I’ve never gone this long without tango since I started dancing.

In theory, I’m in a better position than most, in living with a tanguera. Steph doesn’t normally dance with me often – our levels are too far apart – but desperate times might have forced desperate measures! Except she’s been ill for three weeks with either flu or COVID-19 (the online GP was playing safe by presuming it to be the latter, but there’s no way to know without testing) …

Tonight, listening to a gorgeous weekly online milonga, she had the energy for exactly one tanda. Had we known that, I’d have waited for a more lyrical one. Ah well!

I felt very rusty! Steph does assure me it all comes back. She once had an enforced break of nine months when she broke her leg, though she was six years in by then …

It was, though, good to dance! And everything worked fine, I just felt rather clumsy and off-balance.

Steph is a very active follower, so much so that I think we might need to decide on a tanda-by-tanda basis who’s really leading!

We’re hoping she’ll have a reasonable amount of energy by next weekend, so I’ve booked another video lesson for then. If necessary, it can be another solo one, but the plan is for us to dance together.

Beyond that, things are obviously very much up in the air. Given that Steph is recovering, the best-case scenario would be that (a) it is COVID-19 (in which case the GP says it’s inconceivable I wouldn’t have caught it too) and (b) there’s an anti-body test available soon. That would leave us non-infectious and immune (current medical estimates are for at least 1-2 years, as it’s a slowly-mutating virus), which would allow us to resume normal life – including dancing with other people also confirmed to have had it.

However, if I haven’t had it and/or tests aren’t available to the public for some time, then I’ll need to persuade Steph to indulge me rather more often!