[Tango-L] Women's role - what teacher is better for advanced ladies.

[Keith]

 Igor and Other Perfect People,

 I must live in a different Universe to the rest of you guys. First we had Stephen with his students who had ‘mastered’ something
 or other in 6-weeks, now we have Igor who thinks that Intermediate dancers have perfected their dancing skills. All I can say is
 Wow!!  Truth is, as Stephen eventually said ‘mastery’ actually means something less than mastery and I’m pretty sure that Igor
 will agree that ‘perfect’ actually means something far less than perfect. Why use words so loosely that they lose all meaning?

 I’m reminded of when I attended a Ballroom demonstration by Andrew Sinkinson who, although he never became a World
 Champion, was recognised by many as the master of the Foxtrot. A basic figure in the Foxtrot is the Feather Step and
 Sinkinson told us that his greatest regret was not failing to become World Champion but that, after 30-years of practice, he
 had still failed to master the Feather Step.

 I’m also reminded of a recent article that reported on a comparison of test results between Asian and American children. The
 Asian kids scored higher, as they usually do, but when the kids carried out a self-evaluation, they evaluated themselves much
 higher than the Asian kids did. In kids, this kind of confidence may be good, but for adult tangueros, striving to be the best that
 you can be, I don’t think so. 

 What I’m getting at is … WILLYOU PEOPLE GET REAL! Igor, Stephen, I’m absolutely certain that there’s not one person on this
 List who has mastered or perfected any aspect of Tango. And, if there is, show us what it is you that you’ve mastered or
 perfected and I guarantee someone will show you someone doing it better. And I’m equally certain that the really great ones
 will never accept that they’ve perfected anything but will always be striving to improve. Many people on this List just think way
 too much of themselves or evaluate themselves far too highly. And I think most of us know who they are.

 Keith, HK



 On Sun Jul 29 10:11 , "Igor Polk"  sent:

>
>I do not like the word "perfecting skills". Yes, Trini, practically any
>partner is suitable for that. But I'd like to emphasize again. Advanced
>training has very little to do with "perfecting skills". "Perfecting skill"
>- that is for intermediate level. Going to advanced level one should have a
>set of skills which are perfect to work with: to learn how to create a
>dance, discovering new opportunities in the dance.
>