Dancing "cheek to cheek"

(Excerpt of an email sent to a tanguera who mentioned in a class that dancing "cheek to cheek" hurts her neck)

The cheek "problem" must have really been on your mind, and I hope it wasn't only me... I do find that most women settle in quite comfortably in some form a head contact, and I haven't been conscious of initiating it... until recently, when you made me more aware of the possibility that it might not be welcome. I did have one "complaint" once from a follower who was much shorter and felt that my head was weighing on top of hers, and I have been very careful with her since then. I will be equally careful with you whenever we happen to dance together again.

Overall I have been feeling pretty good about my dancing, and close embrace has become easy and comfortable, with my steps "tighter" and more secure. I have been getting good feedback from women I hadn't danced with for a while. But then again, there is always that "mystery" connection that may or may not happen, regardless of whether one happens to like the partner or not. There are a couple of followers I've stopped asking to dance simply because it never seemed "easy", but I find it very hard to give up on people I really like... Hope springs eternal that some day it will "click".

A tighter dance

My steps are getting "tighter" and more confident. I can handle a crowded floor with many quick turns in both directions and quick steps in and out of the cross system. Sometimes I follow some advanced leaders in the line of dance and I find that I can reproduce their steps exactly. I do that that for brief periods, just to check myself, Then of course I go back to trying to interpret the music as I hear it. A friend I had not danced with for a while commented on my improvement, and it felt good.

When the line is crossed

I was dancing in a very comfortable close embrace. The music ended. The embrace didn't. This was a surprise and a realization that the "connection" had now reached beyond the dance. Had tango been responsible or had it just been the medium? How often does this happen?