At Marin Ballet we see dance as a valuable, life-enhancing, community-enriching tool capable of fostering deep connection and communication on many levels. For over 5 decades MB has been a beacon for dance in our community, and we have found that dance can have a profound impact not just on the development and expression of the body, but also on the awareness we have of how we physically move through the world, and the choices we make around that. When we include dance in our lives we have an added connection to our bodies, the space around us and the people with whom we interact.
So it feels completely natural for us to want to offer, to as many people as possible, the gift of dance. We feel strongly about the immense contribution we are making toward cultivating a community of deep listeners, who listen not only with their ears, but also with their bodies, senses, and hearts.
It’s perfect then, that for our birthday month of February, we are gifting our community with a Tango class!! There are so many reasons why Tango is a prime example of how dance can help us find a deeper place from which to listen, respond from and move forward. For starters, this dance cannot be done alone. It must be done with another person. Our lives are a series of endless partnerships, whether husband and wife, parent and child, teacher and student, and so on. Although the structure of the Tango dance is one of leader and follower, there is a sensitive, non-verbal level of communication for which both must listen, or the dance will not succeed… and it definitely won’t be as fun!
The leader has to sense that the follower is saying, ‘Okay’. The follower will only say ‘Okay’ when the confidence in the leadership is established. Even once this initial connection is made, the leader cannot simply dive in and start leading. In fact, once the leader feels entrusted by the follower, the leading has to take on an even keener sensitivity to listening… moment to moment, step by step. This way of communicating, connecting and advancing continues throughout the entire dance… until it doesn’t. J And if that happens, both leader and follower have to find their way back to that initial ‘Okay’. The entire dance is supported by a back drop of the beautiful, rich music of the Tango style. Like so many social dances, Tango is a dynamic, fun, subtle… and sometimes not so subtle… way of connecting and communicating in partnership. It’s a dance of real-time connection, conscious listening and mindful communication. Maybe that’s why it’s known as the dance of love J
If this sounds like fun to you, we’ll let you know about our next event coming up in Spring. Send us your information so we can keep you updated! Happy dancing!!