Life as a dance is a beautiful metaphor that spontaneously gives rise to ideas about how to live it. This is exactly what Leyla Imm has done, whose text, translated by Petya Stoyanova from Russian, I am now “paying forward.” There are things we know very well, yet it is good to be reminded of them. And when expressed beautifully, they can be profoundly inspiring.
“The embrace,” he says, “must remain unbroken. Whatever you do, do not increase the distance between us. If you feel that you are losing your balance, hold on to me. That is what I am here for!” He says this laughing, and I understand that I need to learn how to maintain better balance – and I laugh as well.
He teaches me how to breathe. He tells me, “Breathe!” and only then do I notice that I have stopped breathing. “Breathe evenly, calmly, deeply!” I do not notice when or why I have stopped breathing. Perhaps it happens when I am afraid of making a mistake?
“Don’t be afraid of making mistakes!” – this too is one of his lessons. “And if you do make a mistake, make it by fully surrendering to the action, believing that you are doing everything right!” And now I know that I must continue even if I have made a mistake; continue moving forward, forgetting the mistake, or simply not giving it importance. “Do not stop!!! Go on, go on!” he says. And I learn to go on, not to stop…
“Move lightly, be like a feather! All your movements must be natural. Nothing artificial!” – this is what he achieves with me after long effort. He asks for the simplest thing, and yet the hardest to master: that I be natural. And as I strive to learn this, I come to realize that expression and theatricality are not the same – and that even on stage, I must live rather than act.
“Relax, relax completely,” he never tires of repeating, from our very first lesson. “Relax the muscles of your back. I can feel your tension, and it passes into me.” Absolute calm – this is what he teaches me. I already understand, I utterly understand, how essential it is, how beautiful it is: in the most complex, the most breathtaking movement – almost a flight – to preserve inner stillness.
“Relax the muscles – more, more… Now you are relaxed. And now that you are relaxed, I no longer feel the weight of your body. You must follow me without thinking. Come where I call you, with pleasure, without doubt. You cannot tell me… you cannot say: I will follow you only if I choose to. Once I have called you, you must respond instantly, with consent, and go with me.”
My tango lessons became life lessons when the Teacher entered my life. A Teacher who tells me things of foremost importance. Who tells me, for example: “In this moment, do only what you are doing.” His words continue to echo in my ears even after I leave the dance academy. Because it is so simple, so right – and at the same time so difficult – to do only what your dance partner, or life itself, offers you in each unfolding moment.
Life is a magnificent, flawless partner. Life can lead you like no one else, if only you learn to respond to each of its movements and do not think ahead to what awaits you next. For when you are dancing with a brilliant partner, anticipating the next step and preparing for it is simply impossible.
And it seems to me that the wisdom of all philosophies, including the philosophy of tango, lies precisely in this: the ability to trust. To trust the partner, and to trust life. Trust is so difficult. And so simple. And yet, perhaps, profoundly right.”
