Why Tango is Yoga

Excerpted from TANGO, AN ARGENTINE LOVE STORY, CHAPTER 8

“Lo que a muchos averguenza, a otros hacer gozar.”

“What shames many, gives joy to others.” -Caption to a tiled mural that features tango dancers, Retiro subway station, Buenos Aires, Argentina

. . . . First Alberto, then Juan Carlos. I could take myself to task big time for major lapses in judgment, but I pick myself up instead. And now I vow not to get back in the race. And I’m lucky, too, because instead of another lover, I find a wise new girlfriend in Carmen Iglesias. I like how her first name is a Spanish version of mine and that her surname means church. It turns out that her sister’s name is Graciela and my closest sister is Grace. We were both born in our grandmothers’ houses surrounded by their gardens, which we both grew up to love.

“My grandmother lived in a chorizo apartment,” Carmen tells me on the night we compare our stories.

“Mine lived in a railroad flat,” I said.
“My grandmother grew something called a Perfect rose, and I loved to look at them.”

“Mine grew herbs and vegetables, and I loved to eat them.”

Why Tango is Zen

Excerpt from Tango an Argentine Love Story (Seal Press).

"Stay close and do nothing or you might miss it." Tenshin Reb Anderson, Zen monk, speaking on enlightenment

Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2006

. . . Tango's spell for me was gradual, not sudden, but when it hit home, it moved into my life like a long lost relative. No other dance takes you over so completely. More than a dance, it becomes a way of life.

When I started taking tango classes, I was surprised and delighted to find one of my longtime Zen

Tango Therapy

Following are notes from:

Second International Congreso de Tangoterapia,

Mendoza, Argentina, Oct 28 thru November 1, 2009

• Tango is unique in its use of silence and pauses.

- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Dr. Comasco is a cardiologist who heads the research for the use of tango dancing in the prevention and rehabilitation of heart disease at Argentina’s Favaloro Foundation. He also happens to love tango as does his wife, a psychologist who helped demonstrate much of his lecture by breaking into dance with him.

Dr. Comasco wants to establish guidelines for what tango therapy is and isn’t and many of the participants shared ideas on that. Everyone agreed that tango, as music, song, dance, or poetry, is a preventive measure not a just treatment. Many discussed tango as “alternative therapy.” But it must be recognized that Dr. Ricardo and other health practitioners here are credentialed and work within the “establishment.”

Dr. Comasco suggested that tango therapy is something that restores, maintains, and increases health. He suggested we define health as . . .