Mari Travels with Tango

Returning from Soñando Tango Marathon in Amsterdam, once again taking stock of what it is that these trips mean to me, and why, even after so many years, a tango life without them feels impossible. A month ago, during one of their fantastic lessons at our Frostbite festival in Helsinki, Maja and Marko introduced the concept of a "Zen Moment ". While they were speaking about finding a way to pause meaningfully during a song, I find the concept applicable to other aspects  of a milonga, tango event or even life in general. In short, a zen moment is an instant when you become aware of the inexplicable beauty, heartbreaking sadness and undeniable fleetingness of anything you appreciate, be it a song, a journey or a love affair. While making you breathless with melancholy, this realisation also fills you with a deep gratitude for having been able to experience it. And essentially, the only way to really appreciate it is to do nothing. Just stay still and take it in. For, as ...

Recent conversations with distressed friends, as well as personal experiences in my 7 years of involvement with tango, have led me to think about the nature of recurring crises that seem to plague, at least occasionally, every tanguero /tanguera. Although there might be a certain correlation between a type of crisis and the number of years spent dancing, so far i have not been able to find a way to avoid the reoccurrence of any specific form. The first type usually attacks you very soon after the initial introduction to the world of milongas, and I call it the "They don't like me" crisis. It usually occurs when you find your attempts at mirada/cabeceo repeatedly rejected and find yourself spending most of the time sitting in milongas while everybody else seems to be dancing. Although common sense tells you otherwise, you explain this to yourself as being caused by the "snobbery" or "prejudice " of the more experienced dancers, or, worse still, by so...