Why I Love Tango...

Trying to explain my love of tango is a hard one... but here´s an attempt...

Tango fill me up. Same way post-rock fills me up. Mogwai fills me up. Radiohead fills me up. The soundtrack to Amelie (which it turns out is tango) fills me up... It is beautiful.

At the start of a song, someone asks you to dance. You hold them, you move with them, they make you feel like you´re a great dancer, you allow them to be a great dancer, you understand what they want you to do, you take time to do extra little pretty things with your feet, you move together, you communicate with your bodies, you dance across the room with a smile on your face and your eyes closed, you say thank you, you sit down... And your world is made a little bit more beautiful.

You don´t need to be fit or lithe in any way. Of course it helps, but you can get into it without being able to run a marathon. You just need to be able to have both feet on the floor and not fall over. I think almost everyone can dance tango. Some better or worse then others, but everyone can do it. I´ve seen people of all sizes, heights and ages dancing. And dancing well. A 75 year old man who moved like a 20 year old. But also a couple who were of a similar age to him, and moved like their ages... but they felt each other and moved with each other and did small basic things with their feet that weren´t hard but were beautifully timed and were connected together for those dances.

Its definitely not about footwork and leg kicking. Its about standing, waiting, breathing, feeling the movement, feeling the music and feeling the person... It is sensual, but not necessarily sexual. Because the connection and understanding of another person can happen with a boy or a girl, same sex or opposite sex, someone who is attractive or unattractive. Its like any dance, jive, salsa, ballroom, etc., it doesn´t make any difference whether you fancy them or not as to whether you´ll be able to enjoy dancing with them. Its about how well your bodies speak to one another. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn´t. But one of the great things is that Tango is about making the follower feel wonderful.

And when you feel wonderful you ignore your sore feet, fuzzy head, and tired legs, and keep on moving with that closed eyed smile as long as you´re able.