It was my first Tango lesson, and I had no clue what I was in store for. I had assumed it would be instruction involving different sets of steps that repeated as a series of movements. It's that type of thing that had kept me away from all structured dance, as I could only be free by dancing freestyle.

Instead, I found that Tango was nearly identical to the martial arts that I had learned in the past; in that you have different moves for any given situation, and you can apply them improvisationally.

The other major aspect of Tango I discovered is *connection*. In the same way that Aikido cannot be performed until you're attacked, Tango cannot happen until you and your partner are connected to each other's bodies. It is the bodies, and the connection between them, that is used to communicate to each other which move is happening next, not anything else.

Learning how to be spontaneous, analyzing connection with humans, and learning non verbal communication are valuable, I never expcted from an initial Tango lesson.

#tango #martialarts #aikido #connection #communication