[Tango-L] 2¢ worth from a beginner

[Robert Wallace]

I have been taking A Tango lessons for about three months  and  
monitoring the list for for the same time. What a valuable resource  
the list is for new dancers. However, this has been my experience  
since falling "head over heels" in love with this dance, no pun  
intended. I have been taking my lessons at a local college in the  
evenings about twice and sometimes three times a week. So far, I have  
been exposed to six different instructors of various experience  
levels. The difference between the instructors is tremendous and  
varies a great deal. Sometimes I just want to quit because I can't  
learn well from a couple the instructors. Their ability to  
communicate in English is terrible and they become impatient when the  
students don't pick up on the lesson quickly. Unfortunately, I can't  
do much about the quality of instruction nor the variety of  
"teachers".  So here I am feeling very insecure in the dance, little  
if any repertoire to use, and left with the impression that the  
university would rather  promote the lessons to only "young handsome  
leads". The lessons vary a great deal in quality from class to class  
and the price varies from $3.00 for the students to $15.00 for adults  
from one of the more respected instructors.

Already, I have observed that there are instructors and students  
alike that I just don't want to dance with. The most important  
quality I look for in an instructor is how they communicate. Can they  
communicate well and read the feedback from an inexperienced student  
and understand the student's confusion when learning something new.  
Secondly, I look at how well they dance on the floor when they are  
not instructing. Lacking much experience, I am easily impressed but I  
have several tapes and CDs of some famous A Tango dancers and use  
them as a guide or model. So far, with the seven different  
instructors, I have been impressed with only one. He is great and  
makes me feel good about my progress. He gives a four hour seminar  
every few months and I will be taking another seminar from him in  
June. I live for that seminar and know that I will be able to "knit  
together" from his teaching and move to a new higher level.

Overall, the progress I am making is very slow and am somewhat  
bewildered and confused. I don't have enough confidence to even  
attend a Milonga yet, but I go and watch. I know eventually I'll  
learn because I'm committed to learning and dedicated to dancing  
well. In the meantime, reading your posts is good but I am sometimes  
embarrassed for the way some "flame" the viewpoints of others. I  
would greatly appreciate any advice or tips you may pass along. The  
tango community is so small in Columbus, Ohio that we can't even get  
enough dancers together to go for coffee after the lessons. Many of  
you are so fortunate to be able to live near large centers of A Tango  
dance and to be able to learn from the "greats". I suppose someday  
I'll have to make the pilgrimage to BA just to see how they dance there.

To comment on the open vs close embrace issue... my best instructor  
teaches open embrace 90% of the time but has instructed us in close  
embrace a few times. However, few if any of the followers want to do  
close embrace that it becomes a mute issue. Since I'm large and  
"portly" few followers are comfortable with me rubbing my belly  
against theirs. But I'm working on that and that's another story. I  
think close embrace is beautiful and hope to be able to add it to my  
routine.

Flame away,

Robert Wallace


"If you would not be forgotten
As soon as you are rotten,
Either write things worth reading,
Or do things worth writing."

				 -Ben Franklin