I have danced for the most part of my life. Despite the fact that the styles and the intensity of my dancing have varied throughout the years, a handful of facts about dance in general manifested in all these years and became my solid and unbreakable belief.
One of them is the fact that dance displays the truths about life in movement. And thus, you can easily approach questions that keep you busy from the dancing end.
And while you might not come to a clue when approaching them philosophically or emotionally, you might come to an easy conclusion when using the simple observations you get from dance and how dancing and your body works.
The colgada is my perfect metaphor for love and relationship.
The colgada requires two people who totally give in to the other person. Not only do you need to trust a 100 % that your partner will not let you fall and will totally focus on balancing your common dynamic. Also you need to be responsible more than in any other dancing situation for holding on to your partner, to support them, so they will not fall and hurt themselves.
Giving in and holding on. And contributing all your attention to this situation.
If only one dancepartner tries to set up a colgada without a totally according answer (in intensity and quality) it will
-make the couple unstable
-make the colgada not work
-make the couple fall apart
If they let go of attention they loose the connection and the dancing conversation is interrupted
The more both partners lean into the colgada in an equilibrum, the more beautiful it becomes.
Each of them needs to stay in their own strength and energy. Upright and alert. There is no letting go of your own strength unless you want the colgada to collapse. The deeper the colgada is, the more defined each of the two dancers can be seen from the outside. The deeper it is, the more they shine in their proficiency and their way to dance.
The more they lean into the colgada, the higher the risk that they hurt themselves seriously when the colgada falls apart for whatever reason.
They may break their feet.
And three-or-more-people-colgadas do not work.
Giving in and holding on. And contributing all your attention to this situation.
If only one partner tries to set up a relationship without a totally according emotional answer (in intensity and quality) it will
-make the couple unstable
-make the relationship not work
-make the couple fall apart
If they let go of attention they loose the connection and the loving conversation is interrupted.
The more both partners give in to their love in an equilibrum, the more beautiful it becomes.
Each of the partners needs to stay the unique person they were before and keep their strength and energy in life. They need to take care of their inner uprightness in order to make the relationship strong. And the more the lovers give in to their love, the deeper the eomtions, the more they shine to the outside world.
The more they give in to their love, the higher the risk that they hurt seriously when the relationship falls apart for whatever reason.
They may break their hearts.
And three-or-more-lovers at a time do not work either…
And as relationships are in life, colgadas are in tango: a perfect miracle most people want to be able to live and dance even though it is said to be one of the most complex things. Truth is: if they are focused and the two involved dancers are into each other, it gets light and easy an spellbinding. And not a little bit disabling, closing in, cutting off. So do not be afraid of colgadas and do not be afraid of love…
Enjoy the colgadas life is friendly enough to offer to you and honor them as the special occasion that they are…….and make sure you do not let any of your partners fall . To end a colgada, put the other person back on their axis before. Always. Missing your embrace will be challenging enough.
To explore what colgadas look like and how to dance them check out this YouTube Video from Claus Springborg, one of the Neolonga X guest teachers