How You Dance Matters

The desire to realize our potentials, to expand our limits, to conquer the unknown, and to possess more, is part of what drive us. This very nature has led to our many achievements on one hand, and abuses on the other. Our society is full of such abuses - unlimited personal freedom, selfish individualism, heartless capitalism, militant feminism, ultra conservatism, neoliberalism, religious fundamentalism, terrorism, radical sciences and technologies, monopolist business practices, extravagant lifestyles, violent entertainments and sports, bank fraudulence, gun lobby, over spending, over taxation, overuse of natural resources, man-made climate changs, etc.

All these result not in a coherent and harmonious society but conflict, inequity, division, hatred, hostility and war. We keep oscillating from one extreme to another without realizing that all forms of extremism come from the same human nature within us - greed, selfishness, ignorance, intolerance and aggression. We are unable and unwilling to consider perspectives and interests beyond our own. We cannot see the whole picture in which we are only a tiny dot. We rely on our might and power to solve problems, and we do not understand the consequence of unbalanced approaches. Our relentless pursuit of self-interest can lead to the destruction of civilization if we let our avidity, selfishness and ignorance run unchecked. This is not alarmist talk. Given how radically and rapidly the world has changed since WW II, how long can Mother Nature support our greed and mankind remain peaceful with each other?

I am not the only one who worries. Whether you realize it or not, tango’s popularity today reflects the universal nostalgia for the lost humanity and the rebellion against the dehumanizing reality of our times. Tango is fascinating to many because in tango we found a different reality - connection, togetherness, interdependence, fraternity and common purpose. In tango we regained the joy in supporting, comforting and sharing with each other rather than competing and fighting with each other. In tango we found a refuge void of animosity and conflict, a shoulder we can rely on, and a way to reach agreement through communication, cooperation, accommodation, reconciliation and compromise. In tango we rediscovered the wisdom of Jesus who taught love, Gandhi who advocated nonviolence, Lao Tzu who pleaded naturalness and simplicity, and Confucius who argued for the Golden Mean. In tango we found love, intimacy, equality, harmony, peace, and a better world that we wish ours could also become.

This is why people are attracted to tango. This is why I am sad to see that tango, too, is corrupted by the attempt to make this dance of love a dance of show, a dance of exoticism, a dance of political correctness, and a dance for profit. By so doing they not only changed the essence of tango, but also betrayed its idealism, reducing it from a dance that teaches the world to love to that against its ordained purpose, from that sublimates humanity to that debases it, and from that symbolizes the world we wish ours to become to that reflects the world we want to change.

Many people now take the responsibility to keep the environment clean and natural resources wisely used because the Earth is our only home. Should we not also take the responsibility to keep the human environment clean and society harmonious for the same reason? People new to tango need to awaken to the fact that how you see tango affects how you learn and dance it. You may see it as mere entertainment, or you may see it as a dance that teaches the world to love. You may learn just how to do steps, or you may learn how to be one with each other. You may dance to show your ego, or you may dance to show your care. You may reinvent tango, or you may let tango change you and through you the world. How you dance matters, because by which you will leave an impact, either way. (See Tango Is the Search for a Dream.)