[Tango-L] tango learning-- Overcoming bad habits

[TangoDC.com]

Look fellas,

Splitting this discussion into teaching vs. learning really is quite 
pointless, because we're talking about one body of knowledge, and three 
different ways of parsing it, or shaping it into 60-minute topics.

Now, I doubt there's a *good* teacher out there who doesn't focus on one 
area over another, because teachers learn to recognize their strengths 
and rely on them. I also doubt this phenomenon, known as "having an 
intellectual personality," is unique to American teachers.

Also, I doubt there's a *good* student out there who has failed to 
realize that, e.g., step-sequences are different from improvisation.

Bad teachers and students, on the other hand, are almost by definition 
those who:
* don't know themselves
* don't know the material
* don't know that the dance is layered with different kinds of technique

In the hopes of moving this discussion a little bit forwards, I'll offer 
a couple observations from both sides of the admissions ticket, which is 
to me the same piece of paper.

DISCLAIMER: Run like hell. I'm one of those who likes several styles, 
dances them, and will even try to teach them. I find different styles 
perfectly compatible, so long as one can identify the functional 
principles behind them, and allow for slight variations between 
individual dancers.

L E A R N I N G
Classes necessarily distort the dance by making it predictable to some 
extent. This is especially true when the topic is a particular move, or 
a sequence of steps, which it most often is. As a leader, I always try 
to throw in off-topic steps, whether to navigate amongst other couples 
or just to prevent my follower from anticipating things (which can 
interfere with my learning to lead it correctly). (It also interferes 
with her learning to execute it correctly, so I do this even if I 
already "know" the move being taught, which often happens.)

I also try to time things to the music, because I never really 
understand what a sequence or move is For, until I learn it as an 
expression of rhythm or pitch.

In addition, I try never to practice anything without preserving the 
line of dance, because I've found that such habits stick. Many students 
get moves into their muscle memory without considering the social 
context-- the big "tango racetrack," as it were-- and that makes it 
harder for them to refine navigation later.

All three of these "extra" topics that I try to remember when learning 
new steps-- improv, musicality, and navigation-- are what could be 
called "structural ideas" of the tango. They're also the three things 
that most (/most/) followers I've partnered in group classes find 
themselves getting thrown off by, because they're trying to do as the 
teacher says, rather than synthesize the new content with what they 
already know, or should know.

I synthesize from the start. It's no more challenging, once you form the 
habit, and the habit is easy to form. It has helped me accelerate my 
learning to a considerable degree. When I partner with a less 
experienced follower-- someone who's only been dancing a few months, 
say-- I regularly get the comment: "I don't know what else you were 
leading there, but I hope I followed it okay." I'm getting tired of 
telling them they did fine, and I just threw in some simple maneuvering 
steps to keep things fresh. But I suspect not many students are taught 
to synthesize their learning in the early stages, and not many do it of 
their own accord.

T E A C H I N G
My teaching is built upon my learning, and I challenge my students to be 
creative. I teach structural ideas, or functional principles. The 
students who are used to sequences get confused at first, but quickly 
catch up. The ones who expect a new move get disappointed, because at 
best I'll just show them how to lead a move they already know a little 
bit better, or more easily, or more musically; I can show them ten new 
ways to play with a toy, but if they get upset at me for not giving them 
a "new colgada" or something, I tell them to be more creative with their 
old one, using the knowledge I've tried to impart.

Or I tell them to do "tango moves" to a milonga. Or whatever. Every 
dance is an experiment.

In any case, I find that teaching "advanced" concepts to beginners is 
much easier than trying to drill them into so-called intermediate 
students, because bad habits are very hard to eradicate. A lot of 
followers learn to "kick" their boleos somewhere along the line, for 
instance, and teaching them to relax their leg, release their weight 
into the floor, and open themselves to a wider range of expressive 
shapes and timings can be as frustrating for me as it is for them. They 
feel like they're losing something they've worked hard to acquire; I 
feel like they're resisting what is, in truth, a rather simple idea too 
stubbornly. Now, I don't know if such habits are formed by learning 
sequences by rote, or by too-early exposure to moves, or by trying to 
copy what the eye sees (which is by far The Worst way to learn tango), 
but something's responsible, and I think it's keeping a lot of dancers 
from making faster progress.

I've started teaching an "overflow" class for beginning and intermediate 
dancers on Thursdays (i.e., dancers who don't qualify for the advanced 
class Murat Erdemsel is teaching in the same space), so perhaps I'll 
figure out some strategies for coping with students' bad habits, and 
getting them to leave them behind-- or at least consider it. But in a 
few more weeks, I'm taking over for two months of instruction, and I'd 
like to have my toolbox in order when it's time.

What I'll be doing anyway is exposing students to structural ideas, and 
asking them to abandon predictability. I'll encourage them to play. And 
I'll attempt to illustrate how bad habits inhibit their efficiency and 
their expression, and how they can dance much more easily (and 
delightedly) without them.

But if anyone can help me figure out how to address bad habits well, I'd 
appreciate it tremendously. I only have a short list of ideas here:
* I teach students to do things "wrong," on purpose, so that they can 
see the difference between wrong and right more clearly-- and so that 
they exaggerate their mistakes into conscious territory
* I teach followers some "self-defense" skills, for coping with overly 
forceful or hapless leaders (e.g., loosening their arms with those who 
lead boleos with arms only, keeping their free leg under themselves 
during volcadas with leaders who do them larger than they can control)
* I teach leaders not to stoop under the weight of a "heavy" (downward, 
rather than horizontal) follower's embrace
* I teach both partners to change embraces if and when they need to, and 
to be clear about which embrace they're using

All of this has led to student progress in my private lessons (e.g., 
they start learning more about their dancing when they're away from me, 
they learn more quickly from other teachers, they dance better), but 
group classes don't allow me to establish the same personal rapport with 
everyone at once.

So: Bad habits and how to conquer them, in self and in others. I offer 
my list to anyone who can use it. Offer me yours if you'd like to help 
me (and my students) out.

Jake Spatz
Washington, DC



Stephen.P.Brown at dal.frb.org wrote:
> Wow! Chris must be confused.  There is very little resemblance between 
> what I wrote and his selective quotation of my remarks.
>
> To clarify my thoughts for Chris and others who may be equally befuddled, 
> I will restate and amplify the idea once more.
> (In doing so, I am ignoring the ensuing discussion which has been quite 
> informative.)
>
> Most people pursue learning by studying with a teacher who uses a 
> pedagogy.
>
> Pedagogies are limited by their nature, and in my opinion each of the 
> three major pedagogies used to teach tango in the United States are 
> extremely limited.
>
> Because each of the styles of tango are linked to a particular pedagogical 
> approach to teaching in the United States, the profusion of poorly trained 
> dancers has created confusion between the characteristics of a style and 
> the limitations of the pedagogical approach to teaching that style.  That 
> confusion may have resulted in the appearance that different styles of 
> tango are wildly incompatible and do not belong to the same generic dance 
> form.
>
> Moreover, it lets the instructors and other advocates of each style 
> criticize the other styles for characteristics of the pedagogy rather than 
> the style itself.   Dancers who have been taught by instructors using 
> narrowly conceived pedagogies and who have not learned very deeply on 
> their own may be misled into believing they are dancing a style that is 
> substantially different/better than the other styles.  Dancers who have 
> been so misled may polarize into communities of ignorant, 
> self-perpetuating belief.
>
> If students are unable to look beyond the one pedagogy by which they are 
> being taught, their learning will be relatively limited.  Through their 
> own exploration, some dancers may overcome the limitations of the narrow 
> pedagogy by which they have been taught and actually learn to dance their 
> own tango.  Others may might find it fruitful to pursue instruction from 
> those taking different pedagogical approaches to teaching tango, but doing 
> so in the United States is likely to mean taking classes from instructors 
> who teach different styles of tango.
>
> Occasionally, you will find a wacky instructor who uses a widely conceived 
> pedagogical approach and is open to multiple styles of tango.  Run like 
> hell to get away because such instruction is likely to prove totally 
> confusing or you will end up misunderstood yourself.
>
> With best regards,
> Steve
> _______________________________________________
> Tango-L mailing list
> Tango-L at mit.edu
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
>
>
>