Mari Travels with Tango

The possibilities of learning about life through tango, especially when surrounded by a creative crowd, are ever-expanding. Last weekend, i had another mind-blowing experience when going to my first Blind Milonga. The concept, both leaders and followers dancing the whole night blindfolded, seemed almost too ridiculous to work. But miraculously, it did. Despite the occasional bumping against the other dancing couples, and the few times we all ended up in one corner, giggli ng hysterically, we were able to establish a truly wonderful connection to our changing dance partners, but also, to every person in the room. I tried both roles and although it was certainly easier to follow, had beautiful moments of peaceful, happy dancing also when leading. However, the lessons learned from dancing blindfolded went far beyond that of how to orientate yourself in complete darkness. When the 3 hours were over and it was time to remove the blinds, we were all speechless with awe. What we had jus...

My first tango camp as a leader is now over, and of all the memories, sensations and emotions accumulated in the past few days the most prevailing is an overwhelming sense of happiness and gratitude. The wonderful teachers at HelaTango managed to put me at ease about my capacity to learn leading in a structured way, and my supportive practice partner was able to calm me down the few times when I felt a sense of panic when thinking i was expected to memorise a sequence, someth ing that I dreaded more than anything. In addition, i was all the time surrounded by the best possible crowd: a lovely, lovable and crazy bunch of people whose affection for me is not based on my merits on the dance floor. I laughed more in this weekend than in the past 6 months altogether, and only cried twice: once from happiness, once from being moved by the emotion present in a performance. I learned about setting one's own limits, defending one's own integrity and communicating one's commitm...