[Tango-L] Beginner to Intermediate

[Dlpens@aol.com]

Concerning the recently concluded Chicago Tango Fest, I have one  correction 
and some additional comments on the classes.  During Fernanda  and Guillermo's 
"Turbo Gancho in Giros" class, a friend of mine in the class  asked the 
instructors to explain "Turbo Ganchos" early in the class.   Guillermo looked at 
him, puzzled at the request.  My friend showed him the  schedule whereupon 
Guillermo laughed out loud- it was a misprint.  The  class was about "Turns and 
Ganchos in Giros".  Many of us avoided that  class like the plague figuring that 
the class would be about high speed, fast  moving ganchos.  So the laugh was 
on us as Guillermo and Fernando are  wonderful and very popular instructors.
 
In point of fact, Javier and Andrea did change the subject of a  class after 
only a few minutes.  The class contained some fine instructors  but somehow 
Javier  felt that the entire class needed to concentrate on  walking.  One 
instructor, known for his walking and teaching, had no  problem with having walking 
exercises but did not count on 1 1/2 hours of  walking.  Others walked out of 
the class deeply disturbed by Javier's  prognosis.
 
In another "advanced" class, the instructor had to take time out of  the 
class to go over an ocho with one student.
 
In my opinion, when left to the dancer to place him or her  self in a 
beginner, intermediate or advanced class, the majority will  select a higher  level 
then they should have considered.  Never  was this more evident than in the 
first extensive tango course my wife and I  took in 1998 in Montreal.  On the 
first day, the organizers, Daniel Trenner  with Rebecca Shulman, asked everyone 
to select beginner, intermediate or  advanced level.  One dancer I know placed 
himself in the advanced  level.  In fact, he had no concept of the basics and 
in the end, he upset  the organizers as well as his class mates.  They tried a 
subtle approach to  cause him to move into the beginner level and eventually 
he was asked to leave  that level altogether.
 
The organizer in Chicago tried to use "number of years dancing  tango" as a 
criteria for level placement.  I pointed out to him that this  was not the 
criteria to use.  Using the "years of dancing" criteria some  local dancers with 
10+ years of experience would have been placed in the  advanced level despite 
the fact that they never progressed out of the basic  beginner level.  On the 
other hand, one world class local dancer, teacher,  international performer 
with only 4 1/2 years of tango experience would barely  have made it into the 
advanced level.  Natural talent and dedication to the  dance play a bigger role 
than just the number of years one has danced  tango.
 
I suspect that level placement in tango will always present major  problems 
for organizers, instructors and other dancers.  I recommend that  instructors 
do not stoop to the lowest level dancer in a class especially where  it is 
obvious that that person belongs in a lower classification.   Don