Learn to Dance Tango -- On the Web?

[pygmalion]

Hey you AT'ers. What do you think of this -- a website with detailed, step by step Argentine Tango dance lessons, all on the web.


http://home.att.net/~larrydla/basics_0.html


Is it possible to learn Argentine Tango this way? What do you think?

[SwinginBoo]

Oy, I don't know how I could learn to dance from reading a detailed description. :? I realize there are times here when I ask how to do a certain move and I try to figure it out from there. That can even be difficult, and I have a background knowledge of the dance in which the question springs from. :wink: I can't imagine trying to pick up tango from a website, no matter how detailed it is. That's really amazing that this person took the time to do so though. :) It might be helpful for people who are taking lessons elsewhere to read up on it.

[will35]

You cannot learn to dance from a piece of paper or cyberpaper, but it is a good book. I have read it. I think the reason it is good is because Argentine Tango has been taught wrong so many times, that most people are really confused. Larry's book makes pretty good sense of it. It won't teach you to dance Tango, but at least you can get some idea of what the dance is. In some cases, that does not even happen from private lessons.

[Lucrezia]

Hi,

I've looked at the site. It's very good and detailed and it may be a good help for someone, who's starting to learn tango and wants to work on his own a little more. It may even be a help for beginning teachers, as it may add structure to their lessons.

But: In my opinion it is not possible to learn tango like this. To learn tango you have to watch tango. Only reading about how to stand or to walk is not enough, you have to see it. You have to watch a teacher or other couples doing it the proper way.

And what about a site with instructional videos? Well, better, but not good either.
No matter how well you may understand or how good something is shown, it is very uncommon, that your body will be able to imitate everything correctly from the beginning. There has to be someone with a good eye and a lot of patience who tells you again and again: "Look, your chest is falling down, or: you've already forgotten to close your knees..."
And there has to be someone who soothes you again and again: "Don't cry. I know it's not easy, but maybe you would like to try it like this... and it will soon be better."
:wink:

So my votum: learning tango alone from internet sites is no good idea.

But of course, if you live in Alaska, Kenia or Mongolia you may not have other possibilities to learn tango. So, thanks a lot Larry E. Carroll for the wonderful work you did.
:lol:

[pygmalion]

That's what I was thinking, Lucrezia. This looks like an excellent reference for someone who is studying tango with an actual human being somewhere. It's a supplement, just like videos can be.

That said, Larry Carroll did do a wonderful job in thinking through, compiling, and publishing all this material. :D

[DanceMentor]

There is another excellent and detailed tutorial/story at Planet Tango:
http://www.planet-tango.com/ourdance.htm

[hbboogie1]

I was thinking about having brain surgery and I found a doctor for half price, he hasn't performed any operations yet but he's read a lot of books on Surgery's for Dummies......hahahahahah

[Ampster]

As a reference it's ok. As to learning tango—On the web... And just the web. It does NOT work.

I tried that, and just wasted my time.

[newbie]

I think that this Larry guy is posting here, so he will probably answer the question himself. I've read the site and there are only 9 pages (up to basics_9.html), it looks a lot but actually it covers very little material, it's only because it takes a lot of words to describe movements.

[Heather2007]

Is it possible to learn Argentine Tango this way? What do you think?

It's not IMpossible...but it is better to learn in a class even if one is in a 'couple learning at home' situation. You can't beat constructive feedback from a live teacher. And of course, swapping partners so that you know what its like to translate what has been learned with another man/woman.

[dchester]

I was thinking about having brain surgery and I found a doctor for half price, he hasn't performed any operations yet but he's read a lot of books on Surgery's for Dummies......hahahahahah
Well even though he read the book, he still needs to practice to get good at it.

[StylishCajun]

Hmm I was thinking about doing the same, but it seemed like practice has to be paired with it. I wanted to get better at Salsa (mambo) but its hard when you dont have a partner. I looked online and you guys are right it cant be learnt that way alone.

Anyone know any good sites that show all the moves, so i know what to combo with?

[Gssh]

Well, as we are all here on the web to learn/share something worthwhile the answer must obviously be "yes". Honestly, i can think of quite a few people who would be better dancers and have more fun at milongas if they had just used larry's guide as a starting point instead of the classes they took - he suggests such revolutionary things like listening to tango music and that one is allowed to break apart patterns and put them together in a different way. Working through this guide with a partner will get someone dancing at a milonga, and give a good basis for choosing a teacher/privates later or to study by watching and dancing at milongas. But like all self-study it would require the ability to mercilessly criticize and question oneself. I don't think i would have been exited enough about tango in the beginning to do all that work (but then i am also amazed by people who have the discipline to learn a language from tapes and books - i find classes to be much, much easier)

Gssh

[DoraTheExplorer]

In my opinion you can learn the steps, but not the proper lead and musicality. If there is no teacher to correct you, you will do worse than those who attend group classes, where they dance with different partners. Also, would you be learning it by urself or with a partner?

In the end you'd still have to take private lessons with a teacher to clean up ur act.

[larrynla]

When I wrote "Tango Corazon" I did not nor do I believe you can learn to dance the tango from a book. But you cannot learn to do it from a video either. Nor from a teacher - no matter how good they are they cannot feed tango dancing directly into your mind.

The only way you can learn any skill is by doing it. Books, watching videos, watching others at a milonga, following a teacher's instructions, these are catalysts which help speed up your learning. But you have to do the work. Trying to do something simple, practicing it, learning from your mistakes, and (especially in tango) tailoring it to your own needs and desires and talents.

The title "Tango Corazon - How to Dance the Argentine Tango" is not quite accurate. It is an introduction, not a complete guide. Its target are people who may have never heard its wonderful music, or seen tango danced. Who may not even have access to a milonga or a teacher closer than a hundred miles. It's intended to hook people onto tango and get them to take the effort to visit a milonga and classes.

Or to start a small group who could start their own milonga and get up enough students to get a teacher to come to where they are, if only for a few hours once a week. It has happened at least twice I know of: six people in the Australian outback, and a slightly larger group somewhere in Ukraine.

One advantage to an online book is that I could link to other sites in the prologue (which as of this week has a hit count of 536,000 plus). I made up two web pages, one with links to tango music and the other videos of tango dancing.

They are http://larrydla.home.att.net/tangodancemusic.html and http://larrydla.home.att.net/tangoargentino.html. All the music linked to in the first is beautiful and has a clear beat. The second contains links to both show and social dancing, and in many styles - and also has beautiful music with a clear beat.

In the book proper, which I plan to shorten to six chapters or lessons, two aspects are worth mentioning. One is that I created a very simple but flexible system to let leaders make up their own figures, sort of training wheels which eventually will be discarded for something better.

The other is that I emphasize that tango is more than physical movement, as important as that is to any dance. It is also an emotional experience. Which is why the book is title Tango Corazon. And the motto at the end of the prologue is this.

El tango no está en los pies. Está en el corazón.
Tango is not in the feet. It is in the heart.

Larry de Los Angeles
http://home.att.net/~larrydla/basics_0.html (http://home.att.net/%7Elarrydla/basics_0.html)

[Angel HI]

As a reference it's ok. As to learning tango—On the web... And just the web. It does NOT work.I missed it, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/dancing/michael-jackson.gif


OK, kidding aside...good post, larry.