Viejo CorreoOne of the best known Milongas in Buenos Aires is Viejo Correo,which means Old Post Office. This section of the Tango Caminar website is devoted to postal tango in the electronic age. Readers are invited to email their tango thoughts to Tango Caminar's Viejo Correo. Those thoughts that pass certain unwritten, unofficial, secret criteria will be posted below. Writers should specify whether they want their names published. 
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VIEJO CORREO, April 8, 2009: A Tango Mystical Experience by ACM The Conduit "A stranger in my midst" It seems clear to me there are multiple channels of awareness through which we see the world. There is the 'me' at the forefront. The 'me' that feels happy, when receiving chocolate for instance, and then sad, when I drop them on the ground. But behind the 'me' there exists an observer, something that watches 'me', thinks about what happened to 'me', and how the 'me' then responded, and has altogether different thoughts. Last night, at the tango hall, I felt the existence of a stranger within me. Very clearly it was brought into my awareness. How this came to be is circuitous but went something like this: That night, much to my surprise, the 'me' received many compliments from other dancers on dancing. Later, the observer was given to reflect on the surprise, 'why did the 'me' feel surprised at the compliments?'. To be sure, I've long had eager ears for such things. A calm and happy 'thank you' should have been my response. Why was I surprised instead? The answer was known immediately, in that deju-vu-I-always-knew sense; it was not Me who was dancing. For various reasons, including a punishing work week, the 'me' abdicated control of the body as soon as I got on the dance floor and went and sat with the observer, and watched. What was left? Who was driving? My body became a conduit for the Tango. A conduit from the Source into the channels of Form and Motion first discovered by those recent Argentine geniuses of movement. What is this Source that gives life and energy? Well that is a question that has mystified, uh, mystics for several millennia. For me, it comes as an awareness. An awareness of the hundred and thousands of years of human history. An awareness of the history of the Earth. Of how the others, who came before, struggled and suffered, fought and loved, toiled and achieved, and otherwise drew upon this energy-that-moves-us-all to bring themselves and humanity to this point. This life energy that flows through me and flows through you! That is what moves me, even when I'm not me. Of course that is only my personal interpretation of reality. Perhaps the Source is something else. Perhaps it is different for everyone. It could be the sense of the Divine, or the feeling of Love, or the beauty of Musica. I don't know what it is, but I know it's really there...as strange as it seems. ACM VIEJO CORREO, March 28, 2009: A poem, by Vanessa Winn The Portal The tangueros' unlikely port of call a cold northwest Rock Bay yet harbouring the café, a pocket of imported culture, holding interior dance floors burnished by worn souls linked through the chest, infusing the poor Anglo's industrial heart with a spiced southern wind carried by a rhythmic deity Asking no leap of faith, just an inspired tango catwalk on the edge, bridging one crucible country to another, mined core transmuted to Argentine silver or Pacific gold veins flowing, the danced alchemy imbibes bitter sweetly melting the stiff upper lip through ribbed cages into supple backbone yielding, fluid motion formed By music drawn from migrating echoes, waves pulled through the heart's chambered gateway from a far-reaching café, the bandoneon's searching strains weaves the dancers' stray longing through dark unknown passages into trance forming fire This live haunting portal calls from another incarnate time and place, insinuating elixir joining the souls' flickering lights on the blurred edge of memory VIEJO CORREO, Apr. 2, 2008 From Machismo: It takes brilliance unbounded to see the blindingly obvious -- title for a blogged heart of dancing. To wit: It takes Tao te tango. The hora, the hora ... Is now. Copyright, Machismo, 2008. VIEJO CORREO, Nov. 8 From Machismo: "Truth hurts, hence the pleasure in delivering it. Only the Academy of Tango Perfection can produce a Leader without fault. As the Academy has done so, no further applications will be accepted. Signed, With perfect insincerity, Machismo" VIEJO CORREO, Nov. 8 From Vanessa Winn: "Thank you, Brent and Hedy, for your insightful perspectives on the lead/follow relationship. Your thought-provoking words encouraged some of my own, especially about the need to replace blame with empathy and action . . . . We have all heard leaders being told, sometimes in jest, that if a dance doesn't go well it's the leader's "fault". As a follower, this is a very comforting thought. Even the labels "lead" and "follow" seem to absolve tangueras of responsibility in tango. But of course, dynamics, especially the danced variety, are not so simple. Carrying all the responsibility does not encourage leaders to take risks by asking new dance partners, as any "mistakes" may reflect badly on their abilities. Think of how many dances are lost to reluctance to take a chance the last thing followers wish for. As tempting as it may be to lay blame, it benefits no one. Thankfully many men can overcome the apprehension of asking a new partner, in particular with new beginners who expect less. Beginning followers, despite their nervousness, often experience the thrill of their own novelty appeal when men are open to trying another potential dance partner. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to learn fast enough to compensate for fading novelty! Women then find themselves lost on the dreaded plateau of the learning curve, and revisiting high school wallflower nightmares. The bleak reality of the tango gender imbalance sets in. Newer dancers are also more likely to blame themselves. When the waiting time between dances painfully increases for followers, each dance may become laden with self-imposed pressure. (Eg. "If you bungle this, he may not ask you again. For months. Maybe ever.") Needless to say, tango doesn't thrive on this kind of internal tension, and growing anxiety (for those blaming themselves) or resentment (for those blaming others) can contribute to a vicious cycle of dwindling dances. A self-defeating attitude will probably be realized. Rather than giving up, this is the time to make changes whether going to practicas, taking classes, investing in private lessons, attending more milongas, or exploring a new style of tango. (New shoes are good morale boosters, too.) Trying something once doesn't count. Don't expect change to be easy or fast, but after the seemingly endless plateau, sudden leaps on the learning curve can be transforming. And forget waiting for the elusive ideal partner ("Mr. Big" _). Waiting is better spent in musical pauses on the dance floor. As Hedy suggests, it may be time to share men's experience of risking rejection by asking someone to dance and not just the experienced leaders. There may be beginning leaders who feel too intimidated to ask, and who are suffering just as much as you, though for different reasons. Sometimes we forget too quickly how we felt as beginners confronting our own fears. Every dance is a learning experience, even the uncomfortable ones. Dancing with new leaders gives us a chance to work on basic technique, including learning about what the lead is doing (or not doing). The navigational pauses are also a wonderful opportunity to practice embellishments. The leader may absorb your own musicality in these moments, and throughout your dance, even subconsciously. Making an effort to dance well, regardless of the leader's level, can inspire more creativity -- adding to the mutual enjoyment of both dancers, and eventually to the entire community as well." VIEJO CORREO, Nov. 5 Another Tanguera Comments on Hedy's Thoughts: "Thanks for your wonderful words on the joys and miseries of being a woman who either dances or doesn't - seemingly according to the whims of the leaders. I would like to implore all tango lovers in Victoria to be more friendly - and to open themselves more to newcomers. It shouldn't feel like gettting ready for the guillotine to take yourself to the milonga! Women - When smiled at by another newcomer woman, how about responding with a genuine smile? It changes the entire atmosphere. Just a thought. " VIEJO CORREO, Nov. 1 Hedy Responds to the Melancholy Blogger: "Brent spoke in one of his blogs about the psychological suffering a leader experiences in his evolution as a tango dancer. He compared his struggles to a serious battle with himself, a quest to allow himself to experience vulnerablility, the vulnerability he thought he had left behind long ago, the sweat, blood and tears of every leader. Let all followers be conscious of the courage it takes to open oneself to vulnerability in the moment of an embrace, and never forget that doing so is hard. Our leaders deserve patience and kindness and so do we, the followers. Followers also suffer much pain, the very least of which is a bruised toe or two. Those are easy to bear. What is difficult to accept is the sense of powerlessness women feel when they sit and wait for an invitation to dance. One's whole life seems to be one long waiting. Some of us weep silently envying the freedom men appear to have to shape their own destiny, some of us begin to hate, some of us simply give up. What to do? Thoughts of inadequacy arise in the mind to explain the neglect: not pretty enough, not young enough, not good enough, all things that may not be real but are believed to be true. One feels helpless at the mercy of men's whims. I remember a scene in the movie "The Goodbye Girl" when after an audition, the dancer (age 30) was told by the producer that he was looking for someone younger. Her answer was "I'll work on it." I wish we could work on it whatever the "it" may be, but since we can't, we'll need to work on our thinking. The sense of powerlessness is part of the collective pain of women, young or old, beautiful or plain. Sooner or later we suffer with it and we blame ourselves or the world. Yet, our feelings are our own. Whose else can they be? The men themselves have inherited their own collective pain and can only through a concerted effort of will and empathy relate to ours. Even the most sympathetic person cannot truly walk in another's shoes. Both of our psyches have been conditioned over a few millennia. How to escape that conditioning? The answer is to develop greater awareness and thereby greater understanding, greater empathy. Understanding and empathy by leaders would go a long way to heal the rift between us. Some men have a natural sense of courtesy and love in their heart and know what to do when they see a woman sitting alone and neglected, and I applaud them, but not all of them have the courage or willingness to overcome self-centeredness. Those leaders should understand that they are part of a community that nurtures them. They are not just visitors on an alien planet. It takes the continued effort and dedication of many people, the men and the women in the community, to create and sustain a nurturing environment for all. One needs to look after such a community. It is the source providing for us, and one has a duty to give something back. All leaders can give back to the community by taking care of those women who are alone and in need of acknowledgement. It is a terrible pain not to be seen. That is so self-evident that only someone living in a solipsistic universe would not understand what is required of him. To such men, many women would like to say, "Your reputation is at stake. We think about you, and it's not flattering." Still, in spite of the disadvantages of our position, there are some things women, especially those without partners, can do to help themselves. You can become more visible, spread yourself cheerfully around the room, and have the courage to risk rejection by inviting a man to dance. You will need to be proactive. This will take some getting used to, but action is always better than stewing passively in self-pity. If you cannot overcome thousands of years of conditioning in one evening (and you probably won't), at least you can make it a project to try, and that alone will make you feel no longer impotent and make an evening more interesting. Perhaps in retrospect it will turn out that the adventure of tango was not at all about having beautiful dance experiences or meeting Mr. Big, but about overcoming one's fears and learning that whatever happens both good and bad is all right and ultimately has no effect on who one really is. Wouldn't that be a laugh! Nothing is truly personal in life. All events and situations are essentially impersonal. What appears to be a personal rejection is in essence the play of the conditioned mind. Knowing that one has landed in a web of impersonal circumstances that have arisen over centuries makes them lose their sting, and whatever an evening happens to bring in ways of both suffering and joy is all right as it is. It is joy, as well as pain, that opens the heart in that marvelous embrace we call the tango. To experience that, that which is also life, is what tango was invented for. Let us be miserable and joyful together and be compassionate with one another. What else is there?" |
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