Walking.

I started writing this weblog some half a year after my first lessons. Therefore I must recall things from memory, but that's not a bad thing. My first impressions are fresh enough to be vivid, but at the same time I can take a bit of a distance.

As I mentioned in the preview, I have no background as a dancer. Sure, I did solo-move on music, but when it came to close dancing I had problems with the 'strict rules' that suddenly seemed to be necessary. In order to NOT step on someones toes....
I thought that also tango was about rules. But I was wrong. To improvise means that you write your own rules on the spot. Now I have the feeling that there are other rules. Unwritten ones. Secrets ones. Ones without words......


So, what do I remember from my very first tango lesson?

We walked. Solo, for several rounds. Strangely enough that became confusing. If you really watch and feel yourself walking, something strange happens. It's like saying a word over and over again. That word suddenly becomes strange, unfamiliar, odd, redicilous, and in the end it looses it's meaning that was so natural before. Just try to say 'home' (in your own language) one hundred times. See? Home is gone. That happened with that walking too. I became aware of my legs, my feet, my back, I became stiff in the neck, the walking became ridiculous. Then we walked on music, a rather slow tango with a very clear line in the music. Now there was some progress. The ridiculous walking and the music became like one. Hesitating, but clear. the music helped me to walk in another way.
The next step was walking with two, as a pair. Leader forward, follower backwards. We held each other by the shoulder. The leader walked at free will, could slow down, stand still, start walking again. The follower, well, had to follow. No pushing with the arms, just a light touch. And boy did I sweat.
We practiced a simple step too. One side, two forward, side again, close and stop. Nice. We even started dancing, I believe...

That was the beginning. This part came back several times. Walking is important, I know now. Someone told me that the beauty with tango is that you actually can just walk on the dance floor, in the same rhythm with the others. I remembered those words later, the moments that I forgot all of my steps......