Tango Contradictions: Too Cozy?

As we all know, tango is full of contradictions. We want to be connected but be free. We need to be self-sufficient but fully together. On our latest tango journey we’re exploring the balance of each person being comfortable within the movement without being too cozy since that limits both ourselves and our partner. Which is easy to conceptually comprehend and can be difficult to catch yourself doing. 

One possible way you can identify if you’re too cozy is if you’re in your partner’s space without purpose. Some questions you can ask yourself or your partner are “Am I on my own axis?”, “Am I limiting my partner from being on axis?”, “Am I giving my partner enough freedom to move?”. These questions can apply to many movements and with some movements they need to be altered due to the nature of body positions. Obviously this takes some practice to find where that is versus what is comfortable close embrace. 

So this week's focus is understanding the axis throughout the transition to arrival to the next movement.