This week, I spent a lot of time pondering the notion of hospitality. Hospitality is what converts community halls, church basements, cafés, auditoriums, studios, and living rooms around the world into welcoming spaces where tango can happen. I am privileged to live in a city where tango events are hosted every night of the week. Without the dedication of the generous few who book rooms, recruit volunteers, sweep floors, decorate, cater, and clean up when the lights go on in the wee hours of the morning, there would be no milongas. Without their grand embrace, there would be no place for tango’s more intimate embrace. In a world where territoriality and violence between competing interests dominate the headlines, it is good to consider the places–the sanctuaries, the sacred places–where strangers are welcomed and invited to create something beautiful together.
Rebecca Niemier, Rebecca’s Tango Life Milonga (Bellingham, WA.)
Originally published on www.passionateembrace.ca, March 2013.