What steps should never be taught?
- Thread starter Dave Bailey
- Start date
nucat78
Active Member
Then why focus on so many rules aside from basic floorcraft?
Captain Jep
Active Member
The basic 8 should never be taught ... lol ...
And I thought it was about romancing a woman when there were 10 men to 1 woman, so you used whatever was available to you to do that.
Judging by some of the posts we have have on this forum we now have 10 women to every man, so you go figure.
AFAIK, you have been only writing what shouldn't and mustn't be done or taught.
Could you write your preferred on teaching AT?
It take about 6-12 moths for dancers to start feeling basic steps.
IMO you would never survived first year of teaching AT nowadays.
some kind of gancho can be done in a safe way that might be suitable for crowded floor.
Maybe we should discuss the role of teachers, before we talk about how the role should be carried out.
Should teachers support, aid, assist and encourage students to become the best dancers possible, as defined by the individual students themselves?
Or should teachers narrowly restrict, police and enforce what dancers may do, according the the teachers' own definition?
Should teachers support, aid, assist and encourage students to become the best dancers possible, as defined by the individual students themselves?
Or should teachers narrowly restrict, police and enforce what dancers may do, according the the teachers' own definition?
For me, I want a teacher closer to the first type you listed. While I'm fine with teachers expressing their opinions on what should/shouldn't be done, if they only teach what they want (and not what I am trying to learn), I'll find another teacher. I suspect I'm not the only customer who is like that.
Now if teaching is just a hobby, and you're not concerned about making a living off of it, then sure, you teach what you want. However, if you are trying to make a living off of it, then you better have some respect for your customer's wishes, or you have to figure out how to create a market for what you actually want to teach.
The bottom line is that the customer is not always right, but you need to know how to explain it to him, else you will lose business.
This step is allowed... this step is forbidden.. this step is for beginners... this step is for vals... this step is for nuevo music... this step is for stage... this step is for social dancing...
But are we sure that steps deserve so much importance in tango?
Looking at this and other threads, it seems that tango is basically doing steps and discussions are about what steps you must (or can) do.
I think that no step should be forbidden to teach.
You can exploit your time teaching anything you find useful... including martial arts! And I am not totally joking: judo, for example, is all about contact, balance, weight shifting, and it includes some barridas and sacadas as well!
In my opinion, steps are the least important things to care... so the question is not "what steps should never be tagught?", the question is: how would you spend your limited time of 1 or 2 hours per week? Is it really a good idea dedicating more time to teach steps than connection, musicality, leading, following, improvvisation?
But are we sure that steps deserve so much importance in tango?
Looking at this and other threads, it seems that tango is basically doing steps and discussions are about what steps you must (or can) do.
I think that no step should be forbidden to teach.
You can exploit your time teaching anything you find useful... including martial arts! And I am not totally joking: judo, for example, is all about contact, balance, weight shifting, and it includes some barridas and sacadas as well!
In my opinion, steps are the least important things to care... so the question is not "what steps should never be tagught?", the question is: how would you spend your limited time of 1 or 2 hours per week? Is it really a good idea dedicating more time to teach steps than connection, musicality, leading, following, improvvisation?
More than allowing or forbidding steps, I think people should not enter the ball if there are already more than enough couples. And couples who have just danced should pass one turn to allow others to dance in good conditions. And the DJ should also launch a cortina whenever the floor is too crowded, even after one music.
One possible way is for teachers to dance with their students more at milongas. They will have considerably more influence on what their students do that way.
I agree with you. The problem (IMO) is how do you convince and motivate a beginner to agree with and pursue this. When I started out, the steps were what I was interested in (along with leading), although eventually, I got there (interested in connection).
I agree also, but most beginner students either won't or can't believe this. When I was a young hot-shot dancer I wouldn't have believed that a simple, uncomplicated dance could be more fulfilling than a fancy one with as many steps as possible. It took me several years to figure this out.
But if they disagree with what you want to learn and they are right you will just be going from one inappropriate lesson to the next.