'Love transformed into Art'

Photo source: Paula Lobo (Pinterest)

"...the way you embrace someone when you know: they want you there, really there, full on because they aren't going to open that embrace. You're going to ride that convex chest to the end of the song."

Sharing some beautiful, evocative writing from my tango friend / blogger / teacher Terpsichoral Tangoaddict...

'The music was powerful, rich and dramatic, a mixed tanda of modern orchestras with vocalists (I recognised Fernandez Fierro and El Arranque). Some would have hated it, but to me it was perfectly fitting intense, Pugliese-esque, louche, late night lounge bar music. There were a handful of couples scattered across the floor, mostly professional dancers, beautiful young men in tight jeans, their snaky hips swivelling in response to rapid pivots and besneakered toes penciling circles onto the smooth floor and painting curlicues in the air. But I had eyes for one couple alone. The leader was someone many consider the best dancer in the world: famous for his powerful stride and the iconic elegant saloniness of his dance. I watched as, with a subtle but unmistakable gesture, he invited his partner to embrace him straight on, close and deep, with his left hand reaching all the way round his back to rest on his left shoulder, the way you embrace someone when you know: they want you there, really there, full on because they aren't going to open that embrace. You're going to ride that convex chest to the end of the song. And his partner tucked his head next to his and closed his eyes. And they did nothing showy. Few figures. Many ocho cortados led with a certain lovely soft padded quality, as if dancing on a firm mattress. But that embrace: it looked so sensual, so delicious that, even though I knew it was just a dance, I felt almost like a voyeur. In my own imagination, I couldn't separate the image, that characteristic image of the entwined couple, from real-life memories of physical intimacy. It looked like love transformed into art. Good night, my friends!

The couple Terpsi is referring to is Javier Rodriguez and his partner Facundo Carrasco. Facundo won the Metropolitano 2014 (Buenos Aires City Tango Competition).  The above picture is not of them. I have chosen the picture for its artistry.