[Tango-L] tangoprofessionals.org: Sex, laws, and tango teachers

[Jeff Gaynor]

Brian Dunn wrote:

>Dear List,
>
> 
>
>As part of preparing the launch of a new organization promoting an effective
>professional Code of Ethics for tango professionals, we would very much like
>to correspond with individuals whose tango communities suffered the effects
>of widely publicized (even if only within the community) inappropriate
>sexual behavior on the part of their local tango teachers or other
>established members of their "tango family".  Please respond offline.  All
>individual communications will be held in strictest confidence.  
>
>  
>
This is a disaster in the making. One more time, I do martial arts and 
have for many years. I've seen efforts within that community to do this 
and they have been unmitigated disasters from start to finish.

What professional qualifications do you have that makes you fit to even 
begin to compile such a list and investigate? Sorry, but I suspect you 
have none which means you as amateurs will make mistakes. First time you 
get it less than right (doesn't even have to be wrong) will destroy any 
credibility you have. On top of that, lawyers will have a complete field 
day with you for slander and libel. If you endorse someone who actually 
commits a crime then count on your organization being held accountable too.

Most of these organizations turn into witch hunts, where someone with 
and idealogical ax to grind only certifies their like-minded friends. 
Moreover, it is too easy for a student who just doesn't understand tango 
to make an accusation. What do you do when a woman shows for her first 
tango lesson then runs off to her lawyers because you told her to do a 
standard embrace on a stranger? You can argue until your hair falls out 
that it's part of the dance but that might carry little weight in a 
civil case. Certainly there have been cases of inappropriate behavior 
but these are best treated as *individual* acts by the involved parties 
rather than something the community is plagued with to the point it must 
watch its members.

The plus with a national organization (e.g. the AMA) is that it looks 
like it can indeed police its own members.  What procedures can you 
possibly institute short of having national certifications and a 
draconion licensing program that will assure anyone that an endorsement 
has merit? To be more than a nuisance  you will have to try very hard to 
take over saying who is and who is not a tango instructor. That might 
put you in the weird position that none of the great instructors from 
Argentina are technically instructors since you haven't certified them.  
Won't that help the dance...

Sorry --  giving you the benefit of the doubt that you are trying to 
help the community --  this won't work and the community at large should 
resist it.

Jeff G