The milonga

After attending my first milonga, I am more than convinced that we can learn a lot about culture from dance. I watched with great interest as the couples glided across the floor. One thing that struck me is that neither person was a "star". The couples were a couple- together moving as one across the floor. The movements were subtle in a way that we don't normally see in other dances. The man was in charge but the woman was there to put the emphasis on the dance. She was allowed to be beautiful, sensual and elegant. In the U.S., we pride ourselves on being individuals - being able to stand on our own two feet. This beautiful dance, where in many cases the couple is practically intertwined, highlights the beauty of being dependent on each other. In most other cultures, there is more of a dependency on each other than we experience in the U.S. I am starting to really understand that inter-dependency is not necessarily a bad thing! In Argentine tango, the hold is very loose- it allows us to go with the flow. In ballroom tango, the hold is very rigid, the head is held at a certain angle. In the U.S. we are used to things working a certain way all the time. One might say we can be rigid in certain ways. What a breath of fresh air it is to let down the stiffness and go with the flow!