Jeff Gaynor raises what I consider some interesting points. At some point, most tango dancers choose not to improve. In quite a few communities the acceptable level of mediocrity can be fairly low because people can go to milongas and play at dancing tango. In such communities, we see kind of dynamic that Jeff describes where improving beyond the mediocre level is unnecessary to participate and becomes difficult because there is no one else dancing well enough that it makes much of a difference. The community remains mired at a relatively low level.
What happens for those tango dancers who have the aptitude, are willing to work hard to develop and polish their skills, but aren't planning to make a living from tango? In this case, a personal drive to excel becomes necessary to create an environment that launches the person well beyond where their own community stands One typical idea is working with at least one partner who is willing to work together toward the same goals of excellent dancing--by taking some private lessons and practicing a lot. Once the couple has succeeded in developin their skills to the point they considerable desirable, however they will still find themselves in the same community of mediocre dancers. Perhaps a better idea is to form a small practice group practice group with both mena and women in which all the other people have similar goals and are willing to work, possibly organizing lessons for the group together, attending workshops in other cities as group, etc. Most importantly, everyone in the group must make a committement to developing a high level of excellence in tango. Once the group has succeeded and emerges at milongas in the community, everyone in the group will have more potential partners at the milongas, and the group may act as a seed for better dancing in the entire community. With best regards, Steve _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
