No Analogy Describes Tango Well

 

 
Warning: Don't tell your grandmother (or friends) what tango really is like

It might be best to avoid telling others how magical and mystical it is to you--how ineffable tango really is for you.  It may be best to simply lie or minimize how incredible your experiences are as a tango dancer.  Tell others, “Tango is like a conversation in dance.” That's a great minimization!  Or tell them, "Tango is like leading and following."  Your uncle, who was in the military, will understand that analogy, and his wife, who runs the HR department at work.  They understand leadership and followership.  DO NOT tell them any other analogies.  They will think you have lost your mind.  However, I wish tango teachers would stop with superficial analogies.  

In reality, most tango dancers know the ineffable, unspeakable beauty of dancing tango fits into not a single model (certainly not the conversation model or the lead/follow/military model).  Once you get closer to the truth about tango, other models and analogies to understand the experience will sound spiritual, esoteric, bordering on sounding like someone being on magic mushrooms.  These analogies might scare people away or damage your reputation! All analogies help us try to understand, but that is what they ALL are--just analogies. Let's consider some other possibilities that are at least closer than what you tell your grandmother.  As for me . . .

Tango is like . . .

• Like moments of Cosmic Oneness with another person (mystical).
• Like Being Possessed by Music, then moving in tandem with another (shamanism).
• Like Heaven on earth, but often with sore feet (otherworldly).
• Like Ecstasy without drugs (naturalist).
• Like Nirvana without a caste system (neo-Hinduism).
• Like a Healing Balm made through movement to music (dance and movement healer).
• Like having the most important role in an orchestra without being a musician (dancer-musician).
• Like harmonizing as a duet, then realizing the whole room harmonizes with you (clairvoyant singer).
• Like regression into childhood when we were all artists and dancers (Picasso's vision).
• Like what "incorporeal sex” might be like in Heaven (tantric connection that never dies).* 

Please help me with more analogies in the comments.  But certainly do use “tango is like leading and following in a conversation” while dancing, or just don't want to have people thinking you are weird.

I welcome your comments, and that you share this with tango friends only. ;-)

Footnote:
* Regarding the analogy of “like incorporeal sex” among the angels.   It may be the best analogy for tango of all models, but let others figure it out themselves.