[Tango-L] Men and classes

[Ed Doyle]

Hi All,
I have the singularly good fortune of living six months of the year in
Portland Oregon, and six months of the year in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida.  All the teachers in Portland (and there are many) seem to me
to spend an equal amount of time in their group lessons on follower
techniques.  Often as a warm up, everyone, leaders and followers spend
time walking backwards in a giant circle.  Although this is primarily
for the followers, I think I have benefited as a leader too.  If
anyone here gets the chance to take group classes from Oscar Caballero
and Roxana Garber in North Miami Florida, there is no question that
they are very very concerned with follower technique - try them and
see.
Happy tango-ing.
Ed

On 7/10/06, Tom Stermitz <stermitz at tango.org> wrote:
> I'll second what Jay says.
>
> Perhaps you are taking classes from the wrong teachers. There are a
> number of excellent teacher who present material for both the men and
> the women. Ask around. Try taking from different teachers.
>
>
>
> On Jul 10, 2006, at 1:39 PM, Jay Rabe wrote:
>
> > Your comments are at least historically valid about the
> > worthlessness of
> > group classes for followers beyond a certain point. However, that
> > observation also has been made by many others in addition to
> > yourself over
> > the years. As a result, at least here in Portland, there has been a
> > growing
> > effort on the part of instructors to include content aimed
> > specifically at
> > followers and their technique. In conclusion, I would say that this
> > evolution in teaching is changing the landscape, and, again at
> > least in
> > Portland, it is becoming less and less true that followers cannot
> > benefit
> > from group classes even with several years of experience.
> >
> >      J in Portland
> >      www.TangoMoments.com
> >
> > ----Original Message Follows----
> > From: mallpasso at aol.com
> >
> >
> > I think that after two years of group classes any further group
> > classes for
> > women are a waste of their time and money since most of these
> > classes are
> > geared towards leaders learning new steps, etc.  Instead, women
> > should focus
> > on taking privates to work on their technique.  Ditto for men, but
> > after
> > four years of group classes, so they can also work on their technique.
> >
> > My two cents worth.
> >
> > El Bandido de Tango
>
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