" I've always wanted to dance the tango, but never did. I visited Argentina, its tango bars and night clubs, but never tried. The tango overwhelmed me with its intensity: the dominant leader, the submissive follower, the ability to balance on one foot. Then I watched Al Pacino dance the tango in "Scent of a Woman". He is blind, his partner inexperienced. He offers her the opportunity to dance her first tango; she offers him the pleasure of leading a beautiful young woman in this most seductive dance..

Initially, the young woman hesitates, afraid of making a mistake. Reassured by Pacino that the tango is not a metaphor for life—that if you make a mistake and get all tangled up, you can "untango" yourself—she accepts the challenge and dances her first tango over afternoon tea at the Plaza Hotel.

I too have decided to accept the challenge. After ten years of living with Parkinson's, the kind that leaves you stiff and immobile, I will dance the tango, along with others experiencing neurological challenges, no longer afraid of making mistakes. If I get tangled, I can untangle. I will dance the tango and drink afternoon tea in the Bethune Ballroom, not the Plaza, but it will be just as meaningful, if not more so."

Carole Hartzman