“Tango is about the road, not the destination.” That was the last thing that Alicia Pons told me this last weekend in Sacramento. I went to her workshops at Firehouse 5, and wow, what a workshop it was.
I have to admit, starting right before I left BA at the end of February, my tango has been out of whack. There was no question, I needed a lift, needed to find my steps again. Alicia was the perfect chance to get back in touch with my dance.
It is just amazing sometimes, when in the zone, how much you can bring out of your partner, and she out of you. Sometimes when dancing with newer dancers, I have noticed that they start to embellish while dancing with me.
I noticed it first in Monterey a week ago. When asked about it, she replied, “I just started doing it for some reason when dancing with you.” Wow, together, we are bringing out her embellishments. That is cool.
After Alicia’s workshops, I noticed it with two other partners, but to a much larger degree. The more I try to listen to my partner, and the less I try to tell, the easier it gets to feel each other, the more we are able to accomplish together.
This, in my humble opinion, is Argentine tango. Reaching deep down inside while you are dancing, you just might find your best fantasies, a place you have never been, or just plain peace. Dance steps that you have never been taught that appear in the moment, without you ever noticing that they came and went.
