[Tango-L] Getting students to dances

[Lois Donnay]

Great ideas. 
I have my beginning class first, then advanced, and of course the
beginners don't stay, especially since my classes are an hour and a half
rather than just an hour. I'm wondering whether I should reverse that! I
let the advanced people come to the beginning classes for free.

You are right about not knowing what to expect. That's why I try to have
events at cafes and bars, rather than renting studios. Everyone knows
how to sit at a bar.

I tell my beginners that whether they take lessons for one week or one
year, the first time they step on the milonga floor will be terrifying.
They've just got to screw up their courage and do it.

Lois 

-----Original Message-----
From: Hoyt Ng [mailto:hoytlee at earthlink.net] 
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2006 2:14 AM
To: tango-l at mit.edu
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Getting students to dances

I am postulating there are a few things at work here:

1. most classes that are held before the milongas are usually  
arranged- beginners then intermediate/advanced then milonga.  Based  
on this model, most beginners won't hang around that extra hour for  
the milonga, they'll go out and eat and not come back or stay and  
watch and get intimated watching the int/adv folks and leave.

I'd be curious if anyone has reversed this model and had the int/adv  
class first, then the beg. and then the milonga.  more than likely  
the int/adv students will stick around for the milonga, they could  
even assist the beg students and thus make them feel more comfortable  
when the milonga starts right afterwards.  of course this requires a  
charitable spirit form the int/adv folks.

2.  shell shock and intimidation, I remember the first time I went to  
a milonga, it wasn't a very good experience at all.  personally, i  
don't think there are enough practicas around to let the beginner's  
ease their way into the milonga milieu.  I find practicas a less  
threatening way for beginners to nail down the navigation thing,  
practicas tend to be less crowded and more forgiving when a student  
makes a mistake on the dance floor, they can stop, fix it and  
continue without facing the wrath of the other dancers.  at a  
practica they won't be judged which is a fear of a lot of beginners.

3.  i don't think beginners are prepared mentally as to what to  
expect at a milonga nor how they should approach it.  set the  
expectations, including how frequently they may be dancing, how to  
handle rejection, etc., etc., ... otherwise their first experience  
can be very disappointing.

be well,
hoyt


On Aug 17, 2006, at 5:44 PM, Ron Weigel wrote:

> 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
> _______________________________________________
> Tango-L mailing list
> Tango-L at mit.edu
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l

_______________________________________________
Tango-L mailing list
Tango-L at mit.edu
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l