You might think Dili is a little backwater where kulcha doesn’t even find itself drinking at a bar at 2am on a Friday morning. But you’d be wrong. We’re right kultral here. The challenge for the Timorese, the English, the Americans, the Canadians, the Russians, the Chinese, the Japanese and basically anyone not form the Southern continent is that the most prevalent culture here, apart from the Timorese traditions, is Australian. Dili Beach Hotel and One More Bar are dedicated to Australian sport and music. At the Dili Club you can even buy an “Aussie meat pie”. Since its owned run by an Australian it’s easy to imagine that even if they aren’t Four ‘n’ Twenties, they might still be a little piece of meaty Oz.
Last week, though, some real culture emerged. Two women who love the tango have been lamenting the lack of tango dancers in Dili. Instead of simply bemoaning this fact, they decide if tango dancers did not as yet exist, the most effective solution would be to create them. To this end, they are offering free tango lessons on Thursday evenings from 7:30 to 8:30 with dancing to follow.
I’m up for new things and since my Thursday evening class finishes at 6:45pm, I could also arrive on time. So I did.
I have never danced the tango and my impression of it involves two people stalking across a room, a rose and lots of sultry looks. Though a little crowd had gathered to learn the dance, there wasn’t a rose in sight.
“This is the Argentinean tango.”
Who knew there were different versions?
“There are no roses.”
No roses? Where’s the romance in that?
“There are no steps.”
No steps? Oh, a dance for the un-co-ordinated. (I was reminded of the one time that I took a step aerobics class. The instructor gazed briefly at my ‘prowess’ and said, “hmmm, maybe just focus on the feet.” The Argentinean tango seems to have been choreographed with someone like me in mind.
What we learnt in this first lesson was ‘the walk’. The very basics of the dance are walking forwards and backwards, depending on where there is the most space. This means that either the male or the female can lead. Yes, the Argentineans are apparently equal-opportunity dancers.
We started simply – just rocking to and fro, getting a feel for our feet and their connection with the floor. Then we rocked forwards and backwards. Then we walked. The ‘walk’ is basically putting one foot in front of the other, (or behind if you’re following). You don’t stop with your feet together though, your ankles skim past each other. It takes a little bit of focus. We finally seemed to get it, at least by ourselves, then we got a partner. We spent the rest of the hour practising going forward and back with relative strangers. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Because there are no steps, you can’t really anticipate what’s coming next and so the person going backwards has to surrender to the person leading. I suppose that’s the romance of it; the idea that you and your partner are one and flowing simply and easily with the dance.
Perhaps how to ably accomplish that is lesson number two. Our first night was punctuated not by the sighs and ahs of the lovelorn, but the “oops, sorry”, “er, didn’t mean that”, “oh, er” mutterings of those still trying to master walking without walking into anyone – including their partner.
It was definitely fun and I met some more new people. I’ll be back next week . . . I’ll keep you posted.
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