Dance is for me a very interesting subject. It is of course a nice leisure activity. It is a good way of meeting people and to keep fit. But there is also a deeper side of dancing.
In the last few days there has been a number of articles in a Swedish newspaper on the subject of tango dancing and relationships (sorry links are in Swedish...). They have been discussing tango as a way of finding your self, the risks and benefits of using tango in developing a relationship and also the use of dance in research and medical rehabilitation. As to the latter subject, a recent medical study indicated that of all forms of physical and leisure activity, dancing was the only physical activity associated with a lower risk of dementia. So that is yet one more reason to dance.
Tango has an air of being a difficult and intellectual dance and it is true that the threshold to start dancing may be higher than in many other dances. Some people dancing tango also wants to hold on to this mystique and try to replay what happened in Argentina in the 1920's during the milonga (social dance).
But tango can also be extremely emotional. For the newcomer to tango, it might be very impressive to watch a couple doing myriads of quick steps and kicks. It is so much harder to dance slow, in total awareness and respect of each other. This dance by Sigrid and Daniel is a beautiful example of this concept.
Dance is also a very strong metaphor for how we interact with each other and what leading might mean. There is a superficial view of social pair dances that the leader is controlling and the follower just following. And sure, that might happen on the dance floor but I hesitate to call it dance. These kind of "leaders" are more aware of themselves and demonstrate how many cool things they can do on the dance floor. To me, the essence of leading in dance comes from in every step clearly show an intention, wait for the response and adjust to that, all the time respecting the balance axis of the partner. So leading is much more about listening than "steering".
This text (again in Swedish) tells it from a kizomba followers perspective , how after fighting with her body she centered on the interaction and feeling finally two bodies became one, caressing the dance floor. The video by GDS and Isa is a good example of this bodily flow.
And this brings me back to the connection between dance and how we can deal with the ongoing climate change, finding both the strength and means to address this very difficult problem. Before a recent election in Sweden, a columnist lamented that we are governed by leaders that don't even know how to dance. And to me, there is a lot of truth in this expression. Because if we have "leaders" who are not being sensitive, not listening and not communicating with the "followers", we the people, than we do have a problem. Instead, we need true leaders who can give clear directions, while we as good followers are not passive but interpret this intention, transforming it into our own direction and motion. The problems that lay ahead of us are so great that we can only solve them if we are engaged, listening and communicating. And like on a good dance floor, we have to be able to move while respecting the people around us.
That will be all for this time. Stay tuned!
PS
And remember, dance your life away (watch this to the very end!!)
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