pause
Milonga is a major milestone for tango learners.
I don't remember since when I finally felt comfortable dancing milonga in a milonga. (The former "milonga" means a style of tango dance like shown in the videos here. The latter "milonga" means a tango ball.)
Milonga is very fast-paced. I usually cannot hold myself up for a tanda of milonga after 2 hours of dancing in those tango high heels. It is a whole-body workout. Not just my physical strength is not enough to dance milonga for 15 minutes, but also my bodily sensibility is not reduced because of fatigue, causing me not feeling the leader well, and hence I perform not as well as I was able to.
But see this video, the leader paused from time to time with grace and musicality. That must have felt so so so good. The follower must not have felt tired or unable to catch up her breath.
I love it when the leader pauses. Tension builds up. Breath may be deepened. Dance is not stopped but implicitly going. It is very very sexy. I seldom met a leader knowing how to pause nicely. I almost never met a leader who paused in milonga, and most of the pauses in milonga was caused by sudden disconnection between me and the leader (for he was not confident in dancing milonga, or for I could not catch his pace).
Pause can be trained.
Long long time ago I was learning how to do British comedy on stage. The group leader who ran that session told us to pause while reading the script. She gave no instruction where to pause or how long to pause. She just named people up to the stage, and we tried.
I got the best try. I paused and everyone laughed. Somehow it worked although I did not and still do not know why.
Since then, I guess, I found myself easily making people laugh and say "You're funny!". Somehow I have some genes for being a comedian. For example, today, I was joking if I had kids, I would send them back to Taiwan for Mama to raise them. Everyone at the lunch table laughed, and Jenny immediately said "Oh, you'll be a good parent because you are funny." I looked at her and shrugged (because I didn't know how to reply), and this reaction made everyone laughed harder. "Alright," I decided to say after two seconds of pause, "I am funny, and I shall be a good parent according to you. Thanks for your compliment."
Oh, why was I joking during a business lunch with my boss and co-workers? Because I didn't want to discuss anything serious to ruin my appetite. Because Cristin and Matt were saying horribly ill-behaved children running around in a burger diner called "Five Brothers". Because Millie said to me "You don't blame the food for kids' behavior. You blame who bring the kids over there and allow them to be like that." So I said "Kids should be sent back to Taiwan." And Jenny and my boss started offering me babysitting my future kids after I shared my joke. My point is, yes, there should be a point, people like me because they think I am funny. And I got volunteers for my unborn children. How nice. I must be very likable.
A pause brings the punch line in a joke and presents an exciting anticipating moment in tango.
In milonga, a pause is the punch line as well as an exciting moment. Tango is so playful and fun! Please, leaders, play with pauses. Followers would love to dance with you again and again.
Here, I share one more excellent milonga with pauses and playful moves:
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