First AT lesson coming up...
- Thread starter samina
- Start date
hbboogie1
New Member
... on Labor Day. A private. Am taking the lesson with a friend who has never taken AT before, either.
Should I canvas for advice here or... just go in cold?
just go in cold.
Subliminal
Well-Known Member
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
Welcome to the cult--er... club... :bouncy:
I say go in cold and with an open mind. You don't want to have too many preconceived notions about your teacher. Just meet them first and find out what their teaching method is.
One thing, if you haven't heard much of it before, you might want to listen to some classic AT music to get a feel for it before your first lesson. Carlos Di Sarli, Juan D'Arienzo, Osvaldo Pugliese, Francisco Canaro, etc.
Welcome to the cult--er... club... :bouncy:
I say go in cold and with an open mind. You don't want to have too many preconceived notions about your teacher. Just meet them first and find out what their teaching method is.
One thing, if you haven't heard much of it before, you might want to listen to some classic AT music to get a feel for it before your first lesson. Carlos Di Sarli, Juan D'Arienzo, Osvaldo Pugliese, Francisco Canaro, etc.
samina
Well-Known Member
thank you, sub! my friend, with whom i'm taking the lesson (we get the private for free in exchange for his giving a hustle lesson...ain't that nice?) is very psyched because he has visions of adding some AT into his hustle/WCS/salsa repertoire. (quick, check to see if jantango is still breathing..
)oh shoot... i have all that stuff loaded up on my ipod, which was a casualty during my move and disappeared! i don't think i kept all my AT discs from peaches out of storage. boo... well, i can do some youtube searches to get in the mood.
Peaches
Well-Known Member
Oh, she's got the music taken care of. I sent it to her.
*drink the Kool-Aid...I promise it's organic and raw...*
So happy.
Advice: Don't try to translate anything from BR, other than general body awareness and control of your center. Approach it like you've never danced before. Feel the music, and the emotion of it...even if you can't understand the words. Forget BR tango, and think more WCS instead.
Given what I know of you and your personality, I imagine you'll do just fine.
I sent it to her. *drink the Kool-Aid...I promise it's organic and raw...*
So happy.
Advice: Don't try to translate anything from BR, other than general body awareness and control of your center. Approach it like you've never danced before. Feel the music, and the emotion of it...even if you can't understand the words. Forget BR tango, and think more WCS instead.
Given what I know of you and your personality, I imagine you'll do just fine.
It freaks me out sometimes how my mind works...when I read your first post (and all you said was a friend who hadn't taken AT), I pictured a particular hustle/wcs dancer and you more a ballroom/latin dancer (my characterization, perhaps not yours) together...and then a few posts down...comes the free AT lesson in exchange for teaching hustle...scary the connections my mind makes sometimes...
Hope it's very enjoyable...
Hope it's very enjoyable...
samina
Well-Known Member
well... you subconsciously know that i do dance frequently with a particular hustle/wcs dancer... not surprised that's what you envisioned.
and..thanks.
samina
Well-Known Member
no, no... i have it... packed up safely... just not on hand because i lost my friggin ipod touch and am not currently using the PC where all my digital music is stored. it'll be fine... i'll manage with youtube (or pandora).
me toooooo!!!!
samina
Well-Known Member
yes, this much i have definitely gathered from nearly three years of reading AT posts here without actually dancing it.
yes, this is my sense of it... and my friend as well. i have a feeling we're gonna really have some fun playing with a merge between WCS and AT. he's very... groovy and interpretive. and our backgrounds are completely different -- he's hustle/WCS, i'm ballroom, and the only commonality we have is salsa. so when we get together, it's just all pure dancing/lead & follow. heady stuff, so enjoyable... i think it will make for a good base for our AT experience!
can't wait! i know he's psyched... he mentioned it numerous times at our last dance event while we were on the floor.
Peaches
Well-Known Member
Other piece of advice (despite the best advice being to walk in cold...I know)...forget about the beat of the music.
I'm going to get crucified for this, I know. But, really, there is so much more to the music than just the beat...and all of it is danceable. You have more of a luxury in this regard than your friend, since you'll be following. (Which also means that you'll be at the mercy of your leader's interpretation.) But forget the beat. Listen to *everything.* Feel the music...do it right and the beat won't even register.
OK. Really. I'll stop overwhelming you with advice now. I promise.
I'm just so EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm going to get crucified for this, I know. But, really, there is so much more to the music than just the beat...and all of it is danceable. You have more of a luxury in this regard than your friend, since you'll be following. (Which also means that you'll be at the mercy of your leader's interpretation.) But forget the beat. Listen to *everything.* Feel the music...do it right and the beat won't even register.
OK. Really. I'll stop overwhelming you with advice now. I promise.
I'm just so EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
samina
Well-Known Member
aye-aye, chica. i will listen, be present, feel everything, forget the beat... and just follow!
my friend is a very strict "follow me mindlessly" sort, so we'll be paired well in this. has helped me find my mindful mindlessness very well over the last few years that we've danced together. my standard instructor is the same so...funny... i am utterly blank when i go out on the floor, now. with WCS, too.
for an analytical sort.. am quite pleased with my current state of brainlessness! *grin*
my friend is a very strict "follow me mindlessly" sort, so we'll be paired well in this. has helped me find my mindful mindlessness very well over the last few years that we've danced together. my standard instructor is the same so...funny... i am utterly blank when i go out on the floor, now. with WCS, too.
for an analytical sort.. am quite pleased with my current state of brainlessness! *grin*
Warning! Put DOWN the Comme Il Fauts and step AWAY from the Tango lesson!
My advice?
Don't do it.
Within no time at all you'll be addicted and all those years you spent learning Ballroom will be thrown away like a relationship that no longer meets your needs in favor of a new passionate lover. You'll look back on those wasted years and wonder why you let them slip away when you could have been learning tango all that time instead. You'll be here with the rest of us ranting about how hard "the walk" is, angry over getting speared with someone's stiletto, banging your head against the wall over leaders who lead "steps" without having a clue how to connect, desperately wishing you could quit and yet finding yourself back at the milongas and practicas wondering if there's a 12 step program for tango junkies.
Heed my warning.
Mark my words..
DON'T DO IT!
You WILL be assimilated!
:twisted:
My advice?
Don't do it.
Within no time at all you'll be addicted and all those years you spent learning Ballroom will be thrown away like a relationship that no longer meets your needs in favor of a new passionate lover. You'll look back on those wasted years and wonder why you let them slip away when you could have been learning tango all that time instead. You'll be here with the rest of us ranting about how hard "the walk" is, angry over getting speared with someone's stiletto, banging your head against the wall over leaders who lead "steps" without having a clue how to connect, desperately wishing you could quit and yet finding yourself back at the milongas and practicas wondering if there's a 12 step program for tango junkies.
Heed my warning.
Mark my words..
DON'T DO IT!
You WILL be assimilated!
:twisted:
