The Birth of Tango
“Krishna defeated the great serpent Kaliya by dancing on its head. Just dancing. And the murderous, poisonous, life-obscuring demon submitted to beauty, goodness, and truth.” –Aiden O’Shea
The history of tango is the history of everything. The tigers of the mind prowl in jungles of tango rhythm, and the angels and devils of the soul do unspeakable things in the peaks and valleys of tango melodies. The superstrings of the universe vibrate to an infinite tango, and the words of the gods are phrased in counts of eight. Nothing we know would look the same without tango, because creation happened forward and backward from tango’s inception. For instance, when there was no tango, color began with orange. Red was invented for the tango dancer’s dress, for the blood of the men who dance with her, for her lips as she says, “Good night.” Before then, wine looked like grape juice, Mars was the god of tantrums, and Nietzsche discovered the Will to Cower. Before tango, the Apple of Knowledge tempted no appetites, and when it fell in Newton’s garden, it fell too lightly to inspire. Without gravity, the universe began to vanish, until, suddenly, a tired immigrant bought a glass of whiskey in a brothel in Buenos Aires. The energy of every atom in the Cosmos entered his innocent veins. He was not drunk. He was insane. He grabbed a fellow ranch worker and started to dance to the music of a little trio of musicians playing in the corner of the room. His friend was somewhat frightened. The dance looked a bit like a fight, a bit like an ornamental display of power and grace meant to impress his favorite working girl. Then everything changed. Adam took a bite of the Fruit, and Buddha went and sat under the Tree. An apple became a celestial body, and stardust became the seeds of humankind. The curves of an integral calculus traced the sway of a dancing girl’s hips, and men of passion found themselves leaping on the moon.
Nickolas Knightly is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique offering private and group lessons, workshops, and lectures on the Technique. He specializes in working with artists, dancers, spiritual practitioners, NGO's, and sustainable businesses. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Click HERE to go to the main website for more information.