5059  How about 6 Hours?

Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:45:08 -0500
From: Stephen.P.Brown@dal.frb.org
Subject: [Tango-L] How about 6 Hours?

;-) ;-)

IMNSHO, the standard approaches to teaching tango handicaps people in
learning tango. First the teachers teach the wrong material to beginners
and then cover it up by pretending that learning the basics of tango is
much harder than it is.

Of course, the instructors have to cope with people who suddenly have
brain freeze when they are confronted to moving to the music. That is why
it is important to break the dance into small rhythmic elements that can
be learned by beginners. (The 8-count basic and its derivatives promote
brain freeze in beginners.) That is also why not all of the students can
learn to dance passably in 6-8 weeks, even when taught correctly--only the
majority can. (Okay, here I will concede that people attracted to tango
in Dallas might be more rhythmically gifted than those in Atlanta and Hong
Kong.)

How much additional work is required to move from passable competence to a
higher level of competence and then mastery depends on a lot of
factors--including how much time the would-be dancer puts into practicing,
and how many wrong directions they get from their instructors.

My own experience as a beginner is relatively familiar: In a two
different series of classes that Susan and I took as beginners with two of
the "great masters" we learned two different 32 step sequences complete
with the prescribed embellishments. We were "dancing" tango for about
half a year before we had an instructor who helped us understand that the
dance has an underlying structure from which the step patterns are
created, and several years before someone really taught us a good
understanding of the rhythm. We were lucky that the latter two
instructors came along. Had they not, we might have remained among those
thinking that they dance tango while remaining hopelessly trapped in
unrhythmic patternitis.

Sure tango instruction has changed since the early 90s--when Susan and I
first started learning tango--but much of what passes for instruction
remains rote learning "graded" sets of step patterns with some attention
to the quality of movement, and nothing else. We consider rhythm as the
basis of tango and improvisation as one of its most important
characteristics, but most instructors ignore rhythm and treat
improvisation as an advanced topic.

With best regards,
Steve

Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:22:12 -0400
From: "WHITE 95 R" <white95r@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] How about 6 Hours?

>We consider rhythm as the
>basis of tango and improvisation as one of its most important
>characteristics, but most instructors ignore rhythm and treat
>improvisation as an advanced topic.
>
>With best regards,
>Steve

Considering rhythm as the basis of improvisation and actually dancing with
rhythm are two wildly different things ;-) ;-) As for skill and quality of
tango dancing, I think Atlanta has as good as there is. Steve, please
consider coming to Atlanta next week. You and Susan can enjoy 5 milongas in
4 nights with the Atlanta dancers (and the best from other places as well).
Plus you get to see a performance by Gustavo Naveira & Giselle Anne. I think
you might be surprised. Talk is cheap, come on down and dance the dance. :-)

With best regards,

Manuel

Need a brain boost? Recharge with a stimulating game. Play now!
https://club.live.com/home.aspx?icid=club_hotmailtextlink1

Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:07:02 -0500
From: Stephen.P.Brown@dal.frb.org
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] How about 6 Hours?

Manuel (and Everyone Else):

Thank you for the invitation. Unfortunately, DJ duties in Dallas and the
job that pays my bills will keep me from accepting at this time. Of
course, we were both at the Miami tango festival a few years ago, so we
are at least familiar with each others' dancing if not each others'
teaching.

I didn't mean to make it seem as though I consider rhythm as the basis of
improvisation. To clarify, I meant that those of us in the tango
community seem to hold two views about tango. Rhythm and the music are
the basis of the dance. Improvisation is an important aspect of dancing
tango. Why is it then that so many instructors teach in such a way that
they all but ignore the rhythm and treat improvisation as an advanced
topic?

If we adopt an approach to teaching, so that (1) the first dance class
experience is a success; (2) the first 6-week series is a success. and (3)
the entry into the community (dances) is a success, we can better launch
beginners into the tango community. I think this can be achieved by
emphasizing rhythmic movement to small elements of the dance and
improvisation in the first 6-8 weeks of classes.

(Hopefully, most people on Tango-L are enjoying our exchange and aren't
judging both of us a trolls.)

With best regards,
Steve

"As far as tango goes, it really works well to become more Argentine than
the Argentines are." Nina Pesochinsky