[Tango-L] Getting educated

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

Jeff Gaynor raises what I consider some interesting points.

At some point, most tango dancers choose not to improve.  In quite a few 
communities the acceptable level of mediocrity can be fairly low because 
people can go to milongas and play at dancing tango.  In such communities, 
we see kind of dynamic that Jeff describes where improving beyond the 
mediocre level is unnecessary to participate and becomes difficult because 
there is no one else dancing well enough that it makes much of a 
difference.  The community remains mired at a relatively low level.

What happens for those tango dancers who have the aptitude, are willing to 
work hard to develop and polish their skills, but aren't planning to make 
a living from tango?  In this case, a personal drive to excel becomes 
necessary to create an environment that launches the person well beyond 
where their own community stands

One typical idea is working with at least one partner who is willing to 
work together toward the same goals of excellent dancing--by taking some 
private lessons and practicing a lot.  Once the couple has succeeded in 
developin their skills to the point they considerable desirable, however 
they will still find themselves in the same community of mediocre dancers.

Perhaps a better idea is to form a small practice group practice group 
with both mena and women in which all the other people have similar goals 
and are willing to work, possibly organizing lessons for the group 
together, attending workshops in other cities as group, etc.   Most 
importantly, everyone in the group must make a committement to developing 
a high level of excellence in tango.  Once the group has succeeded and 
emerges at milongas in the community, everyone in the group will have more 
potential partners at the milongas, and the group may act as a seed for 
better dancing in the entire community.

With best regards,
Steve