On the International Day of Tango

It is the International Day of Tango, and an appropriate moment to reflect on the central stage that tango has taken in my, and so many of my closest friends', life.
Growing with tango is a slow, painful and often humbling process. At first, you think it is about a set of skills, of fitting a certain ideal and playing your part, and that achieving that would suffice to be a "good" dancer. There are new movements to learn, a lot of unknown social codes to memorise, but it isdoable, and you are confident you will get there.
And just when you think you are starting to know your way around in this parallel reality, when you are not anymore constantly bewildered with what exactly it is that you are expected to do, not just fighting to stay on your feet while looking calm and serene... that's when you are hit by other kind of turmoil. All your fears and dreams, all your unrealistic ideas about yourself and your desirability as a dance partner/woman/person/friend are constantly under a magnifying glass, and often, you are forced to downgrade your opinion of yourself dramatically.
The best moments are pure bliss, that is true. Not only are you beautifully, wordlessly communicating your best possible self to your dancing partner, expressing the delicate, intimate emotions that moving to this marvellous music awakens in you. The best part, the Big Secret, is the occasional emergence of something bigger than either one of you, the mystical being that can only take form as a result of two people exposing their vulnerability and sensitivity, of deciding to trust each other while letting the music move them.
I have lost count on the number of times I have thought about giving up. The moments of agony when nothing seems to work and connecting even to yourself let alone your partner seems as likely as encountering a unicorn in broad daylight, are not infrequent. Still, every time I go back, and occasionally, all my dreams are fulfilled.
Thank You for sharing this journey with me!

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