[Tango-L] Time in Classes, Practices and Milongas

[Tango Society of Central Illinois]

In my opinion, there is some balance between taking classes and
dancing at milongas. The purpose of taking classes should be to
prepare you for dancing at milongas. At some point you need to go. On
the other hand, people who have had little instruction in tango
shouldn't be at milongas. They are navigational hazards and in lacking
proper technique they can make dancing with them uncomfortable and
possibly even painful. Its hard to separate facts from rumors and
urban myths, but I've heard that in Buenos Aires (in the past?) men
would not consider going to milongas unless they've had at least one
year experience at practicas. In the US we have people dancing at the
milongas after a 1 hour intro to tango lesson. My guess is that Buenos
Aires has something to tell us about tango here.

When people are ready for milongas will vary from person to person.
Most likely it is their own comfort zone that decides their
participation in each, rather than their ability. I've had some
students that cringe at the slightest suggestion for improvement
(e.g., "Straighten your spine") yet ping-pong around the dance floor
with utmost confidence at the milongas, and others for whom repeated
encouragement in class will not have them even make a milonga
appearance.

The key to transition is likely to be the 'practica'. Implict
(actually explicit) in the term is 'practice', which implies you can
make mistakes with being ostracized. But what form should this
practice take? Practicas come in many flavors in the US, from group
led exercises, to people meandering in one-by-one over a 3 hour period
and getting private instruction for $10 or less, to tango music
lacking tandas with no instructional input. In my own experience I
have found group led exercises to be most effective in improving dance
skills. Set up a class structure (pay a fee, arrive at beginning, stay
to the end) set up a line of dance, get people dancing, change
partners, provide group and individual feedback (mostly about
technique), but be sure to provide ample opportunity for dancing. If
people sit, you've failed in your mission.

There is also room in a student's development for the 'tango party', a
more informal environment with food and beverages, with a smaller
group of people who know each other, socializing and dancing without a
formal instructional structure, although the instructors could provide
feedback on a one-to-one basis.

Maybe a transition from:
classes -> practica -> tango party -> milonga
would get the reticent out of the classroom when they should be and
maybe coral the over-estimators of their own ability away from too
early immersion in the milongas. For the latter group, this could work
because for many of these the social aspects of milongas are the
primary reason they are there.

Ron