Or Perhaps It's "El Abrazo"?

As I journey through this challenging process, made further challenging because of its Tango-lessness, I am given to much thinking, and Tango yearning. I read many posts and emails and group mailings discussing, dissecting, and occasionally diatribing... about the many meanings of Tango. I think this is perfectly natural, since we all do it about anything which holds our passion.

But since I am in this unique (albeit unintentional) sabbatical from my passion, I've had a lot of time to think about what it is I miss most - other than the obvious social aspect of it.

I know that for most non-Spanish-speaking Tangueros, "abrazo" means the embrace. This is true. But perhaps they do not realize that it also means a hug, and this latter is by far the more commonly used definition in general conversation. "Dame un abrazo" means "give me a hug", not "give me an embrace".

Perhaps I should explain the distinction between the two forms of holding each other: a hug is whenever and wherever two (or more) people hold each other in greeting, support, love, camaraderie, or for any other socio-emotional need. Embrace bring to my mind a more formal arrangement, and when applied to the dance milieu, the way for partners to stay connected. It is more about form for me than about content. You might be embraced, but not necessarily hugged.

So, to continue with my revelation. As many folks also might know, it is a medically bandied about fact that humans require 4 hugs a day to maintain physical, mental, and emotional health. A regular, non-Tango hug generally lasts a few seconds, or if you're really lucky, maybe 30 seconds. By that measure, there are thus, arguably, few humans on the face of the earth who are as hugged as Tangueros. So anyone dancing even one song, much less one entire tanda, is receiving more glorious, healthy hugging per capita than most other humans receive in an average week. The great mystery then is why everyone who dances tango isn't blissfully happy...

Because, let's face it - the Tango embrace is simply the Rolls Royce of hugs. It is profound, complete, intimate, intense and, best of all, lasts three glorious minutes at a time.

So, is it any wonder then that we all (ok, most of us) leave the milonga blissed out and glowing? Or grumpy and whiney if we don't get our fair share? I can only imagine how much faster I would heal if only I could enjoy that abrazo during this process!