About
Argentine Tango
Learning Advice
From Tango Moments, spring 2006 (a
seasonal newsletter by the Tango Society of Minnesota)
TSOM Asks Teachers...
What are the top three, best pieces of advice you have for
beginning and advanced students?
Florencia Taccetti:
Beginning students
1. Be patient with the process of learning. Tango is a life
trip--it’s not fast, “made in America.”
2. Be your own judge. Use common sense to know what is good
or not for yourself--listen to your body. If it hurts, feels
uncomfortable, feels unnatural or is making you tense, it
can mean two things: you are doing it wrong or the material
that you are trying to learn is not good for you. Just don't
keep doing it, try a different source.
3. Be more confident with yourself and assume that if you
are in class, it’s because you have a lot to learn.
If you already know what you have to do, you don't need to
be in class--so don't get sensitive with the teacher’s
corrections. They are made to help you learn faster and proceed
in the right direction.
Advanced students
1. Look to have progress in your own dance. If things feel
the same as last year, it is because you haven't worked deep
enough and you are missing the beauty of getting a deep connection
with your partner.
2. If you are working hard and you are becoming a better dancer
in order to progress, you need to learn to be selective with
your dance-partner choices so you help the community to grow
in that way. Be nice and learn how to say ‘no’
without offending anybody. You have the right to say ‘no’
when somebody is not giving you a good time dancing or has
not been expending the same passion and time in the dance
that you have been... and that person is making those three
minutes not worth it at all.
3. Help the people who are coming behind you. Beginners need
help to learn how to be gentle in their dance. Help them out
and give them good advice on whom to take classes from (since
you are not a teacher and they do need a good teacher to start).
Lois Donnay:
Beginning students
1. Go dancing, even if you've only had a few lessons. No matter
if you’ve had four or 40 lessons, the first time you
"take to the floor," it's going to be scary! Go
dancing as much as you can while you can still say you're
a beginner!
2. Relax. If you chase tango too hard, you will never catch
it. Slow down, breathe and let tango catch you. Tango is more
of a feeling than a dance. If you work too hard, think too
hard, try too hard, you'll miss the feel.
3. Get your basics down. I know you want your money's worth,
and that it seems boring to do the same thing all the time,
but you are wasting your time and money learning fancy steps
if you don't have good solid basics. Better to bore your partner
with basics as a beginner than to hurt your partner after
you really should be good already. Not to mention all those
lessons you have to take over again!
Advanced students
1. See above. Go dancing and dance with all levels. Dance
with beginners to see if your technique is solid enough to
give them a good dance. Dance with advanced dancers to see
if your technique is good enough to keep them content all
through the dance. Feel the feedback.
2. See above. Relax and remember tango should be fun. You
can't hide anything in tango (if you're doing it right!) If
you are nervous or upset, your partner will feel it. If you
are working too hard, it will be impossible to connect properly
with your partner. Let the music be your guide.
3. See above. There's a saying in dance circles "Beginners
take intermediate classes, intermediates take advanced classes
and advanced take beginners classes" Basics are necessary.
Unfortunately, they are not permanent. You can lose track
of your basics as you chase the next tango element. Never
rest on your laurels.
Rebecca Abas:
1. Take lessons.
2. Be patient.
3. Have fun!
Hard work and patience go hand and hand. The successful student
needs to have an emotional attachment, not just to tango but
also to the learning process. With this approach, your reward
is not just the end result but also the process. If you enjoy
the process you'll be more likely to stick with tango and
enjoy the dance. Enjoy the process and you’ll enjoy
learning. It’s the difference between joy and fun.
One of my mentors put it this way: “If you’re
in it for fun, that’s a free ride on a Ferris wheel.
If you’re in it for joy, you’re going to build
the Ferris wheel and have free rides all the rest of your
life.”
Having a child, I’m finding out that learning has to
be fun for her or she’s not going to want to do it again.
Babies are very particular about that--they’re not going
to do something the don’t like. As a mother and a tango
teacher, I try to make the process enjoyable.
Back to top |
