| “To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things. To be enlightened by all things is to remove the barriers between one’s self and others.” –Dogen |
Most of us are eager to improve our dancing. But we harbor an untenable assumption that will only
hamper our progress. This is a largely unconscious assumption, so it is not easy to face or fully
understand. The assumption is this: everything about me will stay the same, except that I will also be able
to dance the tango; I will be “me” plus “tango.” This notion is far from innocent in its implications. It is
actually an absurd idea that will interfere with our progress in countless ways.
To some, this kind of discussion may sound rather abstract. In fact, this is a practical issue to consider. It
affects our every motion and colors our whole approach to tango. Of course, some dancers dance deeply
from the start. They implicitly or explicitly understand that, if we allow it, tango alters the structure of the
brain, changes the way we think and move, changes how we feel, and begins to free us from the tyranny of
ego, including habits, tensions, reactions, and lack of focus. These might seem like high ideals, but to even
begin to dance well, we have to get over many habits, tensions, reactions, and dissipations of energy and
attention. We are these things. They don’t happen to us. Until we begin to be different, we cannot really
learn anything new, certainly not something demanding inspiration, intuition, and intelligence (not mere
“reasoning” as commonly conceived, but Total Intelligence of mind, body and spirit).
Dancing is not for the specially skilled. Rather, we are built for it. It is what we are, and what Life is.
The promise of the Tango Principle is perfectly grounded, concrete, and accessible to all. Through the
tango we should be able to find a little more freedom, a little more poise, a little more creativity, and a
little more joy in every moment of our lives. That begins with finding these things once or twice during a
two minute tango. The more we tap into these qualities, the more we develop as dancers and as human
beings. But to become a person who enjoys more grace and tranquility, we have to cease to be the person
we are now. Only by letting go of one branch can a bird gain the loftier perspective of another.
Ultimately, the bird learns to rest in the wind. Dogen has something to say about this, too: “To hit the mark
completely means you have no new nests in which to settle." We can make tango just another nest for our
ego. It turns out to be a favorite nest for some, like a vacation home. Little egos take flight to their tango
nests every week in niches all over the world. Sometimes the ego gets so comfortable that it quiets down,
and an increased awareness emerges. But then the nest is shaken by time, and Monday morning returns.
Nothing has become of the awareness. The ego dreams of its tango nest, and sets itself against everything
in the world.
One can become quite talented at dance from a technical standpoint, and one can even experience
improved attention while dancing, without any significant transcendence of the dualities we have
discussed. You may develop some agility at keeping these dualities in check during the dance, and you
may even begin to experience some sterling insights. But how will you translate these experiences into
your life? Do you really want to lose such a rich opportunity to develop your character and cultivate your
potential (physical, psychological, and spiritual)?
I want to suggest that confronting our tendency to live dualities such as those we have discussed,
confronting our habits and our reactions at every moment, is the best way to learn tango. Here is where we
let the coroner come out and do his job, dissecting our ego right before our eyes, taking out the organs of
duality and holding them before us to acknowledge and accept. The fact that many of the most glorious
dancers can touch the dimension of non-duality when they dance at their best goes to support this approach
to learning. Indeed, it suggests that this way of working is not merely one option among many, but it may
be the most effective approach we could adopt, especially if we want to allow our growth as dancers to
correspond with and contribute to our growth as human beings.
So, if we want to make the most efficient and meaningful progress as dancers, part of our job is to dance as
deeply as we can. This means dancing a Middle Way. A Middle Way is one that cuts through the
distinctions we make to sustain our ego. We constantly behave as if the observer and the observed are two
fundamentally different things. Dance offers a fun and provocative context for inquiring into this process,
because you get to see for yourself if there is any benefit to challenging the way our distinctions manifest in
the world. There will be measurable changes in the quality of your dancing, including how it feels to you,
how it feels to your partner, and how it looks to those observing. And there will be measurable changes in
the quality of your life. There is no need for you to be able to execute the perfect gancho and be a jerk to
your partner when she doesn’t follow it correctly. There is no need for people to say, “On the dance floor
he’s a god. Once he’s off the dance floor, he’s a scoundrel.” There is no requirement that your back ache
every night, that your knees and hips get replaced after decades of misuse, that your mood crash when you
return to “the real world” outside the dance hall. It is not necessary for you to make all of the same
mistakes over and over.
The Middle Way in dance is to just practice dance. Observe carefully, and practice compassion at every
moment. Don’t bother beating yourself up when you make mistakes, and don’t waste energy petting your
ego when you think you did something “right,” or “good.” Don’t blame your partner. Just pay attention.
Notice when you feel like blaming your partner, and watch the blame float away on the sounds of a tango
violin. Notice when you try to DO. Notice when you feel motivated, and when you don’t. Then practice
anyway. Notice when you feel frustrated, depressed, or angry. Then practice with even more compassion,
for yourself and for your fellow dancers. The Middle Way cuts through the extremes that drain our energy
and attention. It is a way to dance with more enjoyment and with more significance. And it is a way to
dance so that you are not just dancing tango, but dancing Life–beyond all barriers.
hamper our progress. This is a largely unconscious assumption, so it is not easy to face or fully
understand. The assumption is this: everything about me will stay the same, except that I will also be able
to dance the tango; I will be “me” plus “tango.” This notion is far from innocent in its implications. It is
actually an absurd idea that will interfere with our progress in countless ways.
To some, this kind of discussion may sound rather abstract. In fact, this is a practical issue to consider. It
affects our every motion and colors our whole approach to tango. Of course, some dancers dance deeply
from the start. They implicitly or explicitly understand that, if we allow it, tango alters the structure of the
brain, changes the way we think and move, changes how we feel, and begins to free us from the tyranny of
ego, including habits, tensions, reactions, and lack of focus. These might seem like high ideals, but to even
begin to dance well, we have to get over many habits, tensions, reactions, and dissipations of energy and
attention. We are these things. They don’t happen to us. Until we begin to be different, we cannot really
learn anything new, certainly not something demanding inspiration, intuition, and intelligence (not mere
“reasoning” as commonly conceived, but Total Intelligence of mind, body and spirit).
Dancing is not for the specially skilled. Rather, we are built for it. It is what we are, and what Life is.
The promise of the Tango Principle is perfectly grounded, concrete, and accessible to all. Through the
tango we should be able to find a little more freedom, a little more poise, a little more creativity, and a
little more joy in every moment of our lives. That begins with finding these things once or twice during a
two minute tango. The more we tap into these qualities, the more we develop as dancers and as human
beings. But to become a person who enjoys more grace and tranquility, we have to cease to be the person
we are now. Only by letting go of one branch can a bird gain the loftier perspective of another.
Ultimately, the bird learns to rest in the wind. Dogen has something to say about this, too: “To hit the mark
completely means you have no new nests in which to settle." We can make tango just another nest for our
ego. It turns out to be a favorite nest for some, like a vacation home. Little egos take flight to their tango
nests every week in niches all over the world. Sometimes the ego gets so comfortable that it quiets down,
and an increased awareness emerges. But then the nest is shaken by time, and Monday morning returns.
Nothing has become of the awareness. The ego dreams of its tango nest, and sets itself against everything
in the world.
One can become quite talented at dance from a technical standpoint, and one can even experience
improved attention while dancing, without any significant transcendence of the dualities we have
discussed. You may develop some agility at keeping these dualities in check during the dance, and you
may even begin to experience some sterling insights. But how will you translate these experiences into
your life? Do you really want to lose such a rich opportunity to develop your character and cultivate your
potential (physical, psychological, and spiritual)?
I want to suggest that confronting our tendency to live dualities such as those we have discussed,
confronting our habits and our reactions at every moment, is the best way to learn tango. Here is where we
let the coroner come out and do his job, dissecting our ego right before our eyes, taking out the organs of
duality and holding them before us to acknowledge and accept. The fact that many of the most glorious
dancers can touch the dimension of non-duality when they dance at their best goes to support this approach
to learning. Indeed, it suggests that this way of working is not merely one option among many, but it may
be the most effective approach we could adopt, especially if we want to allow our growth as dancers to
correspond with and contribute to our growth as human beings.
So, if we want to make the most efficient and meaningful progress as dancers, part of our job is to dance as
deeply as we can. This means dancing a Middle Way. A Middle Way is one that cuts through the
distinctions we make to sustain our ego. We constantly behave as if the observer and the observed are two
fundamentally different things. Dance offers a fun and provocative context for inquiring into this process,
because you get to see for yourself if there is any benefit to challenging the way our distinctions manifest in
the world. There will be measurable changes in the quality of your dancing, including how it feels to you,
how it feels to your partner, and how it looks to those observing. And there will be measurable changes in
the quality of your life. There is no need for you to be able to execute the perfect gancho and be a jerk to
your partner when she doesn’t follow it correctly. There is no need for people to say, “On the dance floor
he’s a god. Once he’s off the dance floor, he’s a scoundrel.” There is no requirement that your back ache
every night, that your knees and hips get replaced after decades of misuse, that your mood crash when you
return to “the real world” outside the dance hall. It is not necessary for you to make all of the same
mistakes over and over.
The Middle Way in dance is to just practice dance. Observe carefully, and practice compassion at every
moment. Don’t bother beating yourself up when you make mistakes, and don’t waste energy petting your
ego when you think you did something “right,” or “good.” Don’t blame your partner. Just pay attention.
Notice when you feel like blaming your partner, and watch the blame float away on the sounds of a tango
violin. Notice when you try to DO. Notice when you feel motivated, and when you don’t. Then practice
anyway. Notice when you feel frustrated, depressed, or angry. Then practice with even more compassion,
for yourself and for your fellow dancers. The Middle Way cuts through the extremes that drain our energy
and attention. It is a way to dance with more enjoyment and with more significance. And it is a way to
dance so that you are not just dancing tango, but dancing Life–beyond all barriers.
| Beginner's Mind Tango |
| Dancing Through Duality |
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| By Nickolas Knightly |
| Nickolas Knightly Alexander Technique, Argentine Tango, and Sutainability Resources Based in San Francisco, CA and serving the Bay Area and beyond. |