[Tango-L] re self proclaimed teachers etc.......................

[Vince Bagusauskas]

I apologise for my last out of context reply.

I replied to all that included Tango-L, in plain text.   I was not aware
that the post by Joanne had not appeared on Tango-L since it had been sent 
to me and to Tango-L
by rich text and was thus rejected.  I have included her message that she 
had meant to Tango-L below.


To Jack,
The competitions are not as far as I can tell run by any real association of 
teachers, teaching a syllabus.  What I fear, is that if you try and 
standardize the syllabus (who will decide?) and get accredited teachers, you 
will change Tango forever, in the bad way that ballroom has gone.

Nor, I do not approve of the competitions in BsAs.  At the very least, I 
believe stage tango as not mainstream in the social life of BsAs. It is a 
recent construct to satisfy the foreign set.  Historians can correct me on 
that.

Cheers,

Vince
in Melbourne

--------------------------------------------------

Having some sort of national association does nothing more than create some 
kind of standard that others can choose to
follow or not.  In dressage riding, there was a similar situation years ago. 
You see, anyone at all could hang out their shingle
and offer riding lessons.  There was no standard.  And many of us know that 
we paid very good money for a very long time
in good faith to people who had no business teaching dressage riding.  Then 
the USDF composed standardized
credentials that an instructor could aquire by taking practical tests and if 
they passed the tests, then they could
use that credential in their portfolio.  At first, many instructors (good 
and bad as well) pooh-poohed the idea, saying that
some certificate would not make them a better instructor.  But the system 
has stood the test of time.
IMHO, it is time for the tango community to look into such a system.
Joanne Pogros
Cleveland, Ohio