“For six minutes, you’re in love”

Dima Berk, with Tango Mercurio, was the instructor of the very first beginner tango lessons I ever took (June, 2013).

During one of the classes, a follower asked Dima a question, “I have personal space issues. What advice can you give me?”

He responded, “Tango is a close dance. There is no escaping it. So, for six minutes, you’re in love.” - brief pause – “And then you’re not.”

It was such a brilliant concept. And that is why tango is so powerful. For the time period of a tanda, surrounded by dramatic, beautiful music and the swirling dancers on the floor, you *are* in love.

Depending on the mood of the two dancers and how they connect, the type of love could be romantic or sexual or sensual or a physical expression of “namaste” (the sacred in me sees the sacred in you) or maybe it could be a mix of all of them or something entirely different.

Of course, sometimes, there is only a Platonic connection and there isn't anything approaching love – only the passing of time until this tanda is over. Just remember that even if the first song doesn't quite work, there is still time to remind yourself to try to be in love for just those few minutes, or in the worst case, you just have to wait until you are with the next partner.

One of tango's great delights and challenges is that you don’t really know until you are out on the floor.

So the next time you are on the floor, try this:

As your hand connects to your partner's, you wrap your arm around their chest or shoulder, you breathe together and as you both begin to move, remind yourself that for the next six minutes, you are in love.