Multicolored Tango

It always surprises me a little how many people believe in horoscope and at the same time believe that other people are similar to them. Because horoscope implies that there are at least twelve different types of people.

I suggest you to stop believing that there are twelve types of people: it is nonsense. There are four!

Okay, I'm just kidding, there are a little more, but this is due to the fact that you will not find pure samples of each type, besides, in different situations, these types are changing...

So, what do I mean? I mean DISC.

In general, DISC is just another way to divide people into types. You can find information about it on Wikipedia beginning with Empedocles and the date of 444 Before Christ. And now I'll tell you briefly about the main point of DISC.

So, according to DISC there are four colors - red, blue, green and yellow - that correspond to a certain types of people's behavior. There is a joke that describes how people of each type enter an elevator.

"Red" people usually enter the elevator and immediately push the "close" button, why waiting, indeed. They push it three or four times, until the door finally closes. Bingo, another solved problem, another goal achieved.

"Yellow" people enter an elevator, look in the mirror, smile to everyone and be sure they will start talking to everyone: about the weather, children and so on.

The "green" one enters, looks around just in case (you never know who might need help), then hides in the corner trying not to look anyone in the eye, as they know that direct eye contact is not comfortable for most of us.

The "blue" one enters and starts to examine the elevator instruction, trying to calculate the approximate weight of all the passengers and comparing it to what is written in the instruction, and then thinks of whether the elevator is going to fall down because of too fat passenger or not.

Red: aggressive and outspoken people. They make decisions right here and right now, they're natural born leaders, very goal-oriented and venturous.

Yellow: cheerful, optimistic, charismatic people. They're able to influence and inspire others, they love to be in the spotlight.

Green: stable and smooth-tempered. They're good listeners and strong empaths, they try to please everyone and do everything possible to avoid offending anyone.

Blue: analysts, getting to the heart of the matter, they allow no unceremoniousness because they can't stand it as well as a non-serious approach to anything.

Of course there are no pure "colors". For example, I am RGB, i.e., distinct blue with red and green inclusions. Yellow is not for me, although there may be some yellow inclusions in my behaviour sometimes. In addition, we look different in different circumstance. For example, at work I am "blue-red", and in the tango community blue-green mostly.

When I learned about this behavioral model, of course, I immediately decided that this topic is perfectly applicable to tango in two different ways.

The first is sensation from the partner. I think, it's not a secret that with some partners you want to dance certain melodies about something particular.

With "red" partners it's interesting to dance about a conflict or battle. We expect such partner express himself very clearly and directly up to taking the lead and offering his own vision of the dance.

With "yellow" one you usually want to have fun and to go crazy, fooling around and tickling each other in the corners. To dance about something serious with a "yellow" partner is a stupid idea because it won't work out. The most funny thing for them is when you try to dance seriously with a calm face.

"Green" partners are the best for me, the dance with them can be very tender, smooth, slowly, with a deep contact and great empathy.

The "blue" ones for sure are A-students for whom it's important to point toes and to hold hands at the correct angle and to act clearly and masterfully.

Perhaps, most of all I love the green-red type. The dance that is born from the contrast of green and red is something that can make me tremble on an impulse of love and adoration. Of course, some people like to have fun, and it's quite weird for them to dance, for example, with a blue type partner, which is very serious and responsible, and someone who likes to be an unquestionable leader and can't stand competition is definitely red and most often prefers to dance with green ones. People are different…

The second way to apply the idea of DISC to tango is the feeling you get from music. With some music you don't want to play the fool, and being too serious with another music shows that not everything goes well in your life.

"Red music" is something like Pugliese. Although sometimes it might even seem "blue". The D'Arienzo's "Loca" or "Dime mi amor" are also a good examples.

"Yellow" music - it's about milongas of course. For example, Hugo Diaz or foxtrots. I haven't heard them for years, and I hope someday we'll meet on the dance floor.

"Green" music is Demare's "Torrente", for example, or "Mariposita" by Alberto Marino. Very gentle, calm, very thoughtful and contemplative.

Among "blue" music pieces I can mention Canaro that is very clear but affords many variations at the same time, or Troilo, which preserves in his attempts to tease the dancers with something tricky. Another example is Pugliese of course, because this music never lacked tricky challenges for dancers.

The music I like is red and blue, difficult and full of suffering. The "yellow" music is not my type at all, although this happens to me in some cases. And with "green" music sometimes I want to take "green" partner and become a single whole with her and not to let her go.

Here are some new types for you. I'm sure that you have other preferences and moreover experience the music and partners differently. Tell me how.