Tango high @ Practica(s)

Despite a mild headache, Sunday I went to the practica, I figured what better treatment could one get then healthy dose of tango induced endorphins ...

I wasn't really expecting to have too much fun though, being loopy from the pain killers and all ... A little bit into the practica L showed up. I only danced with her once before but it was at the end of the night, I was tired and wobbly ;) and she was upset about losing some favorite shoes, so I don't think either of us was at our best. I know I wasn't ... But despite all that, it was pretty awesome, so I was looking forward to dancing with her again.

While I was looking forward to it, I was trying not to be too hopeful, as the connection you have with someone is somewhat elusive and I've been disappointed before. You know, you dance with someone and it's just perfect and next time it's just ... adequate.

Anyway, to make the story short(er), I asked her for a dance and off we went. wow. Wow. WOW. WOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! I have to explain why WOW...

Lately I've been able to dance with a lot of advanced dancers, teachers, etc. And it's been awesome. But (in my experience) it's quite rare to dance with someone who can completely immerse themselves into the connection. Or, able to make it look like they do. For the first time EVER I was able to successfully communicate to my partner everything I tried to, particularly dynamic changes in the movement. Having your partner match perfectly the acceleration or deceleration into steps, turns, boleos, etc, makes for an incredibly connected dance. I have no doubt that many people I danced with before, have the ability to follow like that, but I don't think I was able to lead it properly before.

We danced for quite a bit, maybe 10 songs or so (at the practica there are no tandas), she even tolerated my rather inept attempts to dance the few milongas they played during that time (for which I'm very grateful, as I really need the practice) so I suspect she enjoyed it as well, at least to some degree. While chatting between songs I found out she's been dancing for over 10 years, a lot of them in Berlin/Germany. We are so lucky to have her in Boston and I'm looking forward to dancing with her again.