[Tango-L] Fwd: who's really qualified to teach

[hbboogie1@aol.com]

From: HBBOOGIE1 at aol.com
To:  tango-l-owner at mit.edu
Sent: 12/28/2009 4:42:20 P.M. Pacific Standard  Time
Subj: who's really qualified to teach


Tango Teachers  are a strange lot. One thing they all have in common is a 
lack of certification,  wait a minute …. They don’t need any certification. 
Lets see I’ve had six group  classes with a local teacher I feel like I 
dance pretty good I think I’ll have  some business cards printed up with a slick 
picture of me in tango attire and  start teaching.
I’ve witnessed this time and again and it really ticks me off  and it’s 
not only the beginners who profess to be teachers but it’s also those  who 
claim to be experienced who have traveled to or originated from BsAs and  
studied under many of the great dancers.
I’ve traveled to BsAs many times and  studied with the great Roberto 
Herrera. Wow that would look good on my resume  but the truth is I had one group 
lesson with Roberto in 2002. Am I qualified to  teach…No

What I do when choosing a teacher is watch them dance and decide  for 
myself if I feel they are good dancers and more important are they teaching  a 
style I like.
A good example for me would be Facundo Posadas I love how he  dances and 
wanted to learn all I could about his style.
I know what you’re  thinking…just because someone dances well doesn’t mean 
they can teach well.  You’re absolutely right. I’ve had classes (class) 
with great dancers who were  not good instructors. It’s your job to determine 
if that teacher is the one for  you. You being a pretty experienced dancer 
can make that informed decision but  what about that poor beginner who doesn’
t know the difference between good and  bad tango? 
This is a problem all over the world and it’s not going to go  away. So 
what can we as a tango community ? Make a black list and pass it out at  
milongas warning people about certain teachers we don’t like? I don’t think  so.
Post their names and locations on tango forums? Not a good idea. Hire a  
guy named Big Tony to break their legs? That one could work…..Probably  not

Okay so what’s the solution? I don’t know if there is a solution. I  do 
know that it produces bad dancers that disrupt the floor for the rest of us.  
I just had an idea…. Getting into a milonga could require taking a test 
like  the SATs for getting into college.
Score too low go back and learn more floor  craft. 
Oh well just wishful thinking. 

Do you think back in  1885 in San Telmo at the regular Saturday night 
Milonga they would sit around  the dance floor drinking Mate and bitching about 
the new guy doing the high  boleos and not respecting the line of dance….NO, 
someone would whip out a knife  and cut him…ahhh the good old days.