FROM “ARGENTINE TANGO: OBSERVATIONS WHILE DANCING” (PART 6)
By Mong-Lan
6
both leader & follower must listen to the music,
for the music contains the keys to unlocking the
tango, the keys to dancing it. without tango music,
there is no dance.
color exists through its absence
black exists to offset white
sound exists only for the perceiver
the tango takes place inside
two hearts
amongst a multitude of hearts
without anyone perceiving
we do all we can to prevent disaster
assume the robes of laughter
divinely flowing
~
being love takes reckless dreaming time
what is the figure that prefigures the tango? The ocho
an invisible sign of eternity
the embrace
the giro
revolving planets
power in the event figure that prefigures
song & heartbeat
fierceness
such that would hurl voices
into the wind
where do they get their power the women without manicure?
your body moves as an extension of the other’s body. the
other’s body moves as a response to yours. you are the music,
heart close to the ground, feet touching earth. the music
desires, dreams of a new way to dance, of a new vocabulary.
one has such knowledge
such words made up of gestures
series of automatic muscular memories
that life
of movement
impulse lure deliberation step beyond NOW
no response except to what is known
a musical symptom of membranes
remembrance
il y a des choses inconnues
~when dancing as a follower, you should not use your mind,
but rather your body and heart. if you use your mind, your
dancing will be slowed down, your response time delayed.
your muscles remember everything that your body has ever
learned and done, so let your muscles do everything for you.
you must give into the other, as sand does to water.
the embrace of the tango is spiritual. because you are
communing, dancing, with another human being on a basic
level, often you don’t know your partner’s name. this is the
beginning of tango, beginning without name, beginning at the
source. one’s name is little before the shared sentiment of tango.
lunar chasm
a dance hall
you know well
the person with whom you dance
will
the bandeon weep
tonight in our tangos?
liberty, improvisation, and generosity are elements of the
tango. liberty to feel relaxed, to invent steps, to improvise to
the music. a generosity of spirit that allows energy to flow
easily between two people.
swirling spinning turning
after a shower
the world smells
after day
the world whirls on its axis
all places at once
your essence planted in my hand
like shooting stars
have you seen such
clouds masking?
hair whistling palm’s digressions
feet drawing shapes on the ground
have we arrived somewhere? have we sustained?
scent of almonds
read the waves
forced to hit ground from that state of floating
suspended
i would skate than walk
limp than imitate
~
wandering in an idyll
of course the hollow could break but what can one do?
read the waves of music
i forced myself to hit the ground
a perpetual whim mistaken identity
in the skate of possibility
seizure
of heart
splice
clenched
why this fire? this fight?
the music wants grace freedom liberty
the music will tell you what to do in lanes of fire
anchoring her to the earth, he is her support, her ballast. he
gives her time to do her adornments. the woman’s heel
sometimes touches the ground. but the balls of the feet &
toe will trail the ground, shadow to its shadow. your legs see
& articulate for you. there is the essence of the waves in your
movements; you tread lightly though firmly on the ground.
your hands learn your partner’s movements. you are pure
breath, b-r-e-a-t-h-i-n-g.
ABOUT THE POET
Mong-Lan is a multi-talented writer, visual artist, musician and dancer whose poems have been widely anthologised since the publication of her first book Song of the Cicadas, which won the Juniper Prize in 2000. Her work draws inspiration from her displacement from her home city of Saigon as a child to her colourful experiences living and travelling around the world.
From “Argentine Tango: Observations while Dancing” (Part 6) is a study of Mong-Lan’s passionate affair with dancing Argentine tango from her third full-length poetry book Tango, Tangoing: Poems & Art published in English and Spanish in 2008.
A performance response to THE SPIRIT CATCHES YOU AND YOU FALL DOWN will be performed at Late-Night Texting 2019.