Tango in the Desert | Puerta al Tango

0 ~ Introduction to why and how we are seeking to understand this multi-faceted social dance.

Chaco Canyon (Aug 2023). Photo by gps

The deserts of New Mexico and the social Argentine tango I fell in love with have a lot in common to me. Both seem to be greatly misunderstood until visited and experienced. There is vast complexity and richness in the seemingly simplistic form.

This set of writing is about exploration and seeking understanding.

For me, when tango became a way of moving through life, seeking truths through harmony and balance, I was able to overcome challenges in my life that held me back from truly living.

There are unspoken experiences and seemingly contradictory conditions that create balance and harmony that I also find as I experience living here in New Mexico and learn more about this place. I hope that the observations, the sharing of experiences through exploration and the stories that I plan to share  might open up the possibility of this dance to you as it does for me.

For the first 10 years, tango was a struggle for me and I really do not know why I stuck with it.  I quit more times than I can recall and for stretches even for more than a year during that initial period.  Fate and serendipity would keep a door open to this dance in often comical ways that I look forward to sharing.  I learned how to feel and open up to this dance in Buenos Aires in 2016.   For the next 7 years I would explore as deeply and intensely as I could between working construction jobs.  On Dec. 30, 2022 I officially retired from a 25+ year career in rehabilitating old buildings.  On January 1, 2023 I left Pennsylvania in a mildly packed car and drove to Albuquerque, New Mexico to open Puerta al Tango.  On January 12, 2023 I welcomed my first students here and I fell in love with my new home, the community and the desert.

Tango in the Desert will have a weekly and a monthly format as follows:

Weekly Observations:

There are always trends that pass through the community at large that spark curiosity and lead to questioning of what is true. These observations have led to some very rewarding explorations in the subsequent weeks of classes at the studio and to the bonding community at Puerta al Tango.

Weekly Navigations: 

A summation of how we are exploring the previous week’s observation. “Navigations” because we are still exploring and trying to stay the course. We’ll share ideas, reckonings, and what music has been driving these ongoing explorations.

Stories That Happened:

Once a month before the 2nd Saturday there will be a personal story that changed my perception and experience with tango and life.   Length: “over a cup of coffee” read.  Also with audio readings.

There will be stories and perspectives about the challenging aspects of any social endeavor:  loneliness, rejection, doubt, injury, uncomfortable conversations, miscues, aging and not getting dances.   There will be more stories about how to overcome fears, doubts and rejections and allowing this dance to help us heal and grow stronger physically, mentally and emotionally.  I used to be painfully shy, introverted and doubting my abilities. I really did quit tango countless times until 2016. Despite over a decade of battling tango I attest finally going to the mountain myself to understand what this dance is has helped me become socially confident, emotionally solid and self-assured in life and in the dance. I hope by sharing my experience it may serve as a shortcut, solidarity, support for others also out there struggling to find a refuge in an embracing art.

I’ll share “myths” I heard along this journey that I no longer find truth in, or struggled with for too long. We are always exploring the dance and ways to change perspective as we progress in the ever-expanding world of social communication through a moving art form (tango).  Here is a list of topics we will be exploring in the upcoming months; and, what we are modifying at Puerta al Tango in order to preserve the rituals and traditions of social Argentine Tango as the world progresses and our collective awareness grows:

Myths (what I was told) VS  New Forming Conclusions (seeking truths by challenging what I was once told)

• Standing Leg ~ Active grounding leg

• Stand on one leg, be on one leg. ~ 60/40 always both soles on the floor

• Collect / bring feet together ~ We gather and center (feet together only to punctuate / express certain musicality.

• The collect is the pause ~ The gathering is where true equality lives.

• The collect is the pause ~ La Pausa (the pause) has many ways.

• Collect & Brush ~ Gather (Juntar) & Sweep (Rozar)

• “I already walk” ~ La caminata is expression of who we are

• Disassociation ~ Association by ipsilateral & contra-lateral

• Leader / Follower ~ we use “Inviter & Realizer”

• Lead with the chest ~ Bring/carry movement forth with the entire torso 

• “I just follow” ~ Dancers seek equality by collaboration

• Step forward/backward/side ~ Send the torso forwards, backwards, side

• The traveling leg moves us ~ The active grounded leg moves us 

• “I dance the melody” ~ Dance the melodic phrasing

• The cabeceo is patriarchal ~ The mirada/cabeceo allows freedom for the dancer to be left in peace.

• The leader cabeceos ~ Either dancer can cabeceo. 

• Side steps (paso lateral) ~ Paso lateral is and also is not La Salida

• The Cross System ~ Crossed System (Sistema Cruzado) and ways to use this name to help navigate.

• Cruzado (the cross) ~ El cruce (the cross) is in both systems.

• Back ochos are crossed system.   ~ Inside partner crossed system walking is 8s

• Back ochos are crossed system ~ Ochos are only part of this solar system.

• The follower pivots the ochos ~ Both dancers pivot in unison and harmony.

• We pivot by rotating the torso ~ We pivot by releasing weight into ball of foot

• “Sneaky Step” to change systems. ~ It is a weight change that changes systems 

• Tango has a frame ~ Social tango has form, not frame

• The arms maintain a frame. ~ The arms are like dogs in hammocks.

• The hips do not move. ~ Liberate the hips! Liberarse la cadera, pibe!

• We maintain our axis vertical. ~ We maintain our axis in equilibrium

• There is open and closed embrace. ~ Open, closed, salon, and milonguero embraces like Villa Urquiza and Centro. There’s no right or wrong, just options and understanding.

• “Milonguero-style is boring” ~ “Milonguero-style requires depth of feeling”

• Man leads, woman follows. No.  ~ Dancers invite & collaborate together

• Floorcraft is for beginners ~ Floorcraft is good manners

• I already dance in milongas ~ Floorcraft is a social skill that needs honing.

• Tango is a solitary dance ~ Tango is a social dance with everyone

• Tango is Argentine ~ Tango is African / Rio Platense rooted. It thrived the most in Buenos Aires in the 1930’s and 40’s

• “I cannot dance tango” ~ “(you) can dance social Argentine tango”

• Tango looks fancy ~ Social Argentine Tango is subtle 

• I learned tango steps early on. I don’t use any of them anymore. I threw them all in the garbage in 2016. Tango for me is heartfelt conversation. It can be deep and it can be light. It can be emotional and it can be thick-as-thieves brimming with laughter. Quite often I am starving for a conversation and my partner is reading from a script (tango sequences and steps). Yet, this is a dance that lives unscripted and adapting to la ronda, the air, to room, life…

These are just a few of the subjects we have so far to write about based on many years of exploration on my own and with master teachers in Buenos Aires, socially dancing in Argentina, and a lifetime of exploring movement both out of curiosity and necessity (injuries).

We hope you will join us on this journey.

Special Thank you to Amanda Walker and Jutta Lehmer for your skillful, insightful and generous time in editing! Massive thank you to all of my friends who have encouraged this exploration and everyone who has been a part of Puerta al Tango!