Fire to Keep

Stand in front of your partner, at an arm’s length. Grab each other’s arms. Then, get closer to each other, little by little. Be aware that you and your partner are getting closer. And, notice if, at a certain distance, you suddenly begin to feel something, which feels differently to different people, but can be electrifying, nice, warm, tingling, or even uncomfortable, in your body. Giggling is a sign of one’s feeling it. As you continue to get closer, this feeling will be maintained or become stronger.

This feeling is what I consider as the most important essence of tango dancing. When a man and a woman are in close proximity and in a certain orientation and when they are aware of it, a spark of energy is produced and the resulting fire, the feeling you feel in the above example, is generated. This is a natural phenomenon from the polar dynamics between the masculine and the feminine, and this is what we want to keep feeling while dancing. If this feeling is lost, at least to me, it is not tango but mechanical movements.

This fire is fragile, which can be easily extinguished by distance, lack of attention, and wrong orientation of the bodies of the couple. As we become able to do more, sometimes we get lost in doing steps. Our attention deviates. Our embrace is distorted. The fire is gone and after a while, we wonder why we feel empty although we do more.

The embrace is the shelter of this fire. Whatever you do, keep this fire in the embrace.