again, and the second time through is turning out to be purely amazing.
There's just a level of joy and delight that comes from finally starting to feel comfortable with the steps and the style, from being able to start the transition from thinking-about-steps to thinking-about-the-dance as a whole. There are the grins and excitement that you share when you realize that you maneuvered a new step properly, and the fun of trying to puzzle something new out on your own, even if it winds up with tangled feet and almost-toppling, and there's the sheer pleasure of movement, and feeling your body fit into the music and the rhythm.
Of course, it also helps that our teacher is apparently a slightly crazed Super Dance Hobbit, and that she sneaks us extra new steps on the side since we are now her Advanced Students, at least in comparison to the rest of the beginners. (Advanced enough that I seem to have become her demo model, even when she's teaching steps I haven't done before, but that's an entirely different source of amusement.) And it's always fun to have something to share with a friend, and to enjoy their excitement and happiness as much as my own.
Next week is our last class, and I'm not sure where to go from here. I don't want to just give up on tango entirely, but taking the beginner's class a third time would probably no longer be helpful. Our teacher runs an intermediate class, but it's on Mondays, and soon I'm going to be working until 7pm most Mondays. I'm looking forward to dipping my toes back into Middle Eastern dance once my Thursday nights are free again, but before too long I'm going to start having to look for a new alternate tango venue.....
