I have been on a quest to replicate a dance that I did not know the name of or how to do it from 20 years ago. When I was a cocktail waitress in college, I worked at a lounge that catered to the older, business community in the town. They had live music (a man on keyboards and a man on bass guitar) and dancing every Thursday through Saturday. I would love it when I danced with one of the bar’s customers. His name was Robert. I loved dancing with him because he would hold me tight and move me all around the dance floor. He would navigate around the floor so that we had criss-crossed and touched every corner several times during the song. It was heaven for me – moving and walking to the music. I tried, unsuccessfully, to teach my then boyfriend, (who later became my husband, who later became my ex-husband), how to dance the way Robert did. My ex-husband could never do it and he gave up trying.
Fast-forward 20 years (well that’s how it feels anyway). I began swing dancing and really enjoyed it. I learned a lot from swing dancing on how to be a good follow and the importance of the connection between the dance partners. However, I still had not been able to replicate the dance that I did with Robert.
Then, about eight months ago, I went to my first tango lesson and milonga at a quaint, local wine bar. I learned to walk, pause, rock step, and ocho along with the others taking the class. I was enjoying myself but still no “Robert-dance”.
That is until I danced later that night with an experienced tango dancer. He wrapped his arm around my waist, held my other hand in his and pulled me close. He then moved me gracefully, rhythmically around the dance floor and for a brief moment I thought I was dancing with Robert again. I knew then that my search was over. I had found the dance and I wasn’t going to let it get away from me this time.
No comments:
Post a Comment