The 41-year-old Dunedin musician recently broke his neck while breakdancing with a friend, and temporarily lost feeling in his arms, hands and fingers - the very things he uses to play guitar.
"[My friend] was always a very good dancer, especially breakdancing. So we thought we would have a little breakdancing battle.
"I was spinning and I caught a piece of carpet on the floor and hit my head on the wall.
"There was a white flash and then my vision went."
The accident had broken his C6 vertebra, shattered two teeth and left him severely concussed.
However, unaware of the seriousness of his injuries, Mr Tane did not seek medical attention, and instead went home to bed.
The next day, he went to work teaching music and Maori language at King's High School, and by 11am the pain had become so intense, he decided to visit his doctor.
When Mr Tane said he had tingling in his arms and hands, the doctor immediately called for an ambulance, and an X-ray confirmed his injury.
"I feel lucky. I could have been a tetraplegic. Another twist to the neck could damage my spinal cord.
"At 41, not being warmed up properly, wagging the tail so hard, trying to do some breakdancing was not a good idea."
Mr Tane is a classical guitarist, and entertains most weekends playing with bands at Dunedin venues.
Unfortunately, it could be months before he is able to perform again.
"I tried to play guitar on Saturday night and my whole body just burned."
He may need surgery to fuse some of his vertebrae, and will undergo weeks of rehabilitation, but hoped he would be entertaining again by Christmas.
Despite the trauma, Mr Tane said feeling was beginning to return to his upper extremities and he was philosophical about the long road to recovery.
"It's been a real motivator for me to plan out a lot of areas in my life which I've taken for granted.
"This has inspired me to think about what I want to do ... I've been a little aimless.
"I'm looking forward to choosing some new music, getting a fresh vibe and stepping into something that I can really drive."
Mr Tane was worried how his pupils at King's High School and performance students at the University of Otago Music Department were doing, given exams were not far away.
He hopes to return to teaching duties by the end of this term.
As for the future, he believes he has learnt his lesson.
"From now on, I'll do what my son says and just stick to doing the robot dance, eh."
