Circumambulation

Like most other groups who gather together in a sacred way to increase vibration and union, we circumambulate en mass. In Islam, devotees circumambulate the Kaba at Mecca. The Bonpo (syncretic animist/Buddhists) in Tibet and Nepal as well as Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians circumambulate around their temples, stupas and altars, respectively.

A primary feature of tango verses other social dances is that we circumambulate, in unison, in a counter-clockwise direction. Generally, circumambulation to the left signifies cleansing/purification, and circumambulation to the right blessing/interaction with God.

In tango, the center is left open. As we turn to the left, anything that is extraneous or contrary to the tango vibration that allows for our entrainment and union is directed outward and cleansed away. Were we to turn to the right, those potentially distracting energies would gather in the center and intensify.

In the Hopi tradition, the shaman walks to the left around the circle to cleanse, and to the right to heal. Once united, once highly entrained, what might we be capable of we as dancers turned, in that state, in unison, at the right time, flowing instead to the right.