[Tango-L] What Does It Take to Dance Tango?

Tue Aug 15 15:14:25 EDT 2006

Did I miss something?  What I understood when I read what Chris wrote was:

Teachers, in order to eat, need students who pay.
To insure they keep paying you teach them enough that they believe the need more.
Thus they come back for more lessons and pay more money. 
Students Learn and Teachers eat.

Question I read was are there any teachers out there that try to give the student the basics they need to go out and dance at milongas and tells them they don't need any more lessons except a refresher now and then. In other words that gives the student enough information to survive and learn by doing.

My reaction was this is a very simplistic Hobson's choice that probably does not fit the majority. The teacher's I have worked with have a more idealistic view. They all gain satisfaction by seeing their students progress and have fun. This is a source of great satisfaction for most. Most communities I believe don't have a great number of professional teachers that are getting rich by teaching.  My instructors have consistently told me that I will only get better by dancing, classes are part of a path.  I have an option to sign up for a month, for a slight discount, or on a drop in basis. I have never felt any pressure to continue or take lessons. 

With that said, visiting instructors from BsAs are slightly different as they are there for workshops, some are very affable and helpful others are there to deliver a product, take or leave it. That approach is neither good nor bad but rather a matter of expectations. If you expect the comfort level of your local teacher(s) from the visiting group, you may be disappointed. They don't know you and sometimes they don't have time to know you as workshops have usually far more students than a single individual could possibly serve. But that is not bad if you can independently take what is being taught. If you need the hand holding, they usually can't take much time as then you start to hog the session. It is a constant push pull scenario. You experience will ultimately depend on your expectations and attitude.

Back to Chris' question.  I think it was a fair question that posited two side of a common coin but the answer lies more in the middle than the ends. I personally believe that a vast majority of teachers want their students to dance well; it is a reflection on them. Good students that dance well tell friends who tell friend that then prime the pump and money from new students appears. If the teacher is protective and intent on maintain their income by withholding information and systematically feeding to students to keep them on the hook, I believe their continued existence, as a teacher is definitely finite. The market will control.

Just some thoughts,

Bill in Seattle

-----Original Message-----
From: railogic at yahoo.com
To: Tango-L at mit.edu
Sent: Tue, 15 Aug 2006 11:37 AM
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] What Does It Take to Dance Tango?

Our dear Chris clearly wants to be the King of the Queens.... wants to be 
surrounded by innocent so he can get away with it all, ...he surely not stupid 
;)

"Chris, UK" <tl2 at chrisjj.com> wrote:
  I wrote:

> If amongst the hundreds of teachers on this list there is even one
> that meets this description, then please let's hear from you.

First teacher response received below, though not quite the type I was 
hoping for ;)

Chris

Subject: Tango-L
From: "Keith" 
To: tl2 at chrisjj.com
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2006 01:42:41 -0400

Hi Chris,

I used to think you were stupid. Then I read what Caroline wrote:

"When I first went to a Milonga 8 months ago - I had hardly any training 
at all and I had never felt so out of place and lost and quite frankly, 
stupid in my life. I am actually so glad that I did take classes. So 
that's why I'm so surprised by the responses I've gotten today from the 
men."

It suddenly dawned on me that men like you actually want women to feel 
... 'lost and stupid'. I guess it's good for your ego - does it make you 
feel like a real tanguero showing these clueless women how to dance or, 
should I say, dance badly. 

Maybe you're not so stupid - just pathetic.

Regards,
Keith
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