No one dares lead her.
She comes to every milonga.
Too often, she is unnoticed, even shunned by some it seems.
But this time everyone realizes who she is. Incarnate Music, like a goddess, comes to our local milonga. We know because the speakers seemingly stop working and Musica's essence comes from all directions, and especially out of her. She glows.
She looks my way. Every man and woman who leads sees her same laser-sharp power-mirada. We all see the same mirada and respond, as if hypnotized by her. Now the question for every one of us is the same: "Will I try to lead Her, the Incarnation of Music?"
Even though I love to follow, I timidly raise my left hand. For me, it is an easy decision not to lead. I will listen to the music. It will lead this tandem dance. I dare not "lead," "guide," or "propose" to Music Incarnate.
In her embrace, I sense that Music overcomes me. I am not the captain and chief navigator as usual. Where we touch, the music is even more intense. Music now now fills the room and every bodily cell.
She seems like benign electricity pulsating in my body. I have no choice as to what I should do or how to move.
La Música gently but clearly dictates every pause.
Even more, she guides every syncopation and step—
Every slowing down just to arrive on time.
Every cell vibrates and harmonizes with the music.
I am the bandion breathing, and the bass's deep voice.
I am the piano holding the orchestra all together.
I am the violins' glissandos and pizzacatos.
African rhythms, hidden for centuries,
Now changes the rhythms of my heart.
I am brought back to my primal being.
I know the Source as the spell of her embrace.
The first tango of the tanda ends. I have tears in my eyes. But I don't let go of her. I am not ashamed, but relish this moment of deep emotion, a catharsis expressed by tears. After the second tango, I back up, and we are both astonished. She is no longer the woman in the glowing robe, La Música Incarnada, but my wife. How did that happen? My wife, too, apparently thinks that she was dancing with La Música. This, I suppose, is the Holy Trinity of tango when Music, you, and your partner are One. As we continue to dance, it becomes more and more apparent that the Music leads; we listen; the sense of who is in charge defers only to Music, and we mortals submit in this holy, tantric threesome. The tanda comes to an end. Time had not raced by. Time stopped. At the speed of light, astrophysicists tell us, time stops and eternity opens up. Is this what happens when you dance with a Being of Light? La Música goes to the center of the dance floor. She disappears slowly, and the music returns to the speakers. Lesson learned: Music speaks and we listen. Music guides us gently; we follow. She does not force her lead, and lets us go do our own thing if we insist. Have you danced with her?
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The empiricist will not like this Jungian interpretation, this awe of the human psyche that reveals itself even to empiricists in their dreams and nightmares and the miriad fictions they still believe with no basis (as we all do). The ancient Archetypes brought again to life by C.G. Jung, have not diminished from appearing in our dreams, even in the Age of Science. The creative process is still as much a mystery as it was for the Ancient Greeks, who relied on Muses to bring creative and inventive moments to those who were open to such things. Those scientists studying consiousness and countless metanormal human experiences give up their materialistic views of the universe. Anyone who dances with La Música, will know what I mean.
Think of a time when you experienced this oneness with the music. Think of a tanda when your partner was in a trance with you. When your partner did not jar you out of your mystical state, your trance. Surely you have danced with Incarnate Music, but perhaps misunderstood that the person you danced with was not the one who created this spell. It was Music. I am suggesting that it was not you and not your partner who truly creates this moment. According to ancient wisdom, humans were not the creative energy behind marvelous moments like these.*
Mortals often lack the vocabulary to describe mystical experiences, but I believe mystical experiences are the very reason you continue to come back to dance. Many even denigrate this experience by calling this attraction to return to dance an "addiction to dopamine." But what if it is more than that? You entered into communion with the Divine, perhaps even at a deeper and more regular experiences than many shamans and mystics! Just perhaps.
And, just perhaps, if you keep denying your creative Muse her place in your life, she will abandon you and your love for tango will evaporate. For many it already has. Acknowlege the wonder, and hold onto your Muse.
✨ *Get to know your Muse: Click here for the mythology, history, and radical definitions behind this post...
Muses: Before they were abstract concepts, the Muses were literal, divine entities. Hesiod writes in his Theogony about meeting the Muses on Mount Helicon. They didn't just inspire him; they gave him a staff and breathed a divine voice into him. In ancient Greece, you didn't have a creative identity—you were visited by one.
Socrates: The founder of Western philosophy stated that our creative process is accompanied by a daimonion—a divine, inner voice or spirit. He considered this spirit to guide him. "Le guide" is the word for the tango "leader" in modern French (le/la guide). The guide does not dictate but navigates toward creativity and wisely avoids a misstep.
Genius: Modern people have relegated the term "genius" to individuals of a certain, measurable IQ. It is funny that Edison, who was considered a genius, had to be homeschooled by his mother because teachers said he was too stupid. In Roman thought, every individual, place, and abstract concept had a Genius (a divine nature present in every person and place). Perhaps your own milonga has its own Genius that materializes when the lights go down?
Boethius: This polymath philosopher, musician, and statesman was my Muse for this post. Awaiting his execution as a prisoner, Boethius was visited by Lady Philosophy incarnate. (Sophia was the Greek goddess of wisdom). He wrote a highly influential book, The Consolation of Philosophy, which great authors not only read but also translated into their own languages. It was not Sophia who visited me, but La Música—our servant-guide awaiting our cabeceo (nod) at every milonga. And yes, when you recognizer her, you dare not lead her!
Some radical ideas on the notion of leading and following:
The mystic prophet from Nazareth said to his disciples: “The greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who leads as the one who serves.” The word in Greek for "the one who leads" means to "guide." The word Luke uses is ὁ ἡγούμενος (ho hēgoumenos) from the verb hēgeomai, which literally means "to lead the way," "to guide," or "to go before." But Jesus is adding a radical redefinition of the word to mean to guide with humility and kindness. What I mean by "radical" equally applies to tanguer@s and modern Christians.
An hēgoumenos or "leader" in the visionary's sense isn't a military dictator barking orders; he or she is a guide who opens up a path. This child-like guide is someone who walks ahead to show where the footing is safe. Luke’s leader is a guide who serves as a διακονῶν (diakonōn), meaning "one who waits tables," or one who ensures the safety of those following. This is tango navigation at its best. But Music's guiding is mostly about inspiration and Music itself becomes somaticised. That is, you become Incarnate Music too. Musicians experience this all the time. Dansers do too. That's why I see you coming back over and over to dance.
The oldest Gospel is from Mark. He uses "slave" rather than "waiter or server" as Luke does. From the above quote, the Nazarene Prophet also suggested that one should be like the youngest. In an earlier quote, he said, "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Interestingly, the word "receive" in the Greek original is δέχομαι (dechomai)—as if the kingdom is being offered by a servant. This is how to listen and "follow" Music. [Luke 18:17]
How to allow creative ideas into your dance, as also suggested by others:
- Einstein (influenced by the philosopher Schopenhauer) said in a private letter in 1952: "People like you and me never grow old. We never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born." I learned this from being a father: Children do not dance to the music. The music forces them to move; it dances them.
- Picasso said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." He also famously said: "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child."
- Warning on the loss of creativity: If a dancer calls the magical experience of improvisational dance a "dopamine high" or assigns the magic to a certain person, these experiences will become more and more rare, and will diminish over time. Tango's conduit to Music Incarnate will wither away.
**For those interested in mythology and gender...
In this post, I often use the feminine pronoun for La Música, as it is in the languages I have studied: French, Spanish, Greek, and German. Music in English is neuter. Music, if incarnate in a living, breathing person, I imagine, would appear to be a woman, a man, or even an undefinable personage. We all see Music as the object of our adoration. Depending on the person and his or her culture, Music is male, female, or neuter.
I am presently reading The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. He frequently discusses the "Paradox of the Dual Mother" and the "Androgynous Creator." In deep mythology, the highest divine reality must transcend human polarities (like male and female). If a divinity is everything, they must be both—or neither. In Buddhist mythology this would be the Bodhisattva. In Hindew mythology Ardhanarishvara. In Taoism, the same appears as Xi Wangmu and the Primordial Chaos, Hundun. Primordial Chaos/The Primal Egg contained both Yin and Yang blended together before separation.
