I don't think my previous post on this subject was sufficiently clear. I've refined my comments. The bottom line is that I think it is good to find a partner with whom to develop skills and even better to find a group with whom to develop skills. There just isn't enough of a payoff in some places to develop skills on one's own.
At some point, most tango dancers choose not to improve because the effort required isn't paid back with a sufficient improvement in the quality of the dance experience. In a partner dance, such as tango, the tango skills of one's potential partners can greatly influence how much improving one's own skills improves the dance experience. Improving one's own skills doesn't do much good if one's potential dance partners have mediocre skills. The required complementarity of skills in dance partners can lead to a situation in which an entire community remains mired in mediocrity, even though many individual dancers may want to improve their skills. In such communities, where improving beyond the mediocre level is unnecessary to participate, individuals have little incentive to improve their skills. The quality of their own dance experience won't increase appreciably and may reduce the number of potential partners with whom it is enjoyable to dance. Moreover, the better-skilled dancers may also find it difficult to keep their skills honed while dancing in a community dominated by mediocre dancers. In such a community, a strong personal drive to excel is necessary to launch the person well beyond where their own community stands. But tango is a partner dance, and it is better to find 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. But even if the couple succeeds in developing their skills dramatically, they find themselves mired in a community of mediocre dancers. Perhaps a better idea is to form a small practice group of both men and women, in which all the other people have similar goals and are willing to work. The group might want to consider organizing lessons for themselves and attending workshops in other cities as a group, etc. Most importantly, everyone in the group must make a committment to developing a high level of excellence in tango. Once the group has succeeded and begins attending milongas in the community, everyone in the group will have more potential partners at the milongas. Moreover, the group may act as a seed for better dancing in the entire community. With best regards, Steve (de Tejas) _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
