[Tango-L] youtube tango

[Huck Kennedy]

On Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 1:04 PM, NANCY <ningle_2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Ask yourself  would I want a surgeon who had only learned his skill from Youtube videos or one who had studied under the finest surgeons and performed multiple surgeries under supervision and been selected from a number of applicants for a surgical residency or do I want to trust in someone who only watched YouTube surgeries performed by folks of varying skills and experience after some group biology lessons at the local community hall?

       Can we all quit slaying this hapless strawman?  I don't recall
a single person here (including Mario himself) claiming that tango can
be learned from scratch just by watching videos.  I think one poster
did make that claim many years ago (or was that in rec.arts.dance?),
but he is the sole exception that I recall.

       The claim *has* been made by many here that an already
experienced tango dancer can enhance his or her knowledge from
watching videos, and I agree with it.  By the same token, one can also
learn a lot just from sitting and observing a milonga.   Things such
as good posture, for one example.  And the notion of what elegance
looks like.  You can also see bad things and resolve not to make the
same mistakes yourself.

> FYI I am not a tango teacher.  When asked to teach I have said, "I don't know enough" after 17 years of Argentine tango,  multiple trips to BsAs, and a Master's in pedagogy.

        I wish more people were closer to having your attitude in that
regard, but that is a different subject for debate.

Huck