El Abrazo (Bergen)

 In tango, each embrace is a unique combination of two life histories, cultures and world views. Even when re-embracing someone you've danced with dozens of times in the past, some part of the embrace and the emotions it carries is always different.

There are those embraces that fill you with clarity and calm, cleansing your mind of stress and unnecessary clatter. Their effect reminds me of drinking cool, refreshing mint tea or eating simple but nourishing meals, for they remind you of the simple joys of a healthy, non-excessive lifestyle. They also re-establish your faith in your abilities as a social dancer.

Then, there are the flirtatious embraces. They are filled with play, suggestions and counter-suggestions, a constant ping-pong of ideas, gentle but intentional provocations, laughter caused by trial and error. They are also riskier than the former kind, for at any moment, they can be misinterpreted, go too far or lead to loss of meaningful contact. They could maybe be described as accepting a cocktail without really knowing what's in it: you may be left with a delightful, bubbly feeling - or with a headache.

Then there are those embraces that make you feel like you have come home after a long and arduous journey. They always land on you unexpectedly, and their effect is the most pronounced when you have been feeling more and more alienated from the whole milonga experience, asking yourself what exactly it is that makes you return to these events, when so clearly, your days of pure dancing joy are in the past. And then suddenly, you embrace someone, and from the first step, it all makes sense again. Between songs, you smile at each other like two idiots, and afterwards, you know with certainty that there is no way you could walk away from tango. Such embraces could best be described as restorative.

And finally, there are the embraces that leave you breathless. They are like two oceans coming together, like tectonic plates colliding, like two time-travellers meeting after centuries spent apart while looking for each other. They well up emotions, sensations and memories that had been buried for so long that you thought they were lost forever. They are also the most dangerous ones, for they are immensely addictive and at the same time, inherently fleeting, and you can never be sure of encountering them again. They are like a smokey whisky or dangerously spicy food: an acquired taste for sure, but without doubt also the ultimate reward for courage and faith. For in such embraces, you are also reconnected with some lost part of yourself.

Returning home from Bergen Embrace, feeling immensely grateful for all of the above.