We all have one life to live, the same 24 hours in a day, and usually some discretionary time for hobbies when not working.  Many after discovering Argentine Tango abandon other hobbies, change friends, and generally neglect other activities.  After all, there are prácticas, classes, and milongas to attend with our new friends in the tango community.

Interests and preferences that use to define us no longer fit after we become immersed in Argentine Tango.  Our old hobbies are not as enjoyable anymore or we have reduced interest.  The only music we listen to on our iPod is tango music instead of the soft rock music that we use to enjoy.  Any new clothes purchased will do double duty and have to look good when dancing tango also. 

In short, we begin to look at situations, things, and people though our tango filter.  We spend hours on the Internet looking at Argentine Tango websites and checking with tango friends on Twitter.  If we are married we hope our spouses do not find out about our online tango obsession.  We think about it, want to talk about it, but most of all we want to dance tango.  Our tango time starts to become all the time.

Argentine Tango challenges us mentally and physically and has opened to us a community of friends we have never known.  It is a safe community of people with varied backgrounds who enjoy beautiful music together.  A community where it is acceptable to literally embrace a friend or stranger in dance.  How has Argentine Tango changed your life for better or worse? 

Tags: tango community