[Tango-L] On group classes ...

[tango@bostonphotographs.com]

I would like to hear what others have to say about this topic. I would
appreciate any comments you may have. I am hoping that this info would
ultimately reach teachers and maybe the group classes would improve.

Lately I've been taking less and less group classes because I'm getting
increasingly frustrated with the experiences I'm having in the class. Here
are my sources of frustration.

1) skill level

it seems to me everyone is grossly overestimating their level. I've
attended intermediate classes where followers did not have BASIC following
skills (like waiting for the lead, having the ability to maintain their
own axis while pivoting, having a presence, being able to disassociate (or
even knowing they are supposed to) their upper and lower body, being able
to walk in a straight line, etc). I'm sure leaders sucked in equal amount,
I just didn't have any experience dancing with them.
It seems like everyone judges their skill level by how many years they've
been dancing. In my opinion, that's just as accurate as judging one's
skill level by the amount of money they paid for their shoes.

As a result of wildly different skill set, either the teacher is lowering
the difficulty of the class to the lower common denominator which will
make it boring, or they don't and I don't have anyone to practice with and
it's frustrating.

2) gender imbalance
for whatever reason nearly all the classes I've even attended are "leader
heavy". Spending half the time "practicing" a figure with an imaginary
partner is too frustrating for me.

3) the switching partners nightmare

I wholeheartedly agree that people should dance with as many people they
can to refine their leading/following skills, but the process of
"switching partners" is always a bloody mess. There is little I hate more
in tango classes then that moment where everyone is looking around
confused trying to figure out who's changing and who's not, trying to
figure out if they are "desperate" enough to RUN to a decent
follower/leader or risk doing another round of dancing with an imaginary
partner or worst, "dancing" with someone lacking basic skills.

Now here are some suggestions on how to address some of these issues :

1) Registration required with payment in advance

The teacher should accept registrations in such a way that the
leader/follower ratio is always 1/1. Asking for payment in advance would
increase the chance the attendance is better. Also, it will allow the
teacher to build on elements taught in prior classes.

2) Pre-vetting students.

The teacher should not accept students who's level is not at the level
required for the class. Period. They should rather encourage those to
attend a lower level class if available. They should judge the people's
level by dancing with them, not by how many years have passed since their
first lesson.

3) Have a system for changing partners.

There was ONLY class I've ever attended that had a decent system of
changing partners. They asked all the couples that are not switching to go
in a corner. They ask all the others to partner up and form a circle. Then
they asked the leaders to memorize that spot in the room where they were
standing. When "changing" partners was requested, all couples that were
not switching were to go to their corner, all leaders where to take their
current follower to their "spot" and then the followers would rotate one
to the right. This way, everyone danced with everyone and there was never
that awkward moment of trying to figure out where do you go.

4) DO ask people to change partners but not every 2 minutes and more often
then every 15 minutes.

5) Less lecturing and more practice time

It seems like most teachers like to hear themselves talk, so in a lot of
cases I spend up to 60% of the class time listening to the same thing 5
times. Say what you have to say succinctly, have people start working on
it and then go individually and address the issues they have.

6) Dealing with unequal skill level

Do not slow down the class if a few people cannot keep up, move along, we
ALL paid for the class, I have no reason to subsidize the training of the
few that can't hack it. Spend equal time with all the students, just
because some can do better then most doesn't mean that they don't need
input. If they were perfect they wouldn't attend the class.