(Pron: EN-TRAY-GAHR).
This is a topic I’ve talked about before, but I’m going in a different direction with this stuff, sort of.
Once, long ago, when tango for export was all the rage, this Spanish word > Entregar was promoted and sort of explained by a few tango teachers coming out of Argentina. The reason was two fold:
1.) Most Norte Americanos y Europeans had never heard of something that was this intrinsic to the dance.
2.) Those teachers realized that what was basic for them – DID NOT EXIST in the culture(s) they were teaching in.
Some, took it upon themselves, to try and address this point. There was just one little problem with doing that. Their translation to their non-native language wasn’t that good. And the people that were translating for them weren’t as sharp as they needed to be with this particular word, concept, and practice.
In English, for example, ‘Entregar’ means either “to deliver”, “to give”, or “to hand over”. Which is not right at all.
No. No. No. And did I mention “NO” ?
As a direct result of those mistranslations and misunderstandings, tango took a hard right turn that simulated the actual concept but it got twisted it and ended up creating more problems that we are still dealing with today in a myriad of different ways.
I’ll give you a tiny example of the hard right turn >
1.) The Follower should WAIT for their Lead.
2.) The idea and practice that the Follower should DO what the Lead leads them to do.
3.) The Follower has NO agency except what’s between the beats that they can slip in now and again.
4.) The Follower should provide ‘RESISTANCE’ for the Lead so that they can ‘FEEL’ them.
In all of those instances, the Follower has been told to give up their agency because that’s what’s expected of them. This comes directly from the mistranslation of the word Entregar.
So what does this word ACTUALLY mean ?
The closest word in ENGLISH that seems to cover it all is the verb “Contribute”. And an even better way to talk about it is with the question > “What can I contribute ?”. This really hits the mark.
Tango is about contributing what skills you have to the experience to improve it. To save it, to keep it, help it along. It’s like a spinning top, once it’s starts spinning you want to keep it spinning any way possible. Unfortunately for a lot of people they do NOT contribute, they control, and want to dominate and subjugate because that’s what some teacher told them to do that was misinformed.
Once you change this mindset everything about the experience changes because of it. Further instead of being REACTIVE, you become PROACTIVE in your dancing. Instead of WAITING, you LISTEN and are always at the ready to engage, to help, to make things better for both partners. If one stumbles, you pick them up. If one misaligns, you help them to align. If one mishears something, you help them to hear it so that you both continue on. Note what was not said there > You don’t do it for them. But rather you HELP THEM.
I’ll give you a working example of how this plays out.
Let’s say you’re in the line of dance, and you miss something, or worse you stumble a bit. It’s at this point typically someone will blame someone for whatever reason. This results in damage to the dancing experience for BOTH roles, not just one.
Now let’s try the same thing only this time engaging the practice of Entregar!
You’re in the line of dance and you miss or stumble a bit, BOTH partners try to do 1 of 4 things or all in some cases:
1.) Cover it up so that no one watching was the wiser.
2.) Fix it in the moment, transforming it into something else.
3.) Helping each other with what’s being asked. Either placing the couple on beat, by placing themselves on beat. Or by deliberately moving themselves in front of each other. Keeping things contained and constrained, etc.
4.) Smile and move on, not dwelling on any of it.
Some of you will say, “But MILES, I do this anyway! Silly article. Waste of my time!”. To which I will say, “Does your partner do this as well ? Do all of you partners ?” Answer ? Probably not. And there in lay the rub.
The mindset for the last 40 years of Tango for Export has been that the Follower does what the Lead tells them to do, the Follower has no agency whatsoever. Further that the Lead does not need to adjust their embrace, vocabulary, or interpretation of the music, the Follower needs to adjust. This is dancing selfishly. And it’s what a LOT of people do and don’t realize that they’re doing it because it’s what they were taught to do.
To be fair, dancing with Entregar in your brain, means that you are dancing to the best of your ability, always. You do not lag, hang, pull, push, talk, or mar someone else’s experience. You are hyper aware of every detail, constantly and always at the ready to help or to make things better. There’s no “here let me relax into the embrace and then hang on for dear life!”. No. None of that. That’s giving over any agency you have to someone else. Which is not what we’re after here.
You’re going to imagine that this is solely a Follower thing and it’s not. The Lead has a role here too and it’s to help foster, co-create, and allow for the Follower to have the space and time in what you have ASKED them to do. You do not rush, you do not push, you do not use your arms to force, compress, or squeeze them to keep them with you. Instead you slow down to keep up with them! And that’s just the tip of the spear!
Think of this practice like being on a first date. Ideally you want to put your best foot, no pun intended, forward. You dress to impress. You hold the door open for your date. You are kind, considerate, and patient. You are complimentary. You praise. You put on a good show of your best self to your date. The same thing is true dancing with Entregar.
Further when you dance with Entregar then you are dancing with your partner to help them, to improve their experience and they are doing the same for you. The partnership is contributing themselves, their whole selves, nothing is held back in order to dance later with someone better. No. You contribute all of you, all of what you are now to who you are dancing with now, because there may not be a later with anyone.
Another way of looking at this, is imagine you are dancing with a beginner. Do you immediately throw boleos, ganchos, and volcadas at them ? Some of you do this thinking that it will give them the required experience that they need, in your estimation. And this is not only wrong, it’s wholly unsafe for them. They can hurt themselves. Especially because you are NOT a F’ing teacher. Further still are you arrogant enough to believe that you know how to do X from their position ? Have you studied for YEARS and YEARS – BOTH ROLES ? If not, then STFU! Beyond that even if you are a teacher, you should know better! The Milonga is NOT the time to go hunting for students. It’s poor form. Further still dancing with someone at a Milonga and teaching them on the floor is wholly inappropriate. a.) They didn’t sign up for a lesson from you. And b.) The Milonga is for DANCING and not for TEACHING. FFS people.
Now we level up: We do this for the entire room all at the same time. The couples all around us. We help them everywhere we can. We are economical with our dancing experience. We do not take up time showing off. We do not show off. We move along. We are expeditious and careful. We are mindful that there are others in the line of dance with us.
There are some that will hear this stuff as dictating to them not to do X, Y, and Z. To them I say, that is precisely the mindset that you want to consider taking elsewhere. There are rules in life. There are societal mindsets we don’t engage in because it’s socially unacceptable. Why would those things be any different because it’s dancing tango ? Think of it this way > Do you cut people off when driving on the highway or do you drive cautiously and proactively at the ready ? When you’re standing in a queue for something, do you jump to the front of the line ahead of everyone else just because you think you should or do you wait your turn ? Etc. No. In both cases you go what is right from a societal standpoint. The same thing is true here with Entregar.
This is Entregar.