The Dao of Tango
How to survive in a complex world without going bananas
There is something mysteriously attractive about an ancient Chinese life philosophy that, more than 2000 years ago, proposed a view of life that is today validated by modern science.
After spending the good part of the last 2 years self-educating myself in complex systems, complex networks and systems thinking, my rational, scientific brain was satiated with a feast of ideas, validated hypothesis and mathematical models that, at least in hindsight, explain almost every life experience of relevance, be it in my own personal life, in my professional life and in society around me.
Explaining in hindsight is the easy part of the equation. When I have casual conversations about complexity, what the average human being wants to know, is what do you do with it! Since it’s the basis of a new paradigm (much like reductionism was, 300 years ago) how can it even begin to guide you in your everyday life, in your decisions about career, love, family, relationships, politics, without making you go bananas with all the uncertainty and volatility that you need to accept into your life.
My answer to this question may not satisfy the more analytically minded reader because what I found out recently is that when it comes to living in complex social systems, mathematical models won’t do you any good. An embodied practice tough, will!
I’ve been dancing Tango since 2010. I’ve always loved the intensity of the music and the challenge of the dance itself. I had never made the connection between what it is that I enjoy so much about it and my lifelong quest for a reasonably good framework for living under uncertainty and complexity.
It was only when I started reading about Daoism, first through Fritjof Capra’s classic book “The Dao of Physics”, then Lao Tse’s “Dao Te Ching” and finally by starting to practice Wing Chun (a Chinese martial art), that a huge light bulb illuminated my brain: the simple principles of Daoism can be felt while dancing a 3 minute long Tango. Tango, if you will, is like an emulator of a complex adaptive system. While you’re dancing it, you practice with your mind and body all the skills necessary to act in an uncertain and complex world.
It still puzzles me, how a more than 2000-year-old life philosophy (I don’t regard it as a religion) like Daoism can hold so many wise pieces of advice that match so many of modern science’s recent discoveries about the nature of reality and how to bring yourself in harmony with it. For some, reading about Daoism is a good entry point into complexity, for others, like me, reading about complexity was a good entry point into Daoism.
So, what, then, are these simple principles of Daoism that I find are useful to practice in the complex environment and where can we see them reflected in Tango?
The Dao: The idea of path or flow which is invisible but sometimes sensible. Complex systems are dynamic, forever changing, forever adapting. In tango this idea is transposed to the principle that stopping on the dance floor is not an option and that you’re expected to fit into the flow of the rest of the pairs that are sharing the dance floor with you and that, like you, are trying to make the best out of the 3 minutes of music. .
Ying-Yang: In complexity thinking one is often challenged to be able to hold contradicting forces, opinions or beliefs together. Daoism refers to this duality as Ying-Yang and proposes these are not meant to be seen individually. In tango, the unit is indeed the set man and woman, leader and follower but not in a subservient way. In tango, 1 + 1 =3 where the third element is this unit composed of both leader and follower.
Chi: The “life force” or energy. Chinese traditional medicine uses the Chi concept and the flow of Chi through the body to diagnose several conditions. It is also a key concept in acupuncture. I used to struggle with the word energy in this context (I’m trained as a mechanical engineer. For me energy means something very specific, measurable and actionable) until I felt it briefly while dancing. It is not measured in Joules.
While dancing tango constant all-body communication with the partner is the most difficult but also the most enjoyable part once you’ve mastered it. The subtlety of informing when and where you want the next step to be, using your chi as a message carrier. An intention that starts in your imagination and that is clear to both, well before the muscles start moving.
Mindfulness: In most eastern life philosophies, like Daoism, Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, a lot of the regular practice is centered around meditation and mindfulness. Training your ability to be present in the moment and not allowing your thoughts to overwhelm you. While you’re busy keeping the communication channel open with your partner, there’s a song playing in the background to the sound of which hopefully both of you are dancing. But you are not alone. There are others around you. This is not the time for thinking about your next meeting or dinner plans…or whatever happens after the milonga. This is the time to be fully present with your partner, the music and the dance floor.
Physical fitness, balance and stability: When you don’t know what to expect from life, the only thing you can really do is to remain both physically and emotionally fit to deal with whatever life throws at you. When the complex system becomes unstable, you should be able to respond hopefully in a way which is more than resilient; it is anti-fragile, i.e. you become stronger with all the “lemons” life is throwing.
In tango, taking care of your own stability, axis location and physical strength is crucial for a comfortable 3-minute dance. You should avoid leaning your full body weight on your partner or lose balance and find yourselves stepping on your partner and become dependent on him/her for your own stability.
Wu Wei: My favorite principle of Daoism is action without acting. The ability to stop without stopping, to accept the flow of the river and to stop wasting energy trying to swim upstream. In tango, you never stop. Sometimes you find yourself in a traffic jam on the dance floor and you can’t progress forward or backward…but you never stop dancing. This is, for me, the most difficult principle to master.
We’ve always lived in a complex, volatile uncertain and ambiguous world. We’ve been living in such a world at least since Lao Tse’s time. It is only in the last 200 hundred years that society has disconnected itself from nature’s cycles and lived in this idea that we can control its natural forces. It created huge blockages for our happiness and sometimes really big life-threatening problems like climate change or widespread mental conditions; the struggle to “swim upstream” drains all our energy and starts a vicious loop of frustration, battle, defeat, more frustration, etc. We have a natural, biological ability to live in a complex environment. That is how we evolved and thrived as a species.
Western culture has deeply neglected embodied practices that help you develop the myriad of mind/body dynamics that help you navigate in a complex world. We’ve turned these into hobbies or fringe cultural activities. Overestimating intellectual practices of doing over embodied practices of being.
A dance like tango, theater, martial arts, meditation or even just learning a musical instrument is extremely important because of their holistic properties of working several areas of your brain at the same time. But also because to master them you need to practice, practice, practice and practice more until they become a part of you. This is how complexity creates the almost miraculous living systems we know of, with constant trial and error, adaptation and evolution.
Tango classes are now available all over the world. If martial arts or learning a musical instrument is not your thing, why not try a tango class.
