Let's face it, the great majority of those who want to learn to dance tango are inspired by what they see on their TVs or computer screens. They see a spectacular performance by a beautiful, often young, couple oozing with passion. They are attracted by a visual and they project emotions onto it. Yet, they know nothing of the true emotions felt by tango dancers because they are seeing a performance, a show.
Then they sign up for tango classes and demand to learn what they saw. Too many tango instructors are eager to offer that to their clientele by teaching them the figures for which they know, or should know, that the students are not capable of executing. The students get frustrated and often leave unsatisfied, mostly with themselves, for not being able to learn to dance tango, they think.
But did they study tango or sequences some would call "tango figures"?
I lead a praktika (argentine practice sessions) here in Dubrovnik last evening. I was asked to help dancers practice certain material (figures) taught at a workshop not too long ago by another teacher. I did that with some, as the time permitted, additional technical details needed to execute the said figures. Everyone wanted to dance the figures taught at the workshop since that was what the praktika was supposed to be about and, to my knowledge, few understood why they had hard time with them.
One person, though, stated quite strongly that I should, rather than reviewing another teacher's material, lead or teach my own stuff. If I had done that, I would have, among other things, insisted on practicing walking, keeping balance, pivoting, communicating, listening to the music and dancing it, learning and applying the basic structure of a giro, etc. Maybe out of ignorance, the group wanted to practice the figures and not the technical stuff. Perhaps I should have not acquiesced.
Next time I teach the beginning classes I will not succumb to teaching the figures but will teach elements, techniques, concepts, and ideas that express the feelings, letting the "figures" just happen--or not, but the feelings will be expressed, shared and will persist, which is what tango is about. We dance the Argentine tango not for the spectators but for ourselves.
