Sharing sorrow and happiness

What is Tango to you?

Some of the posts I did earlier, complaining mostly about some really good dancers and their attitude at social events, touched a lot of my friends, especially those from the Greek community. I had the chance to discuss and realize that we share the same feelings with many of them. (After my latest post about the coexistence of styles in the early 40’s I started thinking that I acted like the guys who were teasing each other for the way they were dancing)

In one such private conversation with a very good friend of mine, we touched upon many different issues around what can Tango be for different people and how it helps us discover and deal with our emotions. I think one post is not enough to unpack all the things we said… so in this post, I will focus on the sharing of emotions.

The missing link

For many people, Tango is not just a dance. It’s a way to express their emotions and feelings in a way that doesn’t require any words. I also think of Tango as an expression and I can understand this line of thought. It is an expression in a very primitive, visceral way that comes directly from the heart and aims directly at the heart. In this case… you are not dancing… you have a conversation where you express your emotions and the other person listens, understands (or not), and responds to get the dialog going.

Sharing emotions

There is a Greek saying that describes this process quite accurately… “A shared happiness is growing to double and a shared sorrow is lowering to half.”. So this conversation… this sharing of your feelings is actually softening your sorrow or doubling your happiness.

This, especially in times of sorrow and sadness in our lives, is so healing. I have heard from many people that they come to dance to take their minds off their everyday troubles (big or small). I dare to say… we bring their everyday troubles in the milonga… to heal them… to find a person to listen to them… and help us carry half of the burden.

Have you ever had that feeling? Having a shitty day… or going through a difficult time… having a big sorrow in your heart because of something sad that happened in your life and yet… do you still want to go dancing? It feels like a paradox… but think about it… all you are trying to do… is maybe soften your wound. Share your sorrow and load some of the burdens off.

Tonight’s Goodnight Tango

Tonight’s Goodnight Tango talks about emotions hidden inside us and comes from an orchestra of a man who wanted to heal people in many ways so apart from music he also studied medicine and actually graduated with very good marks.

How about you? What is tango to you? Do you share your emotions when dancing? Do you feel emotions shared by your partner? Does this help you? How? Let me know with a comment below, an email, or a PM on Facebook… oh… and if you liked it… don’t forget to share it with your friends.