Tango is much more than a lovely social activity that you can dance to a variety of beautiful music.
It is a great means to gain a better understanding of your body and how it works. It can help you develop better posture, balance, mobility, flexibility and general control of your body. It will sometimes show weaknesses in your body that need to be rectified or it may show up a postural problem with your dance which presents itself via pain or injury.
Perhaps even more importantly, it allows the expression of our emotional state that may not always be so freely shared. To be able to connect with another during a dance is a privilege with many health benefits. It shows how we connect and relate to others, particularly those of the opposite gender.
When totally immersed in the music with your partner, the dance can become quite meditative as we become totally present in that moment. This can be very similar to other forms of meditation that one can experience, for example, during a Yoga class, running longer distances, walking through a forest or simply sitting on a mat. The benefits of these meditative moments are many. To allow the mind to be free of the general thoughts of daily life for even just a moment are priceless, especially with so much stimuli generally around us.
Consideration and care for others is sometimes lost in today’s busy, always ‘on the go’ lives that we often experience. Within the dance, however, your time is fully given to your partner with total awareness and consideration to them. From where they are in space (their axis) and working with and around that axis, to the continual communication of invitation and acceptance. As we allow ourselves to be fully present in those moments, the deeper they become. We also learn to become aware and give consideration to those around us by allowing them space so that we all move harmoniously around the floor.
There is now increasing amounts of research that dancing (and often specifically Tango) has many other health benefits including helping with Parkinson’s disease and delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s.
All this from such a simple act of connecting with another dancing to beautiful music!
