[Tango-L] SFTX - The Exchange

Tue Jun 26 00:14:28 EDT 2007

Keith HK,

Well said and to the point! I could have said it much better myself, except that there are no such thing as tango gods, period.

Saludos,
Leopoldo

----- Original Message ----
From: Keith <keith at tangohk.com>
To: tango-l at mit.edu
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 12:48:27 AM
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] SFTX - The Exchange

Miles,

Can you please give it a rest; I'm starting to get a little tired of seeing your name in my mailbox.

You've been learning Tango for 8-months and you've NEVER been to Buenos Aires. Which, in my 
book, means you know next-to-nothing. And yet you seem to think you're qualified to 
lecture people on this list on what NEVER happens in Tango, what SHOULD happen in Tango
and how things should CHANGE.

I used to admire your self-confidence, but now it's getting tiresome. If people want to read what
you have to say, I think we all know your blog address by now.

And, from your previous message - there are NO American Tango Gods. If all you know about 
Tango is what you've seen or learned from American dancers and teachers, well - as I said above
- you've seen and learned next-to-nothing. My advice - stop wasting your time and money on Daniel 
Tenner, and other American teachers, and get yourself down to Buenos Aires. It really is the 
ONLY way to learn Tango at the level you so obviously want. American teachers are big fish in 
a very small Tango pool. So the question is, Miles - do you want to dance with the Goldfish or with 
the Sharks? 

Keith, HK

On Tue Jun 26  8:00 , m i l e s  sent:

>(from TangoBliss.com)
>
>The Exchange Itself
>
>Many have asked this same question, what is a “tango exchange” ? My  
>response to that question is somewhat of a derivation of an idea of  
>what Homer had in mind. I like to think of the answer to that  
>question this way:
>
>First let me tell you that the Exchange is NOT a bunch of classes  
>that you sign up for and then stand around in a circle while a  
>teacher leads you through a series of patterns. Truth be told I hate  
>that format for learning tango. There has to be a better way. There  
>just has to be.
>
>The Exchange is also not a critique session of what you’re doing  
>wrong or right. It never ventures there. The Exchange focuses on  
>possibilities, variations on a theme, and errs on the side that  
>everyone (and I do mean everyone) has something valuable to impart  
>either in the form of a question, an idea, a thought, or a consequence….
>
>The idea for the Exchange is something that so rarely happens in  
>Tango, most definitely NEVER at a Milonga, and almost never at an  
>actual practica with MULTIPLE partners, and damned never NEVER in a  
>group class, and not ever in a private.
>
>And what is that something ? Its the open sharing of knowledge. It  
>just doesn’t happen. Stop and think about it for a moment. In what  
>other context do you ’share’ your knowledge of tango, your  
>experiences, your successes, your failures, your explorations...? Now  
>add to that question, at what other time in your tango experience  
>have you sat with like-minded souls and not just talked tango (which  
>we all do till the wee hour of the morning at many a festival or all  
>night milongas), but actually worked on movements and sensations,  
>feelings, and patterns. Now add to that again with a large enough  
>group, say anywhere from 20 - 30 ppl of leads and follows. Where  
>leads work with leads as follows, and or follows, and followers work  
>with leads as leads and followers. When does this ’sharing’ of  
>knowledge happen ? Almost never. Its never concentrated in one place  
>and its never more than on a one on one basis with your local  
>practice partners. Never on a grand scale. Never.
>
>In Argentine Tango, the keepers of the knowledge (teachers) have to  
>make a living somehow and they hold that knowledge unless of course  
>you pay for their time and their expertise.
>
>In a group class you can ask questions of the teachers, but engaging  
>the class in an active discussion and exploration of a given topic or  
>even a wide array of topics, not bloody likely.
>
>In a private you can ask questions of a teacher and their experience  
>of the material and sometimes you’ll get what they’re yapping about  
>and sometimes you won’t but still you’re paying for the experience  
>regardless of your level of success (I don’t know that many  
>professions where you get paid no matter whether you fail or succeed  
>in your task.  If tango teachers were paid on level of performance of  
>their students and not the time involved in teaching I think we might  
>see a slight shift in priorities)...
>
>In a private practice session its one on one. You, your partner, the  
>music and a dance floor. And usually its, in my experience, limited  
>as that may be, where one person is directing the traffic of what  
>they want to work on. Its never bi-directional. And not more than  
>once a week, unless you’re me (in which case its 4 to 5 times a week).
>
>So the Exchange fills that gap...kinda.
>
>Truth be told though from my perspective it can not fill that gap.
>
>The reason is because it doesn’t happen enough, once a year just  
>doesn’t cut it folks. How often do the Tango Brethren in the United  
>States get together (and I don’t mean at a social tango festival) ?  
>How often does that happen ? Damned near never. Sure at a festival  
>you see the ‘teachers’ huddled together and dancing the entire time  
>with each other and rarely do they deign to look in your general  
>direction (and rightfully so when you stop and think about WHY that’s  
>so). But an open exchange of tango knowledge ? Not happening. And  
>certainly not in a class room environment.
>
>Tango has traditionally from the various sources I’ve discussed this  
>with been kept a secret art for some reason. Those who have the  
>knowledge hoard it. Those that don’t must come to the keepers of the  
>flame and pay homage, whilst sucking up, one may or may not gain that  
>which one seeks, as far as tango knowledge goes because in the end  
>you must integrate what you have learned. And ultimately its up to  
>you to make it all work.
>
>The exchange seeks to change that for 4 days out of the year and  
>hopefully change the paradigm a bit, slowly.
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