According to a news release from Reuters this past August, physicians around the world are turning to Argentine tango to treat patients with conditions ranging from Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s disease. Phobias and marital problems are also being treated. Reuters interviewed the chairman of the International Association of Tango Therapy (IATT) who explained that many elements of the dance can be used to help people. An example is focusing on learning the eight basic steps to help Alzheimer’s patients improve their memories. He also said that focusing on the tango walk—which requires grace, can help patients with Parkinson’s. This is supported by a study done at the University of Washington School of Medicine where researchers found that patients with Parkinson’s improved their balance when they took tango lessons. And when it comes to marriage therapy, Italian therapists found that focusing on the trust needed in tango’s close embrace and backward movement was useful for couples. No kidding.
My favorite part of the report was about a weekly tango class at the Borda Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the birthplace of tango. This class helps people relax and enjoy themselves in the hospital environment. And the teacher of the class, a psychologist, adds that many participants have responded by improving their appearance and personal hygiene. The dance has also removed barriers between patients and staff. (Henao, Reuters 8/31)
Though I do not have any of the illnesses listed above, I can attest to the fact that Argentine tango has improved my balance and also my ability to walk backward while completely trusting my leader. I’m certain that the close embrace also causes my oxytocin levels to soar, thus helping me bond with our tango community. It also helps keep my circulation strong.
But you know what I really think? I think that all the people involved in this research are really hooked on Argentine tango and wanted to figure out a way to dance more at work! Since I started dancing, I have noticed that my work seems to interfere with my dance schedule!
Last night I flew back to Maine from Cancun where I had a very pleasant stay at the Fairmont Mayakoba on the Mayan Riveria with my daughter Kate. I had never been to this part of Mexico before. The beach was just about perfect. Loved the way the sand sloped ever so gently into the sea. And the guacamole was spectacular, as was the staff. In this global recession, the place was not operating at very high capacity. We were there as part of the Growth 25 group with USANA Health Sciences, so the trip was part pleasure, part business.
There were a couple activities that were a total trip. One was the zip line through the treetops. What can I say? I’ve always loved Tarzan, and also the movie Medicine Man with Sean Connery. So zip lining through treetops is right up there on my list of fun activities. I even went down one zip line hanging upside down! I couldn’t resist.
On our last night, we went to a private hacienda that belongs to a family from Mexico City. They come on weekends and rent it out for special functions. (Our group was the special function.) Our bus arrived at a place that looked like a slum. But then the gate opened, and we were in another world. Oh MY!!! Beautiful fields and grounds, gallant gentlemen and ladies on gorgeous horses, peacocks, monkeys, and colorful macaws. And there were waiters carrying trays of beautiful hors d’oeuvres like mini-tacos, chicken mole, and tiny tomatoes and mozzarella on toothpicks with balsamic vinegar (tiny caprese salads!). A Mexican ballet company performed traditional folk dances for us from the major states in Mexico, for example, Veracruz. And the equestrians did rope tricks and classical dressage.
Then we all had our turn to dance. With the band playing the best “get down” music from the late 70’s and early 80’s. I ask you, was there ever a better decade for dance music? I think not. Even my daughters agree. I really let it fly on Freak Out! I was dancing as though no one was watching, a skill which I have mastered on many nights alone in my bathroom, entertaining myself in the mirror. All that practice finally paid off! There I was, at a private and spectacular hacienda, dancing my heart out in the moonlight with people from the U.S., Canada, China, Korea, and Mexico! One adorable young Mexican woman taught us the line dance for Achy Breaky Heart. It was a new one for me—the only line dance I know is the Electric Slide.
So now I’m home in Maine catching my breath for a moment before heading to Boston to do an all-day workshop with my friend and colleague Cheryl Richardson. And the dancing at the hacienda seems like a dream. As in “How did THAT happen?” The pace of life is speeding up faster and faster. And the only way to keep up is to stay light on my feet…and dance!!!
Earlier this year, I was invited to a potluck dinner and tango dancing at the home of one of the tango dancers in our community. When I got to this lovely home, I immediately wanted to know where the dancing was going to take place. Our dance floor for the evening turned out to be right off the kitchen, in what was obviously meant to be a formal dining room. The room had shiny hardwood floors and was completely bare of furniture. Imagine that! A room in one’s own home could be transformed into a dance floor. Something I’d never even considered. Afterwards, I began to look at my home differently, wondering whether I could transform one of the rooms in my house into a functional dance space.
About this same time, I went for a private Argentine tango lesson with Javier Rochwerger from Buenos Aires. Many of us (from our tango community) take private lessons with Javier whenever he’s in town. It’s far easier than going to Buenos Aires, though that’s certainly on my list. Alive with my newfound inspiration to create a dance floor in my own home, I told Javier about it. He replied, “Now, you’ve become a real tango dancer. I don’t know of a single person who is serious about tango who has an actual living room with furniture in it. Everyone has a dance floor, no matter how large or small.” Wow, again. Unbeknownst to me, converting one’s living room into a dance floor isn’t a new concept. It happens in Denver, Japan, Buenos Aires, and even Portland, Maine. And it appears that it’s a spontaneous manifestation that arises for those of us for whom tango has taken a particularly strong hold.
And so the transformation of my living room started. I first cleared out all the furniture and moved it to other locations throughout the house, finding a new spot for my piano and some other furnishings. Then I asked a friend with a truck to help me bring two upholstered chairs, a couch, a rug, and many throw pillows to a young married couple who were thrilled with this gift. I plan to mirror a couple of walls later this summer (after I finish a bathroom renovation).
To properly “christen” my tango floor, I invited our tango community to a potluck supper the day after the full lunar eclipse in June. I had asked our local tango band Tango Mucha Labia to play. The weather was lovely, candles were lit throughout the living room, and the floor was ready. Before the band played, I asked all the dancers to create a circle around the room. Then I told them how their presence and the presence of the live musicians were key to the christening of my dance floor, a floor that, from a feng shui standpoint, is in the absolute center of my home. In a room that has been used only about once a year for the past 30 years, I proclaimed that the act of reclaiming my living room as a dance floor was also about reclaiming the center of my life.
Then band began to play and Mike, the guitarist (who also has a PhD in math), said, “Hostess dance!” And there I was, in the center of my own home, on my own dance floor, on a moonlit night, with one leader after another taking me into his arms and whirling and twirling me around and around in the blissful joy that is tango.
A mere year before I had been terrified to go to the tango practices alone with neither a partner nor dance skills—in an arena where none of my previous accomplishments were enough currency to even get a leader to dance with me! Medical school was easier. At least it was a group activity. But because I had been willing to embrace it with a “beginner’s mind,” I was now awash in the sheer joy of the give and take of the dance, fully present and heart to heart with another dancer—for three intoxicating minutes. My daughters tried it, too, and thought it was like a trip to Never Never Land. No kidding.
But it doesn’t end there. My daughter and I also did a yoga class in the same room four days later. And so, little by little, I am moving out of old living patterns about what one “should” have in a room and, instead, asking myself exactly what I want to be doing with the space I have. A revelation.
