[Tango-L] Fwd: Tango Teachers

[HBBOOGIE1@aol.com]

From: HBBOOGIE1
To:  tango-l at mit.edu
Sent: 6/12/2009 9:55:11 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
Subj:  Tango Teachers


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  He
rrera. Now 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 dancing 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 
it 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 do? 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 or how to lead  ochos or 
whatever. 
We can even ban those that dance Nuevo…now that really  would be a good 
thing.
Oh well just wishful thinking. It’s always going to be  the way it is. Do 
you think back in 1885 in San Telmo  BsAs at the regular  Saturday night 
Milonga they would sit around the dance floor drinking Mate and  bitch 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.





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