[Tango-L] Getting students to dances

[Ron Weigel]

On 8/17/06, Lois Donnay <donnay at donnay.net> wrote:
>
> So how does a teacher get her students to a milonga if they don't think
> they're ready? I would love to see my students go out more often.
.
.
.
> Still some beginners won't venture out -
> "not  good enough yet" or "won't know anybody".

This is a persisting dilemma!

One thing I've found in our community is that there are 2
counter-intuitive groups in our community:
(1) those who attend milongas, but don't attend classes
(2) those who attend classes, but don't attend milongas.

The remaining 2 groups
(3) those who attend classes and attend milongas
(4) those who do not attend classes and do not attend milongas
are not counter-intuitive.


On 8/17/06, astrid <astrid at ruby.plala.or.jp> wrote:
>
> Most students sooner or later join the milongas, only the hopeless cases
> stay in the classes only forever, and maybe that's why they don't progress
> as much.
>

Perhaps this is true in some communities, but I have seen something
different in my own tango community:

The best dancers indeed are those who both attend classes and milongas
(Group 3), as well as a select few have taken classes for several
years and are no longer taking classes with local instructors but are
taking private lessons with traveling instructors at home or in other
communities, dance at festivals, have danced at Buenos Aires milongas,
etc.

In comparing Groups 1 & 2, I see some patterns:

Group 1 consists of rapid learners, who feel classes go too slow, feel
they have learned enough from classes to dance at milongas and don't
need further instruction. Typically, these are people who have studied
tango 6 months or less. They develop rapidly to an early intermediate
level and dwell there - indefinitely. They do not progress to an
advanced level.

Group 2 consists of people who learn more slowly, perhaps lacking some
self-confidence because Group 1 dancers in the same classes are
learning faster. By year 1 they still may not have acquired the skills
that Group 1 dancers have acquired in 6 months, but by Year 2 they
have surpassed them. What they acquire in additional study is better
technique, better leading and following, better improvisational
skills, better musicality.

The time line for these differences probably varies by community,
local instructors, and style of tango. So do the demographic
characteristics. In our university community, for the most part group
1 consists of university students and group 2 consists of older
people, usually over 40.

Younger dancers generally learn faster and have higher
self-confidence. The older dancers, however, do have the wisdom to
know how much they really don't know. In therir defense, the younger
dancers have some preferences and contraints that affect their
choices. The most important is undoubtedly limited income. If the
choice needs to be made, milongas are usually less expensive than
classes. There are also time constraints. The younger dancers in our
community are mostly graduate students and postdocs, and may not have
sufficient time available for  both classes and milongas. On the other
hand, some of them are also exploring other activities, perhaps swing
or salsa dancing, perhaps tai chi or sky-diving.

The problem is to get the students who really are better dancers to go
to the milongas. This is a complex issue and success depends on
numerous factors, but increasing their self-confidence and creating an
environment that is comfortable and fun is important. There are
probably many ways to do this, but addressing this issue is important
because I believe all of us would prefer to have more good dancers at
the milongas.

Ron