A single embrace

The third edition of the yearly Auroville Holi Tango Festival began on Thursday March 13th at Cripa with a few minutes of concentration. A hundred and twenty dancers stood together in utter silence, holding within themselves the question, ‘What am I looking for? What is my tango?’

The spaces, as in the previous years, had been decorated by Smiti and Shrishti and their team. A few dancers had already sneaked by the three different venues to find out where we would dance and spend our days studying. Eagerness was tangible.

This year’s theme was harmony. If the last two years had served as first steps for the organisers to lay some foundation stones of Argentine Tango in India, this year, the dancers, having gained some experience and grown in maturity, entered the troublesome age of tango teenagers. Hence, the festival had two responsibilities: to open as many doors as possible to the dancers and urge them to find out where they want to go so as to truly discover their path in tango; and to ensure that, as tango diversifies, it does not push the dancers apart into their own little bubbles of so called ‘style’, or worse, ‘truth’. We had all gathered here for exactly the same reason: to dance Argentine Tango, in a single embrace, in harmony.

Of the 120 dancers present, 40 participants came from Auroville and the surrounding areas, along with 5 long-term guests and volunteers. Thirty dancers took the overnight bus from Hubert’s Tango School in Bangalore, 13 came from India’s youngest tango community in Pune, 11 dancers made their way down from New Delhi, 3 came from Mumbai, 2 from Chennai, and 4 from Puducherry. Added to that were 12 participants from Europe, from the UK, France, Netherlands and Germany? and 3 from the Americas.

To cater for all these dancers, seven teachers were invited. First and foremost were Caterina and Pino from Turin, Italy, who had been the soul of the Auroville Holi Tango Festival since it started in 2012. They had caught the heart of the Auroville dancers with their energy and particular approach to tango, simplifying this popular dance and art to make it accessible to all, in its very essence. Their demand is that each student develops a capacity of observation of the body as a whole, not of any of its parts, and from the inside out. “Bodies,” says Pino, “are made of energy. Listening to the music, they emit vibrations. These vibrations make us dance tango.”

Vaggelis and Marianna, a young Greek tango couple came from Athens, bringing with them a typical academic style of tango, of great elegance and joy. European Champions of Tango Salon in 2013, they were the sweetness of our festival. Focusing on all the details of the posture, the embrace and the walk, they brought quality and attention to all those basics that a dancer with a little more than a few months tango to his experience tends to forget and neglect. They put themselves at the disposal of all the students, with their smiles, encouragement and their insistence to dance with every single one of them.

A veteran of tango, Gladys from Argentina, brought her rich experience of a very typical and cultural Argentine tango. A strong woman, she led difficult classes and challenged all the ladies, both technically and emotionally, to find ways of expressing their femininity, allowing none to hide in the ill-named role of the ‘follower’. To complete the teaching were our two young tango teachers from India: Hubert from Bangalore is well-known to us. His elegance, care and humour, and his incredible work for tango both in Auroville and Bangalore, has made him stand-out from any one else. And there was Vivek, also one of the tango pioneers of India. This year he has started touring the world as a tango teacher. Every time he visits Auroville, he shares the new secrets he has uncovered; showing how much clarity a dancer can acquire exploring tango on his own. He is the constant reminder that one’s true teacher is oneself.

What differentiates tango from other dances is that the music you hear must not be expressed outwardly in movements, for then it loses its intensity. First, the music must move you from the inside, fill all the other dancers, fill the room. It is ‘inside’ that one dances, it is ‘inside’ that one finds one’s balance, it is ‘inside’ that one finds that comfort. The partner you dance with becomes your instrument to express yourself. He/she is not your neighbour, your friend or a stranger, someone you like or do not. He/she is tango.

In the discussions, one word jumped out again and again: fear! And every time Pino would ask: fear of what? Of letting yourself go? Fear of emotions? Can one be afraid of one’s own emotions? No! What you call fear are in fact emotions, but emotions are neither positive nor negative. They are energy, they are what your tango will use to express itself. This is tango, you have chosen to dance it. So either do it completely or drop it, but to do it, you must learn to give yourself, not to the person in front of you, but to tango. It will take care of you, it will take you by the hand and guide you, but you need to do your part, study, observe, and learn to give yourself more and more.”

We have often been told in Auroville, “The tango you dance is not the tango of Buenos Aires.” That is true. In Argentina, tango was born of the streets and ships; it was accessible to any who wished to dance it. It was a dance born in sadness, in separation. But it doesn’t need to be that way. Tango doesn’t need to be sad, or sensual. Tango, as an expression of oneself, must be full. Full of whatever one decides to fill it with. In Auroville, ever since Hubert first came and formulated it for us three years ago, we aspire to fill it with the very best each of us can be at the moment. Not negating the rest, but to look at what we tend to hide, accept it and embrace it and transform it into energy. And every year, we taste the joy of seeing how much can be done, with a little push, with the simple aspiration to grow and the willingness to give oneself.