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

[Marisa Holmes]

Tine wrote:

>   If you explain things with precision it is good
> for everybody. 

No, it really isn't.  It's very good for people who
learn that way.  It's very bad for people who do not -
and it's incredibly bad for people for whom thinking
about words interferes with their experience of
movement.  I suggest, as someone else has, that if you
find a very high percentage of the folks in your
classes learn that way, it is not just because your
target population is full of that type of learner, but
also because you have sorted out the ones who learn
differently.  They concluded early on that tango is
not their type of dance. 

Some people can learn a movement just by watching
someone else perform it; other people may swear they
have never seen a movement in their lives - even if
they themselves use it all the time.  Some people can
learn a movement only if it is explained; others can
learn it only if they are walked through it.  Some
people can learn to repeat a rhythm by being told the
count (1 and 2 and 3, pause); some need to hear a
mnemonic phrase (peas and carrots); some have to say
the count or the phrase out loud while doing the move.
 Some people find an analytical, verbal approach to
tango, complete with practicing everything on the
other side as well, to be incredibly effective; some
people find that as soon as the instructor starts
talking the verbal side of their brain kicks in and
the movement side is out the door.

Many people really learn best of all by using several
of these "channels."  My own best path to learning to
lead something is to see it; walk through it behind
the instructor; and then to be back-led through it
repeatedly, taking more and more control of the
movement myself on successive run-throughs until I am
leading it.  It sometimes help me refine or improve a
movement to hear a description of the place where the
instructor can see I'm having trouble.  This is
instructor-intensive, of course, and I don't
necessarily get it for every move.  But it is the very
best, ideal way for me to learn.

We don't all dance the same.  We don't all learn the
same.  There is no one best way to teach a group -
unless it is to feed information through as many
channels as you can to help as many of the students as
possible.  I teach (although not dance) and I know
it's hard to teach people who learn differently than
you do yourself.  But just because it's hard doesn't
mean it's not worthwhile if you want to be a good
teacher.

Marisa

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