[Tango-L] Gender Imbalance in Tango

[Stephen.P.Brown@dal.frb.org]

Tom Stermitz wrote:
>Retention of the guys happens if the teacher can create the following 
>learning experience: At the end of a one hour class, most of the guys 
>can walk their partner through a dance at a regular milonga. They are 
>still beginners, but they can manage (feel they are in control of) 
>their simple vocabulary, they aren't running into people or stopping 
>in confusion, and they feel like they are "almost" dancing. Notice it 
>is about whether they FEEL successful.

>There are several specific things that help this:
>  - Simplify; tango takes time
>  - I use simple steps repeated until the men feel their movements are 
> easy
>  - I attach the simple steps to the musical phrase so that they 
> "feel" right
>  - Improvisation is built by swapping short sequences; it is harder 
> to split up longer sequences.

>  - I don't teach fancy figures, as that leads men to frustration.
>  - I don't teach long sequences, as that turns tango into an 
> intellectual experience, and avoids the intuitive, physical learning.

I think there are some communities where the students end up sorting out 
among the teachers--with one group of teachers teaching the basics Tom 
describes and another group to teaching fancy figures and long sequences. 
Some of the sorting is by gender as Brick Robbins observed in San Diego.
http://pythia.uoregon.edu/~llynch/Tango-L/2006/msg08750.html

One interesting question is to what extent a tango community only has one 
shot any given newbie.  If someone first goes to a teacher who doesn't 
suit his/her learning needs are they inclined to drop out or move onto 
another instructor?

With best regards,
Steve