贴身探戈与开式探戈（四）

跳贴身探戈实在太舒服了，我不止一次听到我的舞伴说他们象婴儿一样被摇入梦乡，直到舞曲终止也不愿醒来。探戈优美的音乐和节奏性的摆动对舞者，尤其是跟随者，有一种催眠作用，使他们坠入冥想或梦境。有些舞者用沉醉或极度欣快来描述这种状态。也有人把它叫作魔力，因为舞者似乎穿上了水晶鞋，发挥得淋漓尽致。

与以花式动作吸引观众的开式探戈不同，贴身探戈用简单的步伐来取悦舞伴。当舞者以引人注意为目标而注重动作时，舞伴便变成为第二位的了。当舞者以舞伴为目标而注重让舞伴感觉舒服时，舞步便成为第二位的了。两种探戈强调的是完全不同的东西。开式探戈力在印象，而这正是贴身探戈想避免的。贴身探戈的原则是取悦舞伴。舞者不用难度的步法来挑战对方，而力求让对方感觉舒服，达到梦境或魔力状态。所有动作都是为这一目标服务的，任何与该目标相违背的动作都避免了。

但这并不意味着贴身探戈忽略舞蹈的艺术性。探戈原本是一个贴身拥抱的舞蹈。许多优美的探戈都是用这种样式跳的。贴身探戈的妙处在于紧凑，简练，亲密和典雅。与双方各自保持独立的轴心和平衡的开式探戈不同，在贴身探戈中两个舞伴的身体略微前倾，相互倚靠，相互支持，形成不同于开式探戈的框架和线条。在这种姿势下跳舞所需要的技巧和能力是贴身探戈特有的，虽然与开式探戈不同，但只要跳得好，同样优雅美丽。 

传奇摄影师乔·麦克纳利这样评论自己的一桢摄影作品《帕洛玛·埃雷拉的脚》：“美和痛苦是并存的，尤其在舞蹈界。帕洛玛并不愿意这样做，但我还是请她在炼习结束时脱下她的舞鞋。她的脚简直就是一个烂摊子。”我理解一个芭蕾舞演员为实现完美而忍受的痛苦，但我想用这个故事来表述另一个观点。表演性舞蹈与娱乐性舞蹈有一种哲学上的区别。当被问及在探戈中舒适与优美孰为重要，舞者是否应该为一方而牺牲另一方的时候，我的老师，老舞棍鲁本·阿贝回答说：“凡是舒适的，也应该是优美的。凡是优美的，也应该是舒适的。”真正的探戈大师不为美而牺牲舒适，也不为舒适而牺牲美，因为对他们来说美和舒适应该是并存的。

Close Embrace and Open Embrace (IV)

Dancing close embrace is so comfortable that I have heard time and again from my partners that they felt like a baby lulled to sleep and did not want to wake up when the tanda ended. The beautiful music and rhythmic motion have a hypnotic effect to the dancers, especially followers, causing them fall deeply into a state of meditation or dreaming. Some dancers describe it as intoxication or euphoria. Others call it duende, as the dancers appear to be possessed by a spirit that gives rein to the dance.

Unlike in open embrace where fancy movements are made to impress, in close embrace simple steps are used to pleasure the partner. When impression is the goal, movement is the center of attention and the partner becomes secondary. When pleasure is the goal, the partner becomes the center of attention and movement is secondary. The two styles emphasize totally different things. What open embrace is after in an effort to impress is precisely what close embrace wants to avoid. The chief principle of close embrace is to pleasure the partner. The dancers are not in a position to challenge each other with difficult footwork. They are in a position to give comfort to each other. The goal is to achieve euphoria or duende. Every movement is aimed at that end; any thing contradictory to that end is avoided.

That does not mean that close embrace neglects the artistic quality of the dance. Tango at its very root is a close-embrace dance. Some of the most beautiful tangos ever danced are danced in close embrace. The beauty of close embrace lies in the compactness, simplicity, intimacy and elegance of the movement. Unlike in open embrace where each dancer keeps his/her own axis and balance, in close embrace the two dancers lean on each other for support, their bodies are slightly bent from a vertical position, resulting in a frame and line that is different from that in open embrace. Dancing in that posture requires techniques and skills that are uniquely close-embrace, deferent, but equally elegant and beautiful when done well. 

Legendary photographer Joe McNally commented on a photograph he entitled Paloma Herrera’s Feet: “Beauty and pain go hand-in-hand—especially in the world of dance. Paloma wasn’t happy about it, but I asked her to take off her shoes at the end of a workout. Her feet were a mess.” I am aware of the pain a ballerina has to endure in order to reach perfection, but I use this story to make another point. There is a philosophical difference between dance for show and dance for pleasure. When asked whether comfort or elegance is more important in tango and should a dancer sacrifice either one in favor of the other, my teacher milonguero Ruben Ayber answered, “What is comfortable should also be elegant. What is elegant should also be comfortable.” True tango masters do not compromise beauty for comfort, nor do they compromise comfort for beauty, because to them beauty and comfort go hand-in-hand.