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Thursday, December 5, 2019

Old Milongueros don't sleep much

"Once upon a time, old milongueros danced all night and worked all day!"  A tango myth?  Yes, one I used to believe!

The Early Milonga
I have it from different sources of those who have lived in Buenos Aires, that the old milongueros did their serious dancing at early milongas.  Sure they would show up at later milongas, but that was to drink and court women at the late milongas to score or simply socialize. The tango-myth of eschewing good sleep is pure fairy-tale machismo

How to die early
I have worked with soldiers for all my professional life as a therapist.  Soldiers express a similar idiotic machismo--that "sleep is for wimps" and then these same soldiers die young from believing this rampantly popular stupidity. (Ask the Veteran's Administration.)  Tango dancers too often choose sleep deprivation--I did for years! But soldiers and others dealing with PTSD would like to sleep, but cannot. If you have a choice, choose health; choose sleep!

But maybe I am wrong
Let's agree hypothetically that the stories are true of the milongueros defying the need for sleep. Some yogis, through meditation, have reduced their need to sleep through meditation.  So let's agree that some dance or meditate all night and work all day the next. I think meditation and tango have a health-giving element that helps us get good sleep.  But little sleep? Even if tango or meditation helps, what does your body tell you?  Can you feel well on less than four hours of sleep? Do you personally know anyone who can? 

Is it possible that tango compensates for not sleeping?
I wish it were true. But no. Although tango has a huge salutary effect on anyone who loves to dance, it will not compensate for disregarding the body's need for sleep.  In fact sleep deprivation leads to poor dancing, poor balance, and poor memory.  Even if these milonguero tales were true, we don't hear the many voices of all of those who died early from the long-term effects of sleep deprivation.

So what is essential for tango?  Good music, talented dancers, a good dance floor.  And good sleep.



Photo credit:

Ovidio José Bianquet also see http://www.tangovalsmilonga.com/the-old-milongueros/



2 comments:

  1. Six hours works for me normally. When hosting at Tango festivals or Stardust Dance Weekends, I can dance 16 hours per day continuously with only small timeouts for some food, shower, and change of clothing with the normal six hours of sleep. None of that is work. It's just the joy of dancing. Every one of us have different clocks.

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    Replies
    1. So we know a few things. First you are know as "El Magnifico," and perhaps being magnificent gives you certain superpowers, like being able to dance all night. I once danced on 6 hours a night and all many hours in the day when possible too, but as a therapist and because of my training, I no longer do this to myself. The real superpower is wisdom and knowledge. Another thing we know about you from your candid response is that you get less sleep than sleep specialists and researchers recommend. My mother lived on 6 hours of sleep too and was a hard worker. 6 hours is pretty typical for many older people but not recommended, as I have suggested in several posts about tango and sleep.

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