The Devil in the Details

Tango makes the cover of Westword this week. The cover art looks like a frame from an animated film.

The lead is facing the reader. He is well-dressed in a tux, debonair, long and lean, very Art Deco. He has pretty, girly lips and heavy-lidded eyes. He looks haughty. One eyebrow is cocked.

Artists work in symbols, just as writers do. As every word is a choice, so is every stroke. This choice is deliberately vague: A cocked eyebrow denotes surprise … speculation … disdain … the chummy “get it?” of an insider’s joke.

Which one does the artist intend here? The artist intends for you to decide. Look for clues.

At first glance, the couple appears to be dancing milonguero style, two planks pressed flat against one another. But look again. She is bowed. If you take a pencil and draw a line that follows the curve of her axis past the lower frame of the picture, you can’t miss it:

She is pressing her hips strongly against him. Their knees have clearance, but you couldn’t get cellophane between her hips and his. This is clearly her choice; his hand is nowhere near the small of her back. Indeed, it is flung out in surprise.

Follow the line of her axis upward. Starting at the top of her ribs, she bows sharply away from her partner. Her head is turned to look over her shoulder. Both of her eyebrows are cocked.

No wonder. They have just finished a twirl, and her skirt has flown up. She is wearing no panties. Her thighs and bare bum are displayed for your viewing pleasure.

Her expression is unhappy, but not surprised. The nature of her unhappiness is unclear. Is it dismay? Disdain? Wretched sadness? You decide. She is the one who came to this formal dance without panties.

Next to her bare bum is the headline: “Pants off Dance off." Up above it says this: "The tango is an intimate dance, but this teacher took it too far.”

I’ll say she did!

No wonder the poor guy looks surprised. No wonder he has flung out his hand.

But wait: Give the lead’s hand a second long look. Count his fingers, and you will see that what at first glance looked like his thumb is actually a curved index finger. His thumb is hidden behind the skirt.

Is he delicately holding the skirt between thumb and forefinger? Lifting it? That would mean he and she are in collusion. She leaves off the panties; he lifts the skirt.

Look again: Cover half of the lead’s face, showing only the half with the cocked eyebrow. The artist has given him a cruel mouth.

And check out that hair: Combed straight back with a bit of widow’s peak. It’s an insider’s joke: Tango Colorado folk immediately recognize that hairline. You can bet the artist is proud of that touch.

We all have heard the reports. Yet she is the one pressing up against him. She is the one wearing no panties. The headline says Pants off Dance off, the name of a TV show starring amateur strippers.

The artist's intention is clear.