One-off Challenge 4: Learn To Tango


This challenge is courtesy of…

Lindsay Law

The challenge

Learn to tango.

This is one of the few challenges that really requires someone else to be involved. I suppose I could have found and paid for dancing lessons on my own but that would have seemed rather anti-social when I have a wife who loves to dance. As a consequence, this one has lingered on the list for longer than expected, waiting for Renae and I to both make time for it.

There's not a lot of specificity in this challenge and there's a lot of variation in what one might define as a tango, so for this one Renae and I decided to learn the basic tango eight step.

As with all good things, this was to be done by the power of the Internet.

It turns out there's a lot of video tutorials that pop up when you enter “learn the tango” into YouTube. Some are good. Some are… Less so. We opted for the one embedded below, partly because it was labelled “absolute beginners” but mostly for the hilariously dead-behind-the-eyes dancing lady. I mean, watch that blink at 0:27 and tell me you can't hear the screaming as the final fragment of her soul succumbs to its fate.



Anyway, that looks easy enough, right? Renae and I can both dance a bit. One of the things that first helped us know we were right for each other was a shared enjoyment of a good ceilidh. (These days, it should be noted, we still enjoy a good ceilidh. We just enjoy it in the way a 40-something sportsman enjoys a game: with a lot of huffing and puffing and general confusion as to how everyone else got so damn fast.)

So we practiced a bit. Then we practiced a bit more. Then we moved the dog and the table out of the way so the only things we'd trip over were our own feet. Then we moved the dog again. Then we gave up and told him it was his own fault if he got crushed to death. Then we practiced some more.

Then I insisted that we video ourselves dancing.

Renae, it has to be said, was a touch reluctant about this.

However, she is a fine, loving and supportive person, so she finally acquiesced under the condition that we get dressed up in our best tango clothes. I love an excuse to dress up, so that demand was eagerly met and then we took our positions for a turn across the floor…



Maybe a little more work needed, even in sepia tones to hide the worst of our dancing and household messes!

(Incidentally, the music playing is Rabbit Tango by the most excellent Bonynton and Ford, who do a series of children's songs in various, extremely accurate styles. They are usually sung by very famous guest artists, like Brian Wilson or Kevin Bacon. If you've ever wanted to hear BB King playing the blues about a missing shoe, I'd heartily recommend them.)

Things we struggled with:

  • Which left we start on.
  • The dog.
  • Renae NOT FUCKING LEADING!
Anyway…

Challenge complete! 

 

Will I be doing it again?

Despite our shambolic half-arsery, Nae and I actually really enjoyed this one. It would be pretty cool to be able to glide out onto the floor and tango (properly), so this one ranks a solid “probably”.

Long-term updates

French words "learned" (according to the memrise app):758 - not been keeping up with this quite a well this last week.
Daily photos taken? Yes.
Swordfighting learnt: Still nope.
I am currently reading: I have now relocated Daggerspell and will be getting back to it this week.
"Cheat" days on food since last week: None.
"Cheat" days on exercise: Ahahahaha…
My favourite drawing: After a week off, it's amazing how easy it is to just not restart stuff. Best make an effort on this one, too.
Most pull ups in a row: 8. Getting there!

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