walk this way

Tango Classes are wide and varied on a myriad of topics that will literally dizzy the mind. However, there are three types of classes in three different flavors. And that is Tango, Milonga, and Vals. In Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced respectively.

Classes & Workshops are usually taught for about an hour in 1 of 3 ways.

a.) Classes in the Round. Where a teacher and or teaching couple are in the center of a circle, and they are demonstrating a particular technique for you to duplicate and replicate in the line of dance of the circle going counter clockwise.

b.) Gender Split Behind. Which is all the followers are behind the Follower Teacher, and all the leaders are behind the Leader Teacher, and its literally monkey see, monkey do for gender part to gender part.

c.) Gender Away, Come Together. Which is where the followers go off in one corner, and the leaders go off in another. Both practice their respective roles, then come back together to put all that vocabulary together in one piece of motion….

All of these forms of teaching have their plusses and minuses. So try all three and see which works best for you. Not all teachers as you will discover teach the same way. And that’s because there is no set standard as to what to teach or how to teach this material. Some teachers you will find teach open embrace first vs. close embrace and vice versa. Some teachers will put you in heels first (if you’re a follower) and tell you that is how its done, and some won’t (I won’t). Some teachers will have you doing nothing but walking for 3 months (these are the best!), and some will have you doing endless figures and steps and patterns. All have their benefits, and their places, their pitfalls and their failings. Its important that you find a teacher that has danced a longish while, more than a few months and certainly a few years, that has traveled around a lot, been to a lot of tango festivals, knows mostly everyone in the tango field, and has really been around the ‘scene’, but more over has studied with everyone under the sun and can give you a wide perspective on the dance, its form, its history, its music, and above all else show you how to create fun for yourself. And above and beyond all of that, finding a teacher that you can really connect with is even more important.

Here’s some helpful hints to get the most out of your tango education:

1.) Ask LOTS of questions. Don’t just sit there in class and be a bump on a log. If you don’t understand something, ask! If you need to see the same material over and over again, ask. However, there is such a thing as asking TOO much. Most experienced teachers will take a student in class that’s having issues with the material (repeatedly) and work with them independently. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t ask questions, you should. Its your money, ask questions. Don’t be afraid to speak up in class.

2.) Learn the music! This is paramount. I can’t stress this one enough. Where can you find tango music ? Well you can find tango music here, and on itunes, and at amazon.com, and loads of other places online. However, you’ll easily become overwhelmed by what you see, and its all in spanish, well most of it anyway. A good place to start your tango music education is here. This is an extensive and rather exhaustive resource online. It can literally take months to go through it all, and there is a lot there….lots. Go look.

3.) Its important that you rotate in classes. There’s a reason for this even if you are married or going with as a couple. Argentine Tango is a social dance and one of the best ways to improve as a dancer is to dance with as many people as possible, as many styles as possible, and as many different flavors of the dance as possible. Trust me when I say that VERSATILITY is the spice of tango, its the god’s honest truth. So when the teacher says “ROTATE”, you rotate! Having said that, there will be times you are creeped out by someone in your class, or that doesn’t smell nice, or that has the ‘wrong’ vibe. That happens. I’m not saying that you have to practice with that person. I’m saying that you can simply say, “PASS” and sit out the rotation with that person, or step out until the next demonstration of the topic at hand. But never, ever, not dance with someone because they are terrible. In fact, that’s probably the worst thing you can do. Dancing with the worst person in the class is probably the best thing you can do. It teaches you loads of things about yourself, and the material at hand. Not to mention, dancing with that person, they will improve over time….I was once there myself. I was the worst person in the class and there were nights where I absolutely sucked raw eggs. And I was thankful that someone took pity on me and helped me past my beliefs, issues and what not. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here helping you get to the next level.

4.) This one is a personal taste and its one that I foist on my own students very early on. Be aware that there are some teachers that do not advocate this in any way, shape, or form, for gender reasons. However I advocate learning both parts at the same time. So while you are in classes, swap lead and follow. The reason for this one is pretty simple: Never ask another person to do a job that haven’t done yourself. As a lead you can’t possibly know what it feels like to do an ocho as a follower unless you’ve done the job yourself, and thereby its impossible to give feedback to a follower if you’ve never dance the follower’s part! And from the flip side, its nearly impossible to give a lead accurate feedback about what feels good and what doesn’t if you’ve never led, and trust me most leaders need accurate feedback. Also it helps that as a follower you know what is being asked of you, so that you can better prepare yourself for it by actually learning to lead what you’ll be doing. There are obvious benefits to this process and the obvious benefit is that you will grow faster as a dancer by learning both sides of the embrace, close and open! I did.

5.) Dance with EVERYONE in class! And learn to SMILE, and understand the following: You will screw up. You will not look polished. You will not be amazing. That’s why you are in class. Be humble. Go with the attitude that you know nothing…and you just might learn a thing or two.