What's going on here? I don't understand. Why are people with "boundary issues", or those who want to perform or compete, dancing Argentine tango anyway? Aren't there other dances they would prefer? Didn't they find out that tango was not for them at the first lesson?
I think much of the blame here lies with the teachers. Teachers need to teach close embrace from the beginning. Not only does it turn out better dancers more quickly, it lets people know what tango is about in the beginning, not 6 months in when they have more of an incentive to force their idea of tango on the community, rather than adopting tango as it is. Tango classes should weed out people who are really not interested in tango, don't you think? Oh, yes - in my very biased opinion, it would help if all teachers knew what they were doing before they started to teach. I hear too many stories of teachers who only know fancy figures, and can't comfortably dance close, and don't visit Buenos Aires. Those that don't even play tango music in class. Of course that's how they are going to teach. Of course they, and their students, could potentially change a community adversely. Prominent members of the community can help, though. As a teacher who has been teaching for over 10 years, I get frustrated when I see students going to teachers who have 2 or 3 years of experience, because they are "new", or dance fancy figures. It's human nature to run to the latest or fanciest thing, but learning to teach tango takes some time. Understanding the music takes time. So I selfishly ask - support those teachers who turn out good dancers! Go to their classes, and recommend them to others! Bring in traveling teachers who insistently teach solid, clean basics! And who teach tango. Loisa Donnay Minneapolis, MN ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sandhill Crane" <[email protected]> I agree that boundaries, wherever you set them, are a serious issue, and it's true that close embrace is just too close for some people. I don't have any problem with dancing in an open embrace. Maybe I usually prefer a close embrace but I don't have anything to gain by imposing on my partner. As long as we have good communication in the embrace, which is possible with open or close embrace, we have a good dance, from my point of view. I have to take issue with your suggestions about bigger figures, though. One can approach the essence of tango through figures, but that's definitely the slow way to do it. If you start out doing figures, you might never get beyond that, and I do believe there is much more to tango than just the steps. _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
