Mom repeatedly repeats that she is most sorry in life that she did not learn to dance and that dance is part of culture and as such, an important part of the individual. Those words echo in my head from the first time I heard her say that.
Ever since I watched the blockbuster Sense of a Woman, starring Al Pacino and his, to many well-known, famous tango dance with a young lady at gala event, I have a desire to learn to dance tango myself. When it comes to dance, I’m pretty stiffed and I’d rather watch it than perform it. There is no difference in clubs, where I prefer to spend my time rocking lightly behind the bar than on the dance floor. What is true – however, once I master the steps and learn the choreography, I am able to dance quite solidly, to be honest. This was the case with the final dance of my valet and graduation, and a few other prom dances, where I went to dance at friend’s request as a replacement, including my sister’s – these are girls who failed to find a suitable dancer, mainly due to their height and lack of boys in schools.
Nowadays salsa is extremely popular, but it is a dance that is too fast for me and requires too much mobility and flexibility, so a tango that is stricter, slower and a dance with a more balanced posture is more suitable for me. I like it more than salsa as well, including the music.
I think my biggest problem, when I dance, is the thought that all eyes are on me, so I can not find fluent moves. It’s much easier to find them, when alone with good music. I share a thought, there is a rhythm somewhere deep inside me, so I decided to give it a try with tango.
I have tried tango courses several times before, but I did not manage to continue for longer period of time, for such and other reasons.
Ever since I returned to Sanghai, I have rejoined the Tango Bang Club. A club I knew from before, including club CEO and teacher Vivian. So I started again and just recently finished with the first phase of tango, the beginners phase. I got a certificate, a piece of paper that is more for fun than for real, but still, I can proudly say, I am now able to dance the whole song with a dancer, without stoping, using several different (six to be exact) elements of tango.
I am currently continuing to learn milonga, a dance that is similar to tango but slightly faster, with a 4-bar tempo, while tango is predominantly 2-bar. After the milongas are over, if all goes according to plan, I will join an advanced tango course and try to go a step further.