Events

If the waltz is the musical representation of romantic love, then the tango represents love that is a little more complicated. The three-beat rhythm of the waltz echoes the rhythm of the heart. (Yes, I know, you think your heartbeat is “lubb dubb,” when in fact the second beat has two parts: “dubb-bb.” Anyway, back to the dance.) The dancing couple, arms outstretched, looking into each other’s eyes, twirl and flow about the ballroom, their hearts pounding amorously, their minds ecstatic and a little dizzy.

The couple dancing the tango, on the other hand, are looking over each other’s shoulders, watching each other out of the corner of their eyes as the move their feet to the syncopated, eight-beat rhythm of the music without managing to impale the other’s foot with their heel. That last beat, the “ocho,” is when the dancers do those weird movements that make the tango so much fun to watch. Recall when the follower (usually the woman but the tango is rather ambiguous sexually) turns out, lifts and whips a leg while keeping her knees together. That movement is called “boléo”; it can be found on YouTube if you can’t picture it and want to learn how it’s done. Boléo is also the name of a local quartet, consisting of violinists Lázara Nelson and Miranda Scoma, cellist Katie Weissman, and violist Moshe Shulman, who doubles on bandonéon and accordion. They offer a program tangos and dance music of Cuba, Mexico, and the Gypsies on Valentine’s Day, this Satuday at 8pm, at PAUSA Art House, 19 Wadsworth Street. Admission is $7.

A Jewish-Latina-bubbe friend of mine calls the tango the dance of unconditional love. Perhaps. You can decide as you listen to the strains of Astor Piazzola, Kurt Weill, Carlos Gardel, and other masters of the original dirty dancing.