[Tango-L] tango learning concepts

[Gary Barnes]

On 17/06/2006, at 7:02 AM, Chris, UK wrote:
>
> Learning is essential to learners. Teaching is essential too - to  
> teachers.
> Only one is essential to dancing.
>

In an extreme reductive way, this may be true - of anything: dancing   
tango, fishing, gymnastics, learning to speak, driving a car.

Nevertheless, for many human activities, many people seem to find  
that at least some kinds of  teaching help them to learn faster or  
better. Teaching often seems to reduce the barriers to learning  
enough that they start in a new field. Some people learn the same  
things, without being taught. And often, people get taught, but do  
not learn. Also often, people are not taught, and do not learn.

I don't know if this level of analysis is helping us figure out how  
best to learn tango.

What I would like to hear is some more information about the  
alternatives being suggested, mostly by Chris: learning without  
teachers.

So, can someone give me some examples of how to go about learning  
tango without teachers?  And, how successful is it, and for what kind  
of students? I have a lot of experience of people learning with  
teachers being only a part of the picture; but I have no personal  
experience of anyone who has learnt to tango without teachers at any  
stage.  How does it work?  Is it generally applicable? For a new  
community - ie one where no-one yet dances tango - how would they go  
about it? This is not an academic question - there are many places  
where people are saying 'we would love to learn to tango, but there  
are no teachers here, so we cannot get started'. This other method  
would seem to provide a solution.

Gary