Zurich first night last tanda

13.August 2014

Guy asks DJ “What’s the next music going to be?“
“A mix with some interesting stuff.”
“Who do I dance with? ”
“Her.”
[Me. What was charming about this, is that the DJ had assessed me from a distance.]

After my experience in Berlin I approached my first Milonga in notoriously unfriendly Zurich with clarity and empowerment, shoes concealed, a glass of wine, and a ringside seat. I knew that I was looking for one man and one woman.

I got my man in the first tanda. One round of eye contact in the first tanda. Then during the cortina I just turned around and looked straight at him. It must be flattering. That was easy.

The woman was the only girl in sneakers (DNI), and she was cute. And willing to try everything.

On the bus going home some guys were setting up lines of coke on their iPhones.

This photo is of my girl J and a guy who we both enjoyed dancing with, taken the next night.

Silences in history. Silences by code. Silences of fear. You already know that Tango’s silences can be sublime and they can be devastating.

What I do in my blog is use myself as a lens – sometimes a microscope, sometimes a telescope. I try to be as honest with myself and you as words concede. Then I try to find a deeper meaning and imagine a pathway for us.

A blog post can be a fragment, a wisp of inspiration, an outline for thinking. A book must complete and reconcile it all. Now I drag the social scientist to the scene to enumerate the facts of the case, the mystery which brought both stardom and tragedy to my life.