There’s no need to feel broken
He doesn’t deserve your love
Let’s show him what he’ll miss
A Tango will do the trick
Come, take my hand
Don’t be afraid of my touch
Just stay close to me
With every cocky step you take
I can see into your eyes
I can almost touch your lips
But then you lean back
Don’t you dare think of him
He doesn’t desire you anymore
On the floor, there’s only us
Our passion, our dance
When our bodies are close
Please, don’t walk away
I won’t hurt you like he did
Just stay and dance with me
A rebound person serves mainly as a distraction from an ended relationship, even if it’s unintended (Booth). Even if the rebound person is a better choice, it can be hard to forget an old flame sometimes, which is an evident worry for the rebound guy in the poem – especially since it was his partner who got dumped. This makes Tango the ideal dance for the rebound guy in the poem, since he wants his love interest to forget the old flame and be with him, so he invites the person to dance with him. In a way, the dance sort of displays how a rebound relationship can work in some cases, because the dancers always appear to be close and intimate, but it doesn’t get much closer than that on the dancefloor. The end of the poem hints to this, because the rebound guy wants to stay close to his love interest and worries that the end of the dance will be the end of that intimacy.
Tango has always been seen as a lover’s dance, making it a good way to make an ex jealous, like the dancers are trying to do in the poem (Just for Laughs Gags 0:28). When you observe the dance as a spectator, you can see that there’s a lot of flirtation going on with every move, step and posture, even if there’s no real chemistry between the dancers. Their bodies stay close most of the time, giving the impression of sexual desire. Their steps are light and steady, with short pauses for certain foot movement, almost like a confident strut that’s in tune with the music (BallroomDancers.com). Lots of semi-erotic touching is involved, using hands and legs to touch the partners in various ways (hands on the heart, stroking on various places or a leg wrapping the partner or touching the hip), and, when the dancers face each other, there’s usually intense eye-contact (Madzoski). A lot of this is hinted in the second and third part of the poem, where the rebound guy describes the intimacy of their dance.
In short, Tango and rebound relationships can be seen as soap operas on TV, since they both come with lust, romance, jealousy and a whole lot of drama (McMains 263). With this in mind, it’s no wonder how easy it is to forget what Tango really is – a dance.
Sources
MADZOSKI, ALEXANDRA. ”Tango Sexy dance Santa Maria HD video HQ audio” YouTube. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3vsiiRK5GU.
BOOTH, JESSICA. ”7 Signs You’re In A Rebound Relationship” Gurl. 2013. http://www.gurl.com/2013/02/22/what-is-a-rebound-relationship/#1.
BALLROOMDANCERS.COM. ”Tango Basic Walks” BallroomDances.com. 2016. http://www.ballroomdancers.com/Dances/info.asp?sid=260.
JUST FOR LAUGHS GAGS. ”Sexy Dance Instructor Makes Boyfriend Jealous!” YouTube. 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj9dwJflgvc.
MCMAINS, JULIET. ”Reality Check: Dancing with the Stars and the American Dream” Lesson 6 Resources. 2016. https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1039546/files/35263272/download?wrap=1.
