[Tango-L] Two of My Teaching Pet Peeves

[Tango For Her]

Someone wrote to me:

> "keep his left foot in(one of the biggest problems >
out there that teachers really don't fix in most 
> classes!) 
> and 
> having the follower take a smaller back 
> step than all those teachers out there LOVE to 
> teach so that they wouldn't separate from their 
> young leaders."  
> 
> Are you refering to the cross ???

Not necessarily.  No.

Teachers spend a lot of time teaching beginning
leaders how to walk and go to the cross.  They spend a
lot of time teaching followers to extend their leg, in
doing a backstep.

But, I have a few pet peeves about a lot of tango
teachers.  

Look.  You want your beginning leaders and
intermediate leaders to stop knocking their followers
off balance?  Find ways to teach them to have their
left foot step in front of them rather than off to the
left.  They ALL do it!  STOP THEM!  Why go on with
your classes if you are going to keep letting them
step slightly off to the left with their left foot?  

1. It puts their follower off balance.
2. It creates confusion between a front step and a
side step or an ocho.  If I was a young follower, I'd
go nuts!  It's so easy to fix and it's one of the
biggest reasons for confusion!

Someone, PLEASE, tell me why soooo many teachers teach
young followers to s-s-s-s-stretch their leg out,
really far, in a backstep!!!  Is that the only way to
teach them to have a straight knee and a beautiful
leg?  Can't they have it with a shorter backstep like,
say, in the same county?

What if their young leader leads a 12" step and they
step into the next county?  NEITHER of them knows how
to fix that awful feeling of having absolutely no
connection.  Bounce!  Bounce!  Bounce! 

It's sooo easy to fix!!!!

Sorry, everyone!  Those two, and a few others, drive
me nuts!  Almost every teacher that I have seen lets
those things go!  They are a couple of the BIGGEST
reasons for confusion!

Whew .... I'm okay. Now.  




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