Fred Revisited : Riding with Kismet : The Tango

Here is the part that follows the John Donne Episode.

Preamble

Priya, arranges for a taxi to take her to a house party, in the well to do Durban North. She notices that the taxi is called “Kismet” and wonders about that.

While relaxing in the back seat she mutters the first words of a John Donne poem. She is amazed when he completes the poem for her.

She is surprised but her interest is aroused. When he suggests that he should act as her escort at the party, she hesitates but then agrees. Once inside, she has a certain nevousness. She’s afraid that someone may ask him what his profession is and then her secret will be exposed. 

At dinner, an elderly woman studies Kismet. She is obviously fascinated by him and asks him several questions about his background.

The story here begins when she asks him about his knowledge of dancing. 

The Story Continues 

"Well Kismet, if you are familiar with different forms of dancing, what would you say if I asked you to show us one of your dances?"

"What would I say, Michelle? Perhaps I would ask you what kind of dance you’d like me to do?"

"Ah, Kismet. The tango, of course. There really is no other dance."

"Yes. Of course, Michelle. The tango. The dance of love. The dance that is passion in motion. The dance that is not really a dance but a courtship. If you asked that of me, Michelle, I would say yes, you shall have your tango.” 

He turned to look at the hostess.

“Monika, would you be kind enough to put on a tango for us. Let us for a moment, fill the room with the sounds of romance and passion."

Monika rose quickly and placed a CD in the music player. Soon the dining room was echoing to the sensual sounds of the Tango of Love

"There you are Kismet. There’s your tango. What's more, I'll turn the lights down low."

.Kismet paused for a moment and then turned to Priya. Her eyes opened wide and the colour seemed to drain from her face. He whispered softly in her ear.

"Listen to me Priya. This is our moment. I know that you can dance. I’ve seen the way you walk. You move with the style of a born dancer. So come, let's tango!"

Priya looked at him. First in astonishment but then suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of care-free abandonment, she suddenly knew that there was nothing that she would rather do than dance the tango with him. After she rose to her feet up, she noticed that he was looking into her eyes with a fiery intensity. He continued doing this as he led her by her hand to an open space. She felt bewitched and revelled in the feeling.

 The way that Kismet held Priya and the way that they moved together, made Michelle see her dreams and fantasies of how a tango should be danced, come true. In her mind's eye, she saw a handsome gaucho with a straight back, a passion in his eyes, holding and guiding a sultry village girl through steps, glides, turns and kicks that had the magical effect of freeing her, Michelle, from her lifetime of inhibitions.

When dancers do the tango, some do not hide behind those proud postures adopted in some of those Spanish versions of the dance. There are the same passionately charged atmospheres in both the Argentinean and Spanish dances but in the case of the former, the flowing sensuous bond between partners, is far more obvious.

The diners saw Priya spin away from Kismet and then, still holding his one hand, lean over backwards until her free hand dangled down to the floor. Then she elastically rebounded back into his arms. As she did this, she wrapped one of her legs around his for a brief moment

The passion was obvious but always well controlled just as a true lover controls his tempestuous feelings. The two seemed to know instinctively how to move decisively together. Sometimes they moved, as if they were bound together, and then suddenly both would stop. The halt sometimes seemed to be too sudden and the pause perhaps too long but that was merely a deception caused by the audience's involuntary but deep involvement in the passion of the dance.

The couple danced as if they had danced together all their lives. Sometimes he would stand still and she would roll from one side of him to the other, always remaining in touch with him.

When the music finally ended, a stunned silence followed. After a minute or two, while Kismet disregarded everyone in the room and had eyes only for her, he bowed and led her masterfully back to her seat.

When Priya sat down, she felt a hot flush in her cheeks. She imagined that everyone in the room was looking at her. Silently she sat looking steadily down at her glass of red wine. In awe of what had just happened to her, she was incapable of doing anything else.