[Tango-L] Tango without music?

[jan bares]

Martin, Tom,
Sorry, have to disagree. You have a student whose total concentration is on “which foot first and where do I place it? And then, where does my other foot go?” It does not matter how well the instructor explains the music, the music at this point is a distraction or at best the student just tunes it out. We could not get a better testimony than that from Huck who is a musician. The student needs to be comfortable enough with the movement to be able to allocate at least a part of his attention to the music. The instructor can judge the student’s progress and leave the music for the time when it can be appreciated. Even when the student loves the music and it “makes him move” a short NON-music time is needed to get his movements under control. And then comes the leading – how to control her feet? Same issues. 
As to Martin’s observation of good technical dancers who do not pay attention to the music, the cause could be in the instruction or, it could be that what they enjoy is having mastered the movement and just plain do not care about the music. Well, it’s a free country. It is up to the ladies who can refuse their invitation to dance AND tell them why.
And, no, I do not want to be mean. However "The only reason to dance IS the music" - no, not for all. Maybe later. For many, the reason to dance is because it is an effective socializing tool. They carefully review the dance classes and choose a dance where there is enough students of the opposite sex to justify the effort. :-)
Jan