[Tango-L] Tango without music?

[jan bares]

Tom,
Let me explain before the subject can be declared beaten to death. 
What I started with was mildly exaggerated my own beginner learning experience from the last century. In my text further on you saw "...a short non-music time is needeed...". As an example let me describe this exchange: Instructor: "OK, show me...no, no forget the music now...you go in with your left to get a calf-to-calf contact, wait, again, keep your heel low to limit the risk of hurting your partner. Continue by weight transfer on your left and close the right to the left, it's your space now. That's OK, now try again and make sure that you do not push the follower from her axis... And so on... OK, now, hear the music..."  Clearly a teaching interval where the music was unnecessary. Needless to say that you know what is being taught.
Jan 

--- On Tue, 4/26/11, Tom Stermitz <stermitz at tango.org> wrote:

> From: Tom Stermitz <stermitz at tango.org>
> Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Tango without music?
> To: "tango-l List" <tango-l at mit.edu>
> Date: Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 12:02 AM
> On Apr 25, 2011, at 8:14 PM, jan
> bares wrote:
> > 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.
> > ...
> > Jan
> >
> 
> @ Jan
> 
> I have 15 years of teaching experience informing me that it
> is both  
> possible, useful and necessary to teach music and movement
> at the same  
> time. I have much experience informing me that without
> teaching music  
> with movement at the beginning, you get people who "DO
> tango steps"  
> but "don't DANCE tango". From the teacher perspective,
> without music  
> and movement together, student retention is low because
> people do not  
> feel like they are dancing; if things just don't "feel
> right" they  
> have low confidence, and very low achievement of the
> material.
> 
> Maybe you need to try checking out several different
> teachers with  
> different methods from your experience.
> 
> And, What the heck do you mean by people having the
> problem: “which  
> foot first and where do I place it? And then, where does my
> other foot  
> go?”. Have you actually seen this? I mean, beyond the
> first ten  
> seconds of class? For sure, get a different teacher who
> bypasses that  
> concern.
> 
> 
> @ David
> 
> > Unless you’re from another planet every one of you
> have  had a tango  
> > lesson
> > group or private
> > First the instructors will dance the  figure
> their going to teach
> > Now the men and women get split up usually 
> facing each other from  
> > across
> > the room
> > WITHOUT MUSIC the instructors will  walk through
> the figure for both  
> > the
> > men and the women
> 
> In planet Denver, I have never seen this instructional
> method, and in  
> 15 years have never used this method. Okay, to be honest
> there are a  
> couple of specific figures that need different explanations
> for men  
> and women, which are easier to manage by separating the
> couple for a  
> moment, but not at the beginning level. In general, tango
> requires  
> intense lead-follow skills so there is no value in
> separating the  
> partners.
> 
> I have heard this is common in ballroom, but I don't have
> direct  
> experience there.
> 
> 
> Tom Stermitz
> c: 303-725-5963
> http://www.tango.org
> Denver, CO 80207
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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