Hi buffmilonguera! Thanks for writing...good point... Aspen has had influences from Denver (teachers and dancers)...and visiting teachers from Argentina and NYC (Robin Thomas) and Seattle (Jaimes Freidgen). The local teacher/organizer, Heather Morrow, has been great about bringing in outside teachers. And, the Aspen community has in turn influenced the Glenwood Springs community - 45 minutes away.
Very good point though - community level mentoring - I think this goes on to some degree already - but could be utilized more efficiently. I know what you mean about the "less gracious". Some teachers and communities don't realize that it's all good - no competition is necessary between teachers nor between communities. As an example, if the Aspen community grows - then that is good for Glenwood Springs tango. If a new tango teacher crops up in Glenwood Springs, and their community grows - then that is ultimately good for the Aspen tango community as well. And the same is true for the different teachers within a community. It's like a symbiotic relationship. On a technical note... RE: tango-L...you have to go to www.tango-l.com and register... Then, when you want to post, you send an email to [email protected] - making sure the email is sent from the same account you registered with. Be sure to read the rules about posting and the subject line requirements on Tango-L - especially when posting to Tango-A. I'm sending this message to this list...both your message and my response...for your convenience... Take care...happy holidays! -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 1:12 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Tango Mentors and Retaining Beginning Tango Dancers Hi for some reason I still can't figure out how to respond on line - but I thought your e-mail was important and wanted to respond. another variation is having larger tango groups mentor beginning communities. I am from Buffalo - where we have a really enthusiastic and growing community. Not all, but a lot of that was helped by folks in more established communities within a few hours ride who came came to our milongas, gave workshops (which could NOT have been profitable) and danced with us "beginners" at their own milongas - some other communities were somewhat less gracious..... Have you joined the Buffalo Argentine Tango Society Yahoo! group yet? It's easy, and the best way to make sure you know what we're doing and what's going on with the Argentine tango in and around Buffalo......go to www.yahoo.com > select Groups > search for Buffalo Argentine Tango Society > follow the directions to join BATS_tango. Thanks! -----Original Message----- From: Alex <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: 'Tango-L' <[email protected]> Sent: Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:35 pm Subject: [Tango-L] Tango Mentors and Retaining Beginning Tango Dancers Hola List! I'm not a member of TC [Tango Colorado], so I can't post to their message board on Yahoo Groups- so I am posting this to Tango-L - because it concerns all tango communities around the world. Tango Colorado is an umbrella organization in Denver and they are holding their officer/board elections soon. This is from Jeff Brenman's Candidate [for President] Statement on Yahoo's TCDiscuss Group. Jeff wrote (in part): "I would also like to see an affirmative commitment from our more experienced dancers to better mentor the newcomers. This will take a concerted effort, but it is something I believe would pay handsome dividends for all of us if it were to succeed." Jeff's words are important to all of us. In my former tango community, Aspen and Glenwood Springs (Colorado, U.S.) - retention of beginning dancers has not been good. It's a very small community - and retention is key for continued growth. In a very small community, three or four people can quit tango or move away and you have lost 25%-50% of your community - that is, the dedicated people who are showing up every week. One or two experienced followers can quit or move and you have lost 50% of your experienced (dedicated) followers. We all know the reasons/causes people don't stay with tango - there is the cyclical/random nature of tango (like all things in life); people quit for their own reasons - just giving up (too hard to learn), not "getting" (or not liking) the music, pregnancy, ski season, injury, not enough milongas, not enough good leaders, not enough good followers, kids & family, takes too much time and effort to learn or "get good", close embrace issues, too many work responsibilities (not enough time) - these are all actual reasons beginners in Aspen have told me they chose not to return to tango. People have their reasons and there is probably not much that anyone can do to make them stick with it. But, the real question is this: are we all doing everything we can for beginner "retention"? It is my belief that simply sending out emails announcing classes and events, or posting classes, workshops and events on our websites or on Tango-A is not enough. When I was (much) younger, I was involved in the Sierra Club - the environmental organization. Our local group had a phone list - wherein all of the members (and newcomers) of the organization were divi'ed up amongst a few of us - and we would call people about meetings and activities. This was in the days before personal computers and email and even cell phones! I like Jeff's idea of "Tango Mentors". Teachers, organizers, organizations (like Tango Colorado) and communities should consider the concept of "Tango Mentors" or some other name. It could be modeled similar to university sororities and fraternities - the big sister and big brother concept. Each "experienced" dancer could have two or three or four beginners "assigned" to or "adopted" by them. It would be that dancer's responsibility to call and email them about classes/practicas/milongas; give encouragement and advice; impart knowledge of codigos, the history of tango and tango music; help with technique and practice - you get the picture. Just a thought...just an idea. This concept would be a lot of hard work and commitment for those undertaking it...but I wonder how the world tango community would look after one year of these types of efforts. But then again, it is "just" tango, "just" a dance...and I suppose I have too much time on my hands right now... We have all probably thought of some version of this concept at some time in our tango evolution - but my thanks go out to Jeff Brenman of Tango Colorado for the originating idea for my post. Thanks Jeff. Happy Holidays to all! Alex _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://webmail.aol.com _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
