How much practice till we went to our first milonga?

[Gssh]

We were talking about this in another thread, and i was was wondering what everybodies experience was - please excuse the clumsy format, but the forums don't allow for branching questions. They also don't allow for linked responses, else i would have loved to add a multiple choice question asking respondents if that was too early, just right, or too late.

I went to my first milonga after one semester, and it was a good experience. We did one class specifically about the social dance floor before (stick to the outer lane, don't dance any vocabulary you are not 100% sure of, never stop and reset, the flow of the dancefloor is the most important thing), and going as a group gave us built in dance partners and a "home table", so that helped a lot with the social aspects. I think that a beginner couple who just walks, pauses and maybe does an ocho and a rockstep once in a while can flow with almost any ronda, and get a taste of the social dance experience. I found the actual skill level to be much less important for getting people on the dancefloor than having the right expectations on what one should do in the ronda. We all have seen obviously very skilled dancers who try to dance tango as a mostly stationary dance that takes up a lot of space because they practice only in tiny studios, or ballroom tango dancers who visit a milonga and who seem to have the opposite problem of having vocabulary that progresses quite a bit faster than what the line of dance supports.

Re: The value of practice: Macnamara, B. N., Hambrick, D. Z., & Oswald, F. L. (2014). Deliberate practice and performance in music, games, sports, education, and professions: A meta-analysis. Psychological science, 25(8), 1608-1618. - or not, depending on how good you think your environment, teachers, and talent are.
(interesting thing in the methodological moderators part: if research relies on people's self reports practice explains 20%, if we have actual practice logs this goes down to 4%.)

 

[ArbeeNYC]

I went to my first milonga after one semester, and it was a good experience. We did one class specifically about the social dance floor before (stick to the outer lane, don't dance any vocabulary you are not 100% sure of, never stop and reset, the flow of the dancefloor is the most important thing), and going as a group gave us built in dance partners and a "home table", so that helped a lot with the social aspects.

I should add (but the question isn't formulated this way) that while I attended my first milonga after maybe a year, I did not dance there. I danced a little after two years, but very little. After that, I regularly attended practicas and classes (2x a week) for the next two years. And after four years, I started dancing more frequently at milongas. Now, I dance mostly at milongas.

 

[latinjazz]

I don‘t know if there is need to repeat what I just clicked, but here more in detail: after about 1 week without dancing - for months.
First time dancing was after 7-8 months.
And DEFCON 1 all the time... at least the first time.

 

[Rabbit]

After 1 class (the milonga was directly after the class.) I did find the concept of a very slowly progressing ronda to be strange at first - after all, we just spent half the class continuously walking around. It took a few months to really figure that part out, but since no one was actually teaching it in class, the only way to learn was at the milonga anyway.

 

[Numawan]

I have to describe my path to tango then ...

During dinner on 2016 New Year’s Eve, a friend of my brother asked around the table whether someone would be interested to start tango lessons with her. I said yes.

We started lessons in mid January 2016 with a teacher she had chosen. That teacher brought some of his pupils (10-15 people, not all in the same group) to a milonga at the end of February or early March. That milonga was extremely packed. We danced (very poorly) only with the other members of our group. It was a bit of cultural shock for me. I think we went to another milonga a few months later. Similar experience. I went 2-3 times to a practica organised by another teacher. The teacher and the other people organising that practica were very welcoming, but it wasn’t fun because I didn’t know anyone there.

In June 2016, I stopped my tango lessons and went to sail around the Atlantic for about a year with my sailing boat. I liked tango and wanted to continue, but it didn’t make sense to join lessons between September 2016 and June 2017 because I would be away sailing most of the time.

I restarted my tango lessons at beginner level in September or October 2017 and I have continued since. My first tango partner had stopped. I therefore chose to follow the lessons of a well-known couple teaching tango close to my place (6 minute walk). I also liked the fact that they organise a weekly practica (same place) and two milongas per month nearby. I try to go to the practica every week, although I seldom stay long (because tendinitis). I am starting to know the regulars there, and that makes quite a difference. Not really going to milongas for the time being. I don’t see the point of stressing myself about that. There is anyway very little difference between our practica and a real milonga.

 

[Someday]

1 year. I had two teachers who simulated milongas so that we were somewhat prepared prior to actually attending. They had many techniques for the simulation which I could elaborate upon if anyone is interested. I agree that it's much more pleasurable to attend as a group rather than to go in cold, not knowing anyone.

Being nerdy and wanting to read the article referenced, I noticed it was behind a paywall but a quick search found it elsewhere on the web. I've attached it. It's interesting and it says that practice is important but not primary, so don't stop practicing! But, also we know that some people are just born with natural ability and no amount of practice can bring people to those levels. Ultimately, practice and doing moves you closer to a higher level of skill than just hoping for divine intervention or epiphany. It doesn't stop me from hoping for either. It's easier to practice anything if you enjoy it.

 

[Brummbaer]

The objective of learning AT was to put the "dance moves" into practice in social dancing, and that would naturally have to be at a milonga. We had some limited experience at practicas, which were similar to a milonga but less formal.

We'd had previous experience using AT, and including other dances, at a ballroom 'tea dance' (and around 40 years experience in other dance form).

Was it too early to go to a milonga? In retrospect, with current knowledge, possibly, but you've got to start somewhere and sometime. Fortunately we'd chosen a friendly, welcoming, informal, milonga. We survived. We learned the limit of our tango vocabulary that we hadn't known, and set about improving. We did, at least, have each other to fall back on. I guess if it had been a more formal, very traditional, higher level, milonga then we might have been scared off. Some milongas we've attended since have had a clique of self-certified maestros who consider anyone outside their circle as inferior, and really are best avoided and consigned to the ashes of history, or made private until they die out.

I guess that was a failing, at the time, of our regular classes. With a change of teachers they have got better with regular weekly practicas for beginners and the less experienced, who were actually welcomed, leading on to a monthly milonga, to which the less experienced are welcomed, with the format explained.

Another interesting format we've come across has been a formal milonga with a separate practice area - and the option of calling on some teacher for help. I guess you could just call it a practica, but it satisfies both experienced and less experienced social dancers

To promote AT it does need to be more welcoming with a better transition to social dancing for the less experienced. Most people didn't start AT to spend 15 years learning to walk before they can go to a milonga. The objective of learning a dance is, well, to dance in some setting. The intro to social dancing has got to be a part of any formal AT instruction course. It's not a good policy to frighten people off.

 

[TTanguero]

My first time ‘dancing’ in a milonga was five lessons in - though that was a highly experienced follower taking me into the centre of the pista where we wouldn’t get in anyone’s way.

My first time leading strangers in a milonga was two months in. My dance was incredibly basic, but no-one died. However, it was six months in before I dropped below Defcon 1 as Latin Jazz aptly puts it.

 

[latinjazz]

My first time ‘dancing’ in a milonga was five lessons in - though that was a highly experienced follower taking me into the centre of the pista where we wouldn’t get in anyone’s way.

My first time leading strangers in a milonga was two months in. My dance was incredibly basic, but no-one died. However, it was six months in before I dropped below Defcon 1 as Latin Jazz aptly puts it.

If you could dance relaxed in Milongas after 6 months only you must be very talented! As a leader?

 

[TTanguero]

As a leader, yes. Not talented, just hard-working (3-4 lessons a week, daily practice, tango music on constantly, reading everything ever written about tango, etc) and lovely followers who smile at my errors and make encouraging noises.

 

[latinjazz]

As a leader, yes. Not talented, just hard-working (3-4 lessons a week, daily practice, tango music on constantly, reading everything ever written about tango, etc) and lovely followers who smile at my errors and make encouraging noises.

So we‘re pretty much the same. Only that I‘m slower..
Tango really creates addiction!

 

[WhiskeyPapa]

I (Leader) went early, after just a few months. I even tried to dance. The experience was an eye opener. It bore no relationship to my lessons. Navigation was a nightmare. It was far too early, but a good experience anyway. Highly informative. I realized how much work it would be simply to learn to move in the Ronda without causing disruption.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

My first time ‘dancing’ in a milonga was five lessons in - though that was a highly experienced follower taking me into the centre of the pista where we wouldn’t get in anyone’s way.

My first time leading strangers in a milonga was two months in. My dance was incredibly basic, but no-one died. However, it was six months in before I dropped below Defcon 1 as Latin Jazz aptly puts it.

All of my mentors told me to wait until I could actually dance before entering the ronda of a milonga. One fellow I know spent two years just practicing his walk. Most of my first three years were spent in classes (often fundamentals) and practicas. It was a way of building a solid foundation. After that workshops and more practicas. Some casual outdoor dancing. More practicas. Women at our local milongas are less tolerant of beginner leaders, maybe they expect more or have access to skilled leaders. Almost all of the beginners, leaders that is, bring a partner (or pay one).

 

[Mladenac]

I can't remember exactly how long it was since it was a long time ago.
What I remember that I met some nice followers at practica and we danced at milongas.

It is always safe to be in the middle of the ronda where you don't need to follow travelling of ronda.
There is so much intimidation in AT that is so scary.

Social dancing demands supportive behaviour.

 

[Greybeard]

Five months. We had an instructor that came to town once a month and gave a one hour class. Danced with my Girl Friend maybe 3 dances (songs) a week and maybe even moved the dining room table to the living room a couple times to make room for practice.

Dancing at the studio was in the middle of the floor with American Tango dancers going around the outside.

Practica? What's that?

The visiting instructor brought down some of his students for a weekend of (mostly ballroom) showcase and dancing. After an extra lesson Sunday we went to the milonga as a group.

GF and I went a couple times over the next three years when she had Monday off, mostly dancing ourselves. There were a few times I really wanted to dance and the milonga was my best option so I went and sometimes danced and sometimes just enjoyed (or not) the music.

The about 3 1/2 years after my first lesson I liked the music and started going every week. That was September 2016. That's where I learned about the other milonga in town and the regular and special classes. A lot of the other tango activities conflict with what I was already doing with ballroom.