[Tango-L] Getting to Expert (or - Lawrence of Arabia dances tango)

[Rick Jones]

"Nine-tenths of tactics were certain enough to be teachable in schools; but the irrational tenth was like the kingfisher flashing across the pool, and in it lay the test of generals. It could be ensued only by instinct (sharpened by thought practising the stroke) until at the crisis it came naturally, a reflex." 

-T.E. Lawrence, "Seven Pillars of Wisdom"

If Lawrence had been dancing tango rather than fighting a guerilla war, he might instead have written:

Nine-tenths of tango is certain enough to be teachable in classes; but the irrational tenth is like the kingfisher flashing across the pool, and in it lies the test of milongueros. It can be ensued only by instinct (sharpened by the body  practising the step) until at the milonga it comes naturally, a reflex. 



Lucia <curvasreales at yahoo.com.ar> wrote: Tom,
  
  This is a timely post.
  
   Tango-L threads are male dominated, hence the technical analyses of this art form, the Tango. 
    
    I hope that the correspondents obsessed with the technical minutiae be cursed to only think about these while dancing...
    
  But, I wonder how many of you do practice-work  with a steady  partner, a real woman, instead of developing constructs of the mind,  which I suspect is the case? 
    
  Work, like  repeating just one figure for hours, then going to a  milonga to try it out on the pista, then practice it again?
  
  Do you think of the Practica as the means to learn by rote the  technical elements, so that when you are really dancing, you won't  think about your axis and position (these are already learned by your  body), but about the higher levels of dance: about your partner, the  music, the correography?
  
  Or is your practica just another milonga?
  
  Lucia
  
  PS Practice won't make perfect someone with, figuratively  speaking,  wooden legs... but yearning for perfection is a  mistake, it may ruin the enjoyment of  dance, any dance...As the  Greeks said !Know Thyself!, meaning to come to terms with yourself...

Tom Stermitz  escribi�:> Deliberate practice entails more than simply repeating a task �  
> playing a C-minor scale 100 times, for instance, or hitting tennis  
> serves until your shoulder pops out of its socket. Rather, it  
> involves setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedback and  
> concentrating as much on technique as on outcome.
Sounds about right for tango...


 Or, put another way,  
> expert performers � whether in memory or surgery, ballet or  
> computer programming � are nearly always made, not born. And yes,  
> practice does make perfect. These may be the sort of clich�s that  
> parents are fond of whispering to their children. But these  
> particular clich�s just happen to be true.
>
 But what  
> they really lack is the desire to be good and to undertake the  
> deliberate practice that would make them better.



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