People always laugh when I say that Argentine Tango is good for your health as if I’m some sort of evangelical enthusiast. The truth is that I say that from experience, I’ve met more and more people with stories of how the dance of tango has healed their lives both physically and emotionally.
I remember in my first year of dancing tango, I went to a milonga and there was a man who was soaked with sweat and yet he never stopped dancing for the entire evening. In spite of my initial reluctance to embrace his sweaty self he was a very nice dancer and because I was new I wanted it to be very clear that I was ready and willing to dance with anyone who would take a chance on me. This man I later learned had been dancing for only a few years but he advanced quickly due to his dedication. What was his motivation?
The story told was that he had fallen from the roof of his home during a windstorm while adjusting some antennae to protect it from the wind. He was laid up with a broken back for months and then his wife became ill and passed during his recovery. The doctors had very little hope for his recovery due to the sadness and grief he was facing but a friend encouraged him to go out to dance classes to help take his mind off his sadness. And then something miraculous happened, he started to heal and over time had a complete recovery.
After hearing his story I was so glad that I had not let a little sweat come between us. I was proud to have been able to be a part of his recovery and awed by his determination to be happy, healthy and passionate about life. It was a great life lesson for me.
Later that same year I met a woman who told me during a break in dancing tango at a milonga that she had a stroke just a year prior. I was shocked because there was no evidence whatsoever that she had any limitation in her mobility, she danced tango with grace, ease and style. What she told me was that while in the hospital a friend starting coming to visit and he would play tango music and then demonstrate some of the steps for her. Once she was released from the hospital he would visit her home 3 nights a week and insist that she let him teach her a basic dance step just to get her up out of bed for a few minutes. They would dance in her kitchen where the floor was smooth. She swears that the dancing is what healed her brain and neuro-pathways and allowed her to regain full mobility from the partial paralysis that occurred as a result of the stroke.
Today I read an article about a couple who are teaching tango in California and they had this to say about the health benefits of argentine tango:
“Research confirms that authentic Argentine Tango has been shown to help heal neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, even greater than the same amount of other forms of exercise,” she said. “Tango uses several forms of movement such as balance, turning, moving at a variety of speeds, and walking backwards, which are especially relevant to improving both physical and neurological health. It has also been suggested that tango makes people feel more relaxed, sexier, less depressed, and increases testosterone levels.” Authentic Argentine Tango differs from American or ballroom-style Tango, she said.
You can read the whole article by following the link below. I encourage everyone to experience Argentine tango, the benefits are multi-dimensional with the most obvious being a sense of accomplishment when you have made the first pass around the dance floor.