Modern Tango World N° 4 (Bucharest, Romania) | Page 30
Addiction
Kiran Bajaj Sawhney
Tango is very addictive. Although the consequences of this addiction are primarily
positive, many dancers have reported experiencing withdrawal symptoms when
they don’t dance. The symptoms include being sad and feeling uncomfortable.
Tango comes as a package. It is highly volatile and full of emotions that are not
fake. One feels and experiences love, anger, frustration, guilt, sadness, everything
and one keeps going back to it with vengeance. Relationships are made and broken
in tango. Break ups happen but tango continues. There are self-confessed tango
addicts, whose addiction is not limited to tango. Tango takes over their life, lifestyle, choices, sleep, everything.
What makes Tango very addictive? The amount of
investment you put in an art form is directly proportional to the level of addiction and to your enhanced
skills. This investment can be in terms of time spent
in taking lessons, attending workshops and festivals,
going to milongas, etc. You reap plethora of rewards
Tangueros tango shop keeping with milongas in mind. that range from learning to pleasure, freedom, feeling
The whole wardrobe undergoes a change. Shoes exhilarated and stress free always. The sea is so vast
and dresses get piled up. We have tango friends and that every time you go to a milonga, your happiness
nontango friends clearly demarcated and slowly level goes up just thinking of what you will explore
non-tango friends are pushed away somewhere far today. The steps are countless.
in horizon and tango friends rule. Normal regular
music ceases to please tangueros and only tango
Few people ever got bored of tango, even those who
music heard around them. Having bad nights are
learned it easily, because they know all the steps At
part of tango. Be prepared to accept this because
the age of 60, after having danced for decades, Pablo
we all have them. Sometimes the music sucks, or
Veron, said that he had still more to learn about tango.
none of your favourite partners came. Sometimes
everyone comes with a partner, or perhaps it’s just
the full moon. There is always tomorrow night. Re- Thw tango experience is often referred as bliss. It is
member this and it will be easier to pick yourself up no coincidence that tango connection makes a person reach sublime pinnacle. Amongst all other dance
again and put on your tango shoes.
forms, tango seems to unique in its experience. It is
Whenever you invest in anything, you become often called addictive and alluring.
more addicted to that. Today, people are very addicted to facebook because they have invested a What is it about tango that two individuals with differlot of their time, shared pictures, moments and ent mindsets, two strong personalities, come together
their life on it. Freebies might sound very catchy and merge as one? They seem to have same mindsets,
but at the end of the day, they cause more harm they communicate silently, they share the axis, their
than benefit. To reap greater benefits from any- heartbeats become one, intention of one partner is
clearly understood and responded by the other.
thing, you need to invest in it.
One travels for tango, to attend festivals or workshops with their favourite maestros or let me put
it more clearly, in search of that one magical and
blissful tanda, that one magical embrace that transports you to heaven.
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