[Tango-L] Technical vs Sensual - Where are the Engineers from?

[burl burl]

The kind of teaching where they tell you to walk like a cat or sink into the floor is never 
  very useful.  A good teacher should be able to tell you exactly what to do without 
  resorting to analogy.  Your leg does go someplace specific (to within a half inch) and
  your shoulders or embrace shift quatifiable amounts.  The best teachers can spot 
  what you're doing wrong and say--"you need to put your left shoulder a few inches farther forward in this turn, so your partner feels the lead...etc"
   
   
  If you tell someone to walk like a cat they may easily think that means slinking around your hips latin-style or coming down on your toes first or forcing your head 
  forward like a duck.  Just because you can dance it doesn't mean you can teach.  It is 
  not enough to demonstrate how things are done by example.  A good teacher corrects 
  minute details, and not by saying "A slightly smaller cat" rather by saying, "2 inches 
  to the right with your Knee bent slighty more."  If you can't be very specific you either
  don't know what you want or don't have the skill to see how to correct your student.
   
  Sloppy teaching tends to propate myths--for example, how many times have we heard
  one beginner say to another:
   
  "Don't use your arms, you lead with your shoulders."  
   
  Now does this mean I have my arms at my side?  Does it mean I can't apply any 
  preasure with my arms?  Do I just kind of leave my arms behind when I turn my
  shoulders?  A good teacher can tell me exacactly what to do, a bad one just
  gives me more platitudes to repeat.  I will just go around saying, "Listen to the music"
  and "it is all in the connection" and "You can dance a whole dance and only
  move 2 feet down the dancefloor if you really feel the music." (which you can do
  but is sure plays havoc with the line of dance).

yours
  Burleigh

		
---------------------------------
New Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC and save big.