It started with a poster. There it was, staring at me on my way home, begging me to stop and take a second look.
“Tango for beginners” it said.
“Interesting” I thought. I’d never considered tango until that moment.
I’d been looking for something to do after giving up the gym and dancing had always been something that had captured my imagination. The problem was I couldn’t decide on a style and, having looked up dance classes around the city, most available lessons seemed to be for any level other than beginner.
Yet there it was, right before my eyes. Tango. For beginners.
“Maybe you’d be good at tango” I found myself thinking. The other half of my brain was apprehensive.
“Well, why not?” I chided.
Why not indeed, and yet, I didn’t immediately dial the number to inquire. Instead, I went and checked their Facebook.
Since my job involves managing social media for businesses, it was a logical place to start. That’s what I told myself, anyway. Really I was just avoiding the phone call. I was not immediately impressed with their social media skills, but I was intrigued enough not to dismiss the endeavour entirely.
Things happened though, life got busy and I kept putting off that phone call.
“Maybe tomorrow”, I’d say. Yet tomorrow never came.
However, as luck would have it, I was talking to a friend a few weeks later who suddenly mentioned tango out of the blue. As the conversation progressed I figured she was talking about the same place from the poster and she invited me to go along that evening. I’m so glad she did!
That class was one of the best things I’ve ever done. I was hooked from the word go.
What started out as a taster session turned into a weekly event. I was hit hard by the tango fever, if such a thing exisits, and buried myself in YouTube tango performances and Spotify playlists whenever I had a spare moment. All of a sudden, I seemed to have tango on the brain most of the time.
Though tango might not be the first dance that comes to mind when you think of Sevilla, if you go looking, you’ll find this dance popping up more often than you’d imagined.
I have discovered several groups, places that give classes, talented people who dance in the street…
To all of them, to all my tango loving friends, I dedicate this poem.
Tango
Como quien lluvia pide en sequía
ansío la dulce melodía de un tango
arropo de música
envoltura de magia
instante eterno en suspensión.
Dos cuerpos juntos se desplazan
apasionada delicadeza fundida en abrazo
cada movimiento
medido
con precisión de cirujano.
Fuerza de brazos en mis brazos
relajada tensión
en un vaivén perfecto,
se entrelazan nuestros pasos
ritmo, cabeza y corazón
a cada sutil indicación
se unen en ecuación minuciosa.
Perfecto equilibrio.
Inconsciente hasta entonces de haberlo perdido
recupero confianza.
Cortesía personificada en danza.
Respeto inesperado
necesario y refrescante
hacen acto de presencia
recordatorio ineludible
de algo
que debiera ser constante.
Descubro aire en esta canción
transfusión de ritmo en mis venas
alas brotan, mis pies vuelan
alma que el cielo toca
un instante.
Pasan horas y son minutos
respiro baile y es libertad.
Have you ever danced tango? Would you consider it?
The Spanish Berry 