Learning Involves Change (Don't Settle for Mediocrity)

During the last six months I have been trying out a new way of walking and I have made a few adjustments to my posture, embrace, and body alignment (more estilo salon, less estilo nuevo, less estilo milonguero), when I started this study of tango I was convinced that the "milonguero" style was the only way that I wanted to dance, later I found freedom of expression and more chance for creativity in the "nuevo" style. I still have those tools in my toy box and will (and do) take them out if the mood strikes me. This is nothing new, I've changed these things constantly over the past seven years all in the name of educating my self and building depth into my Tango, and I've watched as people who were far more experienced than I was have stagnated in their dance to the point where it seems to me that they have not improved at all (these were people I once held in high regard as excellent dancers). I've also witnessed people who started about the same time as I did stop progressing when they settled for one thing or another. How boring it must be to not grow over that many years!

It's impossible to learn anything new if you have already decided that what you are doing is the best, and/or only way. (I've heard it said that you can't add water to a glass that is already full, I like to think of it as getting a bigger bucket to hold several glasses of water). I also feel that adding something new allows a person to focus on the new things and allow the things you have learned in the past to happen automatically without thinking about them. Nature rewards adaptation.

The results of these adjustments are beginning to become second nature and have drastically improved how grounded I feel to myself and the women I dance with often, as well as an improvement in the clarity of my lead to my followers. I also feel that this new style has allowed for more possibility of musical expression for the follower (less about my Tango and more about our Tango). The new style does require the follower to use proper technique (no lazy following) and therefore makes leading easier after the technique becomes second nature to the leader.

One thing that I have noticed over the past maybe three years is that I have not hit any plateaus, just a slow but steady improvement...Where's the Like Button!

A Different Approach to Learning

A few years ago a friend of mine (Just someone I used to dance with, not an instructor) commented that by learning open embrace I could fix a problem I was working on at the time with my posture and balance, guess what, it worked.
Everything I know about dancing close embrace I learned from dancing open embrace.
Everything I know about dancing open embrace I learned from dancing close embrace.
Everything I know about improvising I learned through patterns and emulating others.
Everything I know about dancing fast I learn by dancing slowly (very slowly).

On a different note,I watched a video produced by a very famous pair of brothers (the Maers) many years ago about learning to downhill ski, they had an interesting teaching technique. Basically because sking (and Tango) is an engramic activity (your brain learns to do it eventually without much conscience thought) it is very difficult to explain how it should feel, they thought it was a good idea to purposely do something "the wrong way" so that your body could learn by comparison what doing it the right way feels like (very easy vs. very hard, natural vs. unnatural, smooth vs. jerky, balanced vs.wobbly)

I have found this to be a very effective learning/teaching method.

Tango Epiphanies 6

Video does not lie and will show you the reality of your tango. There is no better way to learn from yourself.

Exorcisim (or How to get the most out of private tango lessons)

Professional tango instructors (the good ones) are capable of dissecting your dance in a very short period of time.

In my experience some of the the best ways to get the most bang for your buck out of a private lesson are as follows;

1. Go alone, this takes the partnership variable out of the mix, it also eliminates the possibility that one of the partner needs more instruction than the other (the squeaky wheel gets the oil). It will also remove some friction in some partnerships.

2. If your instructor has a teaching partner, schedule your lesson so that both of them are at your lesson. Dance with one while the other observes from outside the embrace, this gives multiple perspectives to the lesson (one of them may see something that can't be felt, the other may feel something that can't be seen). Be aware that some times the instructors may have two different agendas to fix problems that they may observe (I have had the unpleasant experience of observing an argument, if this happens to you pretend it didn't, and don't have both of them there during the next one)

3. Relax during the lesson, you are not on trial, this is not an audition, no one is going to be injured or embarrassed. You want these people to see the flaws in your dance so that they can help you to over come them (sometimes it is something so simple that the minute they tell you the solution the problem is gone forever, other times it takes many instructors telling you the same thing over and over(try the first one, it is far less painful)).

4. Let the instructor work on what needs fixed, it is possible that what they tell you on their own initative may just be the most important thing you will ever learn.

5. It may seem like the instructor is mean/demanding/impatient/cruel/the devil incarnate, maybe they are so what. If they do something completely inappropriate
(this happens from time to time, I have heard many complete horror stories) tell the "instructor" that you demand your money back and leave immediately (never be a victim), Don't forget to tell everyone you know, if this happens to you.

6. Keep an open mind. No one can add to a glass that is already full!

7. Relax, and have fun.

8. Relax, and have fun.

9. Relax, and have fun.

10. Use video tape, if they allow you to use a camera during the lesson do it, tape yourself dancing before and after the lesson. Tell your camera what the instructor told you. Remember always ask before posting anything on the internet (they earn their living doing this). In my opinion it is to their benifet to have more and more people dancing tango in the world (more dancers = more students) and It is free advertisement.

I like to use the phrase "Exorcise my tango, por favor"!