Leaders. How was your Tango journey?

[pianistamediano]

The micro-elements approach in tango is no different. Teaching prefabricated steps and patterns is less likely to create an original dancer for the same reasons that trying to copy Chagall or play Mozart is less likely to create an original painter or musician. Yet most beginners try to paint or play or dance the greats. Why?

Micro weigh shifts, displacements, pivots, and changes of axis, distance, level, and relative position aren't individually impressive to look at, and might not be visible at all! Those who dance by stringing together these things as the music and their partner inspire them often execute one-off movements that they can't explain as steps qua steps, or even do a second time. You can't sell that to people who want to do "advanced" steps and "that thing I saw on YouTube"!

To use an example from music, the musicians I admire the most stack countless tiny perfections on top of tiny perfections, building a coherent, nuanced whole through years of experience, years of ingraining technique and expression into their bodies. And yet they are not bound by technique, unlike so many wannabe-maestros and maestras today; nor artificial, superficial displays of feeling or emotion. I can think of many young professionals in London, Athens, etc. whose dance only demonstrate a marked lack of life experience. They need to live and suffer much more before they can even capture a hint of the magic that the actual maestros have.

 

[tangoing]

Yes – and that is tango reality here and now!

We can blather about the tradition of new leaders learning from the milongueros and not being allowed onto the floor or even through the door of the milonga before three years of practice, but that's another time and place, and out of sight is out of mind for most people – or at best, it's a quaint history lesson that's forgotten the instant the here and now of tango is on display. We can label classes and events as "all levels," "beginner," "intermediate," "advanced," "master," blah, blah, blah, but those labels have no formal, widely accepted definition, so the reality is that if you can afford the price, you can be there. And even if you set things up so that there's more history and structure at your school . . . well, you can't do much about YouTube, a competing school, or a random guy who teaches on the dancefloor.

So, people who have danced for less time or taken fewer lessons will see what's possible. And when they do, for the vast majority, those possibilities become one of their top motivations, their top motivation, or even their only motivation. That's human nature, and human nature is far stronger than tango traditions.

Tango teachers know all of this. They also know that someone can earn money promising to teach people who have danced for less time or taken fewer lessons all the many possibilities they see on the floor or YouTube – and that if it isn't them, it'll be some other teacher across town. So, classes are about "moves" because that's what pays the bills.

As for teaching micro-elements so that you can express yourself through improvisation, I disagree with this . . .



. . . because of course you can teach someone color theory, brush strokes, blending, and other micro-skills relevant to painting and they might eventually become an original painter, and of course you can teach someone the practical physical movements of playing an instrument, and musical theory and notation, and they might eventually become an original musician. Learning the micro so that they can compose the macro is how most artists become artists.

The micro-elements approach in tango is no different. Teaching prefabricated steps and patterns is less likely to create an original dancer for the same reasons that trying to copy Chagall or play Mozart is less likely to create an original painter or musician. Yet most beginners try to paint or play or dance the greats. Why?

Micro weigh shifts, displacements, pivots, and changes of axis, distance, level, and relative position aren't individually impressive to look at, and might not be visible at all! Those who dance by stringing together these things as the music and their partner inspire them often execute one-off movements that they can't explain as steps qua steps, or even do a second time. You can't sell that to people who want to do "advanced" steps and "that thing I saw on YouTube"!


Leaving age out of it, I can totally see that.

I came up through a very traditional salon tango school where the teachers were strict about building up the complexity of steps, learning technique before steps that needed it, not letting us dance steps off the music, not letting us dance steps that didn't respect the line of dance, and so on. There were history and music lessons, there were drills, drills, drills, and there was pressure to dance at the práctica every week, ideally for a few years before going to the milonga. That is how I learned tango.

However, that school failed. It didn't get people dancing quickly enough. Over the years I was there, the classes had fewer and fewer people signing up – and at least two leaders mouthed off in front of us all about how slow progress was, meaning that far more said it in private, and even more thought it.

The micro-elements thing came later for me, in private instruction. Now I'm a moderately senior dancer getting asked about my movements on the floor, and I realize that approach is marketable only to other moderately senior dancers who are past group lessons and into private instruction. When newer dancers ask about my "moves," I try and fail to explain them, because "They were organic, in-the-moment things made up of practiced micro-elements, not steps or patterns that I practiced in the form you saw" isn't the answer they want. As soon as I say that, I can see all interest draining from their eyes . . .

There can be micro elements being taught along the macros / patterns, but it sorta requires a uniform level of intermediate+ students (that are dedicated to the craft) and really good teacher(s). The issue is a lot of classes are drop in and the range in level of students (and their effort) will have to make the teacher cater to the lowest common denominators.

And yes, when people see what's possible in the dance that becomes their main motivation, its similar to other crafts as well. Like a person learning a new instrument may want to play their favorite song right away. A good teacher may be able to teach that beginner that song piece by piece while also instilling in them all the micro elements.
Even in my first year of tango, I had some privates and asked my teacher to teach me volcadas and cadenas since I thought they looked cool. Nowadays I rarely lead any volcadas and if I do they're more micro ones, and I've never lead a cadena at a milonga, but I do randomly try them out at practicas once in awhile since it's a good litmus test of these micro elements.

 

[opendoor]

..tango schools that teach tango as feeling and meditation without mirrors, drills, barre work, shouting, and the odor of sweat and shoes to be the.. conspiracy theorists of tango. They attract students by replacing the reality of complicated dance theory, years of accumulated progress, and hard, often physical work with the pipe dream of just, like, movin' like you feel, man.

Congratulations, this sentence has literary quality and hits like a grenade, JournalinTime. And of course you are right. But I would like to differentiate a little. Neither the watered-down feel-good tango will lead to the goal, nor will years of repetitive drill. The dead end begins the moment a student gives up the guide for his own development and believes the teacher's promises. Tango must be discovered by each tango student himself, by watching, trying out, practicing, looking for inspiration, being willing to be corrected and enduring constant feedback. I had many teachers, but the decisive one was me.

 

[Rabbit]

One needs both technique and artistry to be a good dancer

Dancers that have good technique and lack artistry are the equivalent of AI generated articles that have correct grammar and spelling but formulaic and often erroneous content

On the other hand if the technique is bad, it doesn't matter if the ideas were good because no one will be able to understand what was intended to be communicated

Ideally we should teach both from an early stage

 

[Gssh]

They attract students by replacing the reality of complicated dance theory, years of accumulated progress, and hard, often physical work with the pipe dream of just, like, movin' like you feel, man.

For me the sole reality of tango is the milonga. And to be at a milonga requires some basic musicality, some tools for moving with the line of dance when the line of dance moves, some tools for not moving when the line of dance does not move. Sure, we can (and probably should) push it further, but to continue the driving example we don't need to be nascar ready before getting onto public roads. We know that the only way to learn driving is actually going out and driving - no amount of going in circles on parking lots will teach how to actually drive.

 

[tangoing]

It takes a lot of experience to actually dance with little weight shifts. It is not for the beginners. Doing simple steps and express then in dancing is a skill that usually comes after having danced a lot. Some never attain it.

A lot of people will move at socials but they are not dancing. We call it dancing but to me many people in the ronda are moving whole the music plays. Only a few dance to the the music and fewer still dance in the music. That's the reality.

Well yeah that reinforces my point about how other social dances are easier, since you just learn a handful of patterns and execute them to the beat, and you are actually dancing. That can’t really be done with tango as a whole, perhaps some easy milongas/valses but it’ll still be sloppy without all the technique down.

 

[JournalInTime]

One needs both technique and artistry to be a good dancer

Dancers that have good technique and lack artistry are the equivalent of AI generated articles that have correct grammar and spelling but formulaic and often erroneous content

On the other hand if the technique is bad, it doesn't matter if the ideas were good because no one will be able to understand what was intended to be communicated

Ideally we should teach both from an early stage

Exactly.

My coach said pretty much that to me years ago, and she repeats it weekly. To paraphrase her version of it: "Technique and creativity enable one another. You take your creativity to the level where you cannot go any further until you improve your technique, and then you improve your technique to the level where it opens new doors . . . whereupon you return to your creativity." You can't really have one without the other. It's an eternal game of leapfrog.

This is why I find any proposition to teach art and only art bizarre. You teach technique and then turn people loose to find their art on their own. When they feel limited again, they can return for more technique. But you can't teach them the art itself; you can teach them only the technique they need to create it.

 

[JournalInTime]

For me the sole reality of tango is the milonga.

For me, too, but I'm going to point out two things:

1. Even at the milonga, one can push one's technique and creativity ever higher. Their only limits are how they fit with your current partner, the DJ's current musical choice, and the current conditions on the floor. So, it's worth working actively on improving one's embrace, learning the oeuvre of tango and its structure, and refining body control to the point where you can turn on a pin and avoid even brushing contact with other couples. I think that enhances the reality of the milonga, because it gives people at least one more comfortable partner, one fewer dangerous couples to dance around, and a more agreeable ronda to look at or dance in. So, to me, that work is an obligation inasmuch as anything in tango is an obligation . . . certainly, I see it as more important than schmoozing your local milonga crowd, who are a fickle and changeable lot you cannot do anything about, or learning to like Malbec and speak Spanish.

2. There are people for whom the reality of tango is NOT the milonga. I know numerous real individuals, ones I can name and visualize the faces of, who spend most or even all of their tango hours in classes, lessons, prácticas, and workshops, and in some cases working on choreographies and giving demos, and in a couple of specific cases, on teaching. They have an "Ew, what, social?!" attitude to the milonga. For them, tango is pushing the frontiers of movement and musical interpretation, not cabeceos and tandas and cortinas and codigos. They find the milonga to be an annoying melee that gets in the way of their art, and most partners to be obstacles to their expression. These people are the darlings of studios, because they pay lots of money for lessons and studio space, so their view is often deemed more important than that of social dancers – and, if they become teachers as I implied, it has more influence over new dancers.

I honestly believe that a big part of what's wrong with today's tango culture is that it consists of a bunch of "Ew, what, social?" teachers teaching how to push the frontiers of movement and interpretation while most of the social dancers aren't bothering to keep taking lessons – or if they are taking lessons, going for that frontier-pushing stuff instead of embrace quality and body control. In plain language, it's teachers giving students a whole lot of weird steps to almost-imagined elements in the music at the expense of learning how to avoid crushing, kicking, and running into people, and students quitting before they've even come close to mastering not crushing, kicking, and colliding.

 

[Rabbit]

They have an "Ew, what, social?!" attitude to the milonga. For them, tango is pushing the frontiers of movement and musical interpretation

I understand in principle, but in practice the interpretation sucks because they're "learning" from teachers who have no clue either, that was my point about technicians teaching technicians.

 

[Rabbit]

Well yeah that reinforces my point about how other social dances are easier, since you just learn a handful of patterns and execute them to the beat, and you are actually dancing. That can’t really be done with tango as a whole, perhaps some easy milongas/valses but it’ll still be sloppy without all the technique down.

The standards are just lower in some other dances - well I'd be totally fine with there being a lot of beginners on the floor at a milonga, and I imagine the standards must have been pretty low when tango was a mass phenomenon in the 30s/40s.

 

[Rabbit]

The dead end begins the moment a student gives up the guide for his own development and believes the teacher's promises. Tango must be discovered by each tango student himself, by watching, trying out, practicing, looking for inspiration, being willing to be corrected and enduring constant feedback. I had many teachers, but the decisive one was me.

Completely agree here, we need independently minded dancers in order to progress or improve anything.

 

[opendoor]

..There are people for whom the reality of tango is NOT the milonga..

Somehow I have the feeling that I am also on your blacklist, because what you are writing here is what I've done myself for years.

..spend most or even all of their tango hours in classes, lessons, prácticas, and workshops.. working on choreographies ..demos, and ..on teaching... For them, tango is pushing the frontiers of movement and musical interpretation, not cabeceos and tandas and cortinas and codigos. They find the milonga to be an annoying melee that gets in the way of their art, and most partners to be obstacles to their expression.

I recognize myself. But you don't write what kept me away from the milongas: dancers who threw me off my axis, dancers who hung on me like weights. I've always had orthopedic problems, but after a milonga I always felt really bad. Everything hurt. That didn't happen when I rented space to meet the good dancers alone. That didn't happen after privates with my teacher. I didn't go to the milonga for self-protection.

 

[Bailango]

But you don't write what kept me away from the milongas: dancers who threw me off my axis, dancers who hung on me like weights. I've always had orthopedic problems, but after a milonga I always felt really bad. Everything hurt. That didn't happen when I rented space to meet the good dancers alone. That didn't happen after privates with my teacher. I didn't go to the milonga for self-protection.

But what you write is precisely the problem. The instructors and teachers unable to produce people who can dance. And the fact that most people at an average milonga can’t dance properly.

At least other dances unlike Tango don’t pretend to be elitist. Tango people like to proclaim and present that they select partners based on dancing merit. That’s a lie.

 

[Paja]

For me the sole reality of tango is the milonga. And to be at a milonga requires some basic musicality, some tools for moving with the line of dance when the line of dance moves, some tools for not moving when the line of dance does not move. Sure, we can (and probably should) push it further, but to continue the driving example we don't need to be nascar ready before getting onto public roads. We know that the only way to learn driving is actually going out and driving - no amount of going in circles on parking lots will teach how to actually drive.

I agree, problem with begginers or false begginers, is to have COURAGE to go to milonga. In my area is plenty of couples just enjoing tango lessons and never attend milonga. Seems like they enjoy easy driving around parking lot, but they are affraid to drive in city center during high traffic time. And our milongas are nothing to compare with London, NY, LA or BA. It is small, friendly, family event, everybody knows each other. I would compare it to easy country ride, but still, not easy to atract them.

 

[opendoor]

But what you write is precisely the problem. The instructors and teachers unable to produce people who can dance..

No, it's not the teacher's fault: it's the student's fault.
I can forgive any teacher for binding his students to them, recommending further courses, and staging the first milonga on the pista as a terrifying baptism of fire. The teacher has to live. But the student has to free himself from this paternalism, if not rather let himself not be taken in by it.
Almost all tango teachers claim to prepare their students for the milonga, which is actually not really the case. As an alternative, I can only present my own tango path: it began on the pista and finally led into the artificial world of the tango studio after one year. Anyone willing can learn social tango just by doing. At first I only danced socially and all experienced followers confirmed that I was a good tango dancer. Learning tango is possible without a teacher (but not without the friendly coaching of experienced followers on and off the floor). Only those who learn at the milonga are truly sensitized and will dance much better than the average dancer who fills the milonga.