[Tango-L] On group classes ...

[Chris, UK]

tango at bostonphotographs.com wrote:

> It seems like everyone judges their skill level by how many years 
> they've been dancing.

Sure, but dancers have no choice if they want to select classes from 
teachers who define the lesson level on that basis. Most class teachers do 
define level by how many years you've been dancing (and most of the rest 
by how many steps you've learnt!).

> that's just as accurate as judging one's skill level by the amount of
> money they paid for their shoes.

Agreed. Often girls in their first month or so are of a higher standard 
than those that have danced/classed for many years. It's tragic to see 
them demoralized by classes that have them trying to follow leaders who 
despite being 'advanced' by years, still haven't got the basics.

> As a result of wildly different skill set, either the teacher is 
> lowering the difficulty of the class to the lower common denominator 

Professional class teachers are in a situation where they have a real 
problem reconciling on the one hand being truthful to students about their 
standard of dancing and on the other filling the classes.

I'm sure that many teachers would love to be free to say what they know to 
be the truth: past beginner, the longer you've been doing classes, the 
lower on average is your standard of dancing.

Chris