You’ve Arrived . . .

First and foremost being a good learner requires patience and perseverance and suitable shoes!  Life hasn’t always prepared people to be consciously good learners.  Don’t be surprised at any feelings you might have in this new and strange environment.  Combining the words “Classes” and “Teachers” takes many people back to miserable experiences at school.  Fortunately, this is different.  This is Tango. This time you will be with like-minded enthusiasts, sharing social time and a single goal.
More about shoes – here

It won’t all happen overnight so be prepared to enjoy the journey. By far the best way to progress will be a first programme of several weeks, building week-on-week and designed to give you the very best possible start on your Tango journey.  In subsequent weeks the class usually begins with a revision of the previous week to ensure dancers are comfortable before moving on.

Some organisers may offer a single ‘drop in’ or a ‘mixed level’ class.  Just beware this can be difficult for new starters in the beginning, even counter-productive, as you won’t necessarily develop the skills and technique by having to keep up with an existing class.  It can damage your confidence to be thrown in the deep end.   Before it becomes a problem read more about Finding Teachers – here

If your first few introductory weeks include complicated steps like blocks, sweeps, ganchos, boleos, enrosques, volcadas etc – find somewhere else to learn!  There will be time for these later – if you wish – once you’re familiar with the basics.  (You may not know what these words mean, but there’s a huge number of Tango videos on YouTube so you can look them up).

Your first weeks should be learning about the embrace, connection, posture, balance, axis, starting, stopping, walking, side steps, weight change, cut step, using double and single time, moving through the floor plus floorcraft.  After a few weeks an introduction to pivots and the cross.  AND all this in time with a variety of tango music.  With these elements you can start moving around the floor with your partner and without colliding with other couples.

Doing one hour once a week is not enough!  You need to practice regularly at home alone, before your next class, even if it’s just a few minutes a day in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil! Getting this dance into your muscle memory, as well as your conscious thought will take practice.

In your formative early weeks, if you miss a week, you could find you’ll be running behind everybody else.  It may be possible for you to catch up if the teacher re-caps the previous week’s class.  But, they will unlikely go into as much detail about the important lead / follower intricancies.  To learn tango properly you cannot dip in and out of classes, you need to dedicate time to doing it.  Discuss this with your teacher, who should suggest a way for you to catch up.

It’s pointless learning any new material unless it makes sense, you can remember it, and use it innovatively in your dance.  Using the Foundation elements as your base, you need to be very mindful of how to add new material progressively, combining and integrating it with your existing repertoire, so it’s there, available in your mind and your body when you want it.

Good teachers will not overload you with a complicated sequence.  Every sequence is made up of individal elements, and these need to be practiced individually, then shown how to break in and out of the elements at any time.  It’s also very useful to have a variety of entries and exits to vary your repertoire.

Don’t get stuck in a never-ending cycle of sequences and/or choreography.  This just is an illusion of dancing, as you need to work the music to innovatively use your movements and to be creative.  It also becomes boring if not frustrating for both you and your partner with repetitive sequences.

A private lesson or two may be all you need to become familiar with the basic foundations to slot into an existing class – more about private lessons – here

One of the places to develop these skills is during the practise time after your class, use this valuable time wisely, not just as an informal social dance.

My brain hurts – and it will.  Learning this dance will take time, and you will get tired especially in the first few weeks.  There’s probably very little you’ve done in life that has prepared you to learn tango.  It does take time – so take the time it takes – and practice.

You may find an hour tuition is far too much for you to begin with, and your brain will refuse to take on any more information long before the class has finished.  This is quite normal so don’t beat yourself up – this is not you getting old!

Most teachers will invite you to take videos at the end of the class which is the best way to remember the content to practice at home.  Do this on your own, as it’s the single most effective way you can work on your dance at your own pace.  Little and often is always best.

If there is another more experienced class, avoid the temptation to attend.  Some teachers may be quite relaxed about this, but just be aware it will not hasten your progress, on the contrary, you can be confused and over-whelmed.

It will also inhibit the more experienced dancers to progress in their class, especially if the teachers are a fan of changing partners frequently. However, it’s hugely beneficial to stay and watch the class.  Use any time between and at the end of the evening to practise.

Having completed your first programme, you’ll progress onto the following next class. Be sure to attend the first programme again, as a warm up and to re-visit the basic foundation techniques to gain a deeper understanding. You will probably notice experienced dancers doing just this. This is similar to professional dancers doing their regular work at the barre, or musicians practising their scales.

The Goal – is to develop an innovative style of dancing with a variety of improvised movements that can be adapted to the music, your partner and your surroundings.  This ability is developed by not just linking a group of steps in a familiar pattern, but being able to change the pattern to create different combinations, like fitting ‘Lego’ into new shapes.  The best way to do this, is to slow down and have pauses in your dance.  This isn’t disco – you don’t have to move on every beat.

Prácticas – these are events outside of your classes, they’re fun, relaxed, you meet like-minded people and you can practice properly, and the perfect place to start bridging the gap between classes and the more formal Milongas.  The better Prácticas have teachers available to help you, they’re called Guided Prácticas.

Skilled coachcs can identity problems which can only be corrected by finding the cause, not just trying to resolve an isolated symptom.  More about these – here

Visiting Teachers – some communities invite visiting teachers to take their weekly class or two.  However, as they have no idea at the level you are individually working at, these classes tend to be mixed level. You may well find different dancers coming along to join in these classes; working at a higher level than you’re used to; or advertised; and at a higher price.

Just beware of getting swamped with new information especially in the early days.

I recently attended an evening as a leader with a visiting teacher.  Shockingly it was a 22 step routine!  The first class involved a 14 step sequence aimed at recent new starters, the second class classified as intermediate, bolted on the remaining 8 steps.  Needless to say no-one got it, everyone was confused and no-one was able to include any of it into their repertoire.  I didn’t waste any more money by going back for the remaining two weeks that was scheduled.

So be aware that it may be beyond you just yet.  This is another example of the value of patience.  You can end up parting with more money, not learning anything, getting frustrated, and even risk damaging your new and still fragile tango skills.

I mention this here because some teachers will be over-relaxed when it comes to managing the level and numbers of participants.  They need to get sufficient numbers to pay for expensive visiting “Maestros” and tend to sell as many places as possible.  This can also lead to a significant imbalance of Leaders to Followers which creates additional problems.

You will usually be invited to video a demonstration at the end of the class, worth doing for the future.

Private Lessons – are perfect to accelerate your progress, catch up, or to give you a good head start.  If you want our help contact me – here
More about Private Lessons – here

Practice – The world famous ‘Cellist, Pablo Casals, was asked why, in his eighties, he was still practising four hours a day. He replied “Because I believe I am still making progress.” This simple but amazing reply opens up a whole world of being, or becoming, a good learner.

Apart from learning the dance, Tango is a great way to of practising to develop your learning skills, to keep fit – mentally, physically and socially.