[Tango-L] Qualifications

[atango2@aol.com]

Where in the realm of "qualilfication" or "certification" (both imply arbirtrary standards regardless of who establishes them) are the concepts and skills of connection at the physical, mental and emotional levels?? These are felt but not necessarily seen and can?only be rated?by dancing with someone.

We?may dance with? technically "correct"? teachers/partners/classmates, and yet without incorporating the secrets of sharing the same wave length, all else is just moving around the floor.? Tango at its finest includes an exchange of energy and emotion that transcends anything that could ever be defined or categorized. We know it when we feel it.? No matter the steps, if we leave the floor weak in the knees and seek solitude to savor the moment, we have experienced tango.

Dancing with someone who is "proficient" is very different from moving as one with someone who? responds to ?the mood and?layers of rhythms of the ?music (irrespective whether they?can define?the technical terms). ?Some who are less experienced may have a more committed and memorable connection than some who are more experienced because they respond to their partner?in a way that creates the magic that we seek.?

 Masters have mastered silent communicatin and their choreography flows seemingly effortlessly.? However, they have likely spent years/decades exploring the techniqes of making the woman feel safe, secure and special.? Maestras have learned to trust their partner,?feel the music and respond with verve. ?Their committment is complete.

Tango is danced from the inside out.? Exquiste moments are created through connection with our partner and the music rather than from steps.? Feelings cannot be quantified.? Who among us has not experienced a simple dance that left us speechless with pleasure and a complex dance that left us unfulfilled??

Tango is in a class by itself and?captures?its enthusiastst? from sole to soul. Who's to set the standards for measuring connection and pleasure? Tango has sustained my devotion for seventeen years and it has not been because of anything that could be statistically measured.?Yet, I cannot imagine a life without it.

Polly in Portland
www.tangoquest.net