15 December, 2010

Meditative Dance

Lets talk something about Tango. I have been writing so far, how it is an intense dance form- passionate and mature. Dance, by its very nature, is a subject, which is naked. For non dancers, it is difficult to comprehend it. A non dancer, would find it intimidating, maybe provocative to see a woman in a close embrace of a man, who is not her husband/boyfriend/lover. But you have to experience this dance form to see/feel that when you are dancing, no matter how close, you transcend the feelings of sexuality. You are completely focussed. Your mind stops thinking. There is no room left for even one second thought about just anything but dance itself. The dance is so technical, that one step wrong, and you have lost it. Sometimes, when I just raise up my eyes, to look at myself in the mirror, my instructor gets to know and we falter immediately. And that is why I find it very meditative. It is an on going non verbal communication between the two souls. When you dance tango, you must give everything and dance with abandon. If you can't do that, don't dance. My Guruji says, "Become Hollow and empty". I experience exactly this when I dance. We dance a solitude that we have inside us and cannot occupy with anything. This gap, that emptiness in which we put movement... is the tango. "Tango es un sentimiento que se baila" It means, It is a feeling that is danced. You have to begin by loving tango, to let it go into your veins, until it arrives to your heart.


A good embrace is about sharing; the lead is about clarity and commitment; the follow is about sensitivity and surrender. But surrender requires that the dancers be centered and independent of each other before they can truly give themselves to each other. Sensuality is the fusion that adds tension and excitement to the dance and music is the glue that holds the couple together.
It is a  state of being so completely immersed in the music, and so profoundly connected to your partner, that movement flows from within the partnership, uninhibited by conscious thought.


Seek it, and it will elude you.
Talk about it in too much detail.
and it will haunt you evily.
Live for it, and you will die many deaths

Treasure it, but don't hold onto it.
Dance with love and freedom.
and it will embrace you.
Be vulnerable, and feel it's power.



The best leaders have a commonality between all of them which is an apparent lack of ego or bravado. Instead of thinking about themselves, they just surrender to the music and to the pleasure of having a woman in their arms, no matter if she's experienced or not. They are the kind who would never let a woman feel incompetent or humiliated but instead as though it's been a sublime privilege to share this wonderful thing called tango with them. The worst leaders are the ones who don't pay attention to a woman's skill level and instead try to guide her into doing moves that are obviously beyond her knowledge of the choreography, thus shaming and humiliating her. They are the worst because they are only focusing on themselves instead of making it a wonderful experience for them both. In other words, they didn't surrender to the experience but to their own egos with complete disregard for the women's.

3 comments:

  1. Loved the post Kiran, beautifully described conveying how focus is important in doing any work.

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  2. Loved the post Kiran, beautifully described conveying how focus is important in doing any work.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You put it very right Kiran. I understand the concept NOW. Concentration is the key not anything else.

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