Let the embrace do the talking
Learning
Thoughts on how we learn effectively and factors which can influence the outcome.
On note-taking
Jan 22nd
Reading this interesting post about taking notes in classes got me thinking.
Firstly, I think oftentimes people don’t practice enough what they had learnt in workshops (here I mean workshops by guest – usually international – instructors) which is a shame really. Part of the reason is precisely due to lack of revision materials/notes/visuals, etc.
However, I have to admit, I have not always been a good student as far as note-taking was concerned. In fact, during the first 4-5 years I relied a lot on videos taken during classes**. My revision, which I still feel was extremely beneficial, consisted of watching over the same videos countless times during the post-workshop editing process (to remove unnecessary parts, adding section screens, etc.), for quick review in future. Sad to say, the “quick reviews in future” seldom took place but it was the first sitting which could take up to 10x the duration of the video clips which helped to jog the memory.
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The pioneers
Jan 12th
A recent dinner conversation gradually led to a discussion about community-wide learning curves in tango.
One of the observations made was that, during the informative years, some communities were simply more fortunate in having good instructors early on. Playing devil’s advocate, I then suggested that perhaps it was not such a bad idea for a community to have gone through the full spectrum of experiencing the “mediocre” as well as the good/excellent instructors!? My rationale was that for the people who managed to discover the appropriate ways of dancing, given their experiences, hopefully they can better relate to the problems that newbies typically face. Naturally this is especially useful if the same experienced dancers end up being local teachers.
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Grocery list
Sep 1st
To add on to the main lessons I learnt from BsAs, here I attach a short list – to serve as a reminder for myself – of the important technical things I picked up, and need to revise…
Group classes at Escuela de Argentino Tango
- steps and leads that can be used for milonga (as in the music style)
- lossening of the embrace and yet have a closer connection with my partner
- some slightly fancy enrosque patterns that requires the leader to be a bit more “selfish” in keeping his balance/axis (in the highly-hyped Villa Urquiza style
)
Privates
- how to dance freely
- going with follower’s axis/weight so that she can also move freely and not be restricted by me
- the mental attitudes to project
At the milongas
- feeling the music
- joy of dancing
- truly dance with each other
- patience and yet be quick to react to music and situation on the floor
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Full circle
Aug 31st
For many years, and probably unlike many fledgling communities around the world, the Tango community in Singapore suffered from a systematic problem: there were no high-calibre local instructors. This was natural as everyone who was dancing in Singapore at the time started in the same boat – from scratch! The local scene was essentially at the mercy of visiting teachers who travelled to Singapore at their own expenses(!), and who furthermore taught a variety of styles and levels which were sometimes incompatible from one instructor to the next. See, for example, this list of Tango teachers who had given short workshops in Singapore over the years. Suffice it to say that there was quite a variety of styles.
While some teachers returned regularly to Singapore there were usually long gaps between visits. It was not really until 2006, when IXI Danza and Tango Oriental undertook considerable financial risks to hire specific teachers and started organising workshops on a larger scale compared to previous years, that there was some consistency in the quality of instructions. Unsurprisingly, since that time there has been a mini-boom in the local Tango scene, as evidenced by the number of regular milongas and local instructors. Due to a number of intensive workshops by the same overseas teachers, the level of dancing has also improved dramatically over the past three years.
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Valuable lessons from BsAs
Aug 27th
I have been meaning to write a summary of my experiences of BsAs. This is a quick attempt to try to capture some of the most important lessons (majority below is from the classes I took) I learnt during the one-month stay.
- Dance freely. This is a concept I cannot stress enough. In particular, 1) Not to feel constrained to dance in a particular style and 2) not to be afraid to make mistakes – they may lead to new “creations”. And, as a teacher I respect highly put it succinctly, “to dance you need to move!”
- For leaders: allow your partner the freedom to move and express herself, through your embrace (which by the way does not mean opening the embrace if you are already in close embrace… :shocked:) and the next point.
- Follow your follower – physically, not just some mental delusion…
- Listen to your partner. Respond to her mood, energy and musicality. For followers, assert yourself in this equal partnership we call tango.
- Dance with passion. Move only when you feel compelled to do so because of the music.
- Patience. This applies not only in developing navigational skills in crowded conditions but also in learning and adapting to every new partner you dance with.
- Most importantly of all, have fun in every dance! Go with the energy you feel on any night, whether it’s high or low.
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