Dance ~

I've been dancing for years yet I've never fully understood until recently that dance is really language. As I dance with my partner, I realize he is "speaking" a language, conveying messages with his hands, his eyes, a turn of his head or body. In partner dance, the hands are the most important. For a man to lead, his hands must braille moves onto his partner's back or to the palm of her hand. His hand pressing on a lady's "angel wings"...he pulls her in here, pushes her there, a touch to the side,...a lifted hand, a hand pulled down, or out or away...it's all an indication of go here, go there, twirl now, keep twirling, swivel, stop, go past me, come back, do this move, do that move. Oh so easy.

But: when the touch is too light, it's hard for a lady to know where to go or what to do. If she guesses, she could make a wrong move. Also, the lady needs her partner's support, particularly when doing certain spins like "ochos". Being a pushy broad, I'm often told I'm "leading" but gentlemen: really, I only do it in the absence of your lead. I've recently tried leading (in our dance class there's a shortage of men) and now I understand why men sometimes have a soft lead. It takes a certain confidence to insist via pressure points on where you want someone else to go. So even though I am pushy (yes, I'm admitting it), I too find it hard to convey with a touch what I want my partner to do.

As with any language, it takes time. My partner and I, though we've been dancing for over 40 years, are still perfecting our "vocabulary" in dance. We have good days and bad days. When I insist on a stronger lead, he tells me he can't concentrate on the steps and me too! Dance is dance. As they say, it takes two to tango and we are learning the Argentine Tango so we must bear with each other while we learn this new "language". We love it though as it has drama, and unexpected action, and a sensuality we don't find in most North American dances. We ardently hope to become "fluent". Wish us luck!

Here's a little taste of the Argentine Tango music we dance to. It's on Youtube and is called Gotan Project's Epocha. Enjoy!