I love reading blogs. Especially ones about tango. There is one blog that drives me crazy though, ok maybe there are about 3 that kind of rub me the wrong way, or give me this feeling when the teacher used to drag their nails across the blackboard. But there is one particular blog that drives me crazy. The arrogance, the judgemental thoughts, the self congratulatory remarks.. Enough already!!! I hate the content of the blog and yet I cannot stop reading it. What the hell is wrong with me. It is almost like I like torturing myself reading this blog!
People write blogs for many different reasons. I write it as an expressive outlet of my thoughts, my pain, happiness, most of it which, most of the time, relates to tango. I enjoy reading other blogs that make me laugh, think, put me in a melancholic mood, express feelings which I cannot put into words so eloquently.
But here are a few things I hate in blogs:
1. Overanalyzing. I hate this! I absolutely hate it. Because tango is organic to me. It is natural. So was my learning process. I learn many things this way, including languages. I hate overanalysis. It kills the spirit of it. And there are certain people that overanalyze everything, not just tango. They overanalyze their relationships, their work. Its almost like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Or something like that. How can you be relaxed, how can I trust you as a leader, or a follower that I have your full attention, when I know that you are tearing the experience we are sharing into pieces in your mind? Let me stay as a whole. Let this tanda be a whole experience, non-repeatable but memorable, with its goods and bads. In a relationship its the same. I need you to understand me not shred me into pieces. If you do that you might tnever be able to put me back together. And I cannot function in million pieces.
2. Self-congragulating: Ok, I have no illusions about the fact that there are a lot of type A's out there in tango, and in life. I am one of them. But what I hate is that a lot of people pretend like they are tango Gods or Goddesses. Just because you are obsessed with it does not mean you are a pro. Just because you overanalyze does not mean you actually get it. Somethings you might and somethings you might not get. And that is ok. I don't want a perfect leader. I do not want to be a perfect follower. I want expressiveness without putting on a show, I want sweetness without stickiness, I want lightness but with presence. I want attention without harrassment. Our mistakes? ppfhhh! I do not care. I simply do not! The best dancers, bloggers, in my opinion are those that have humility. beginner or advanced. Those are my favorite. The beginners with humility (in dance and in blogging) are aware of their inexperience, and they show they want to learn. That is sweet and makes me want to dance with them. Advanced dancers with humility show me that they do not need to hide behind their ego to prove themsemlves. Their dance speaks for it self.
There are a lot of other things. I can talk about. But I will not.
Instead I want to write things that I like in blogging and in tango:
1. Show of character: There is such a thin line between character and ego. I love a strong character. I like opinionated people. I am, personally not a timid person my self. But I like a character that is self secure. A character that can regocnize its shortcomings, that pushes its potential without denying their limits. I like a character that are secure even with what they cannot do. I love bloggers like this. Because it make them human and I have a lot of admiration and respect for them. And dancers? dancers alike...
2. Sense of humor and irony. I love dancers and bloggers who can laugh at themselves and at me. But without being judgemental. A simple giggle at a mistake that our dance produces puts me at easee that they are happy to go on, and makes me a better dancer in their arms. A simple funny post makes me giggle infront of my computer, and makes me want to come back to that blog more times than I would like to admit.
3. Sence of melancholy: This is what I also love. it gives me the impression that the person who is dancing/ writing is a soul that travels in time. Someone that belongs to now, but also to a past that was beautiful, tearful. The time of Carlos Gardel...I sense this and it inspires me so much to read more, and to dance better.
So my fellow bloggers and tangueros, this is my 2 cents. I read your blogs, I watch you dance, and sometimes without you knowing I might even have danced with you, or maybe I will in the future. These are my observations. This is why tango is such an intense experience, with its good and its bad.
