Comments for YYQuest Tango Blog

Comment on To speak up or not? by yy

yy — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:27:01 +0000

Dear Caroline,

Thanks for the advice. I will be sure to let the offending DJ know the next time!

Comment on To speak up or not? by caroline

caroline — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:55:39 +0000

In my town, we speak up. We either go up to the DJ and express our discontent or we just don’t go to the milongas with the bad DJ’ing - either way, we make our feelings perfectly clear. DJs’ jobs are to play the music that would please the audience and get them dancing. If they fail, they will lose their audience and money. You would be doing them a favour by speaking up. Or you could keep quiet and be miserable.

Comment on Play what you want to dance next by To speak up or not? : YYQuest Tango Blog

To speak up or not? : YYQuest Tango Blog — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:59:33 +0000

[...] a follow-up to my own brief remarks about a DJ’s thinking process in selecting the right music during a milonga, I will add [...]

Comment on The embrace by Tango essence : YYQuest Tango Blog

Tango essence : YYQuest Tango Blog — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:41:02 +0000

[...] are various techniques and perhaps stylistic considerations which I had briefly alluded to which contribute to a good embrace for dancing, here I am actually talking about only the attitude: one of unreservedly inviting and accepting the [...]

Comment on How long for newbies by yy

yy — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:42:41 +0000

Tom Stermitz, a well-respected teacher in US, had this to say about gender imbalance in Tango recently (original source):

“Women have multiple ways to become excited about tango, and in N. America women are more likely to have danced as children. A beginner woman can get a pretty amazing dance from an advanced leader, so she is more likely to see the rewards of sticking it out.

It is difficult to create the equivalent for the man.

Performance anxiety, in terms of social success and in getting her to do the dance steps, is probably the biggest obstacle for the men…”

Retention of the guys happens if the teacher can create the following learning experience: At the end of a one hour class, most of the guys can walk their partner through a dance at a regular milonga. They are still beginners, but they can manage (feel they are in control of) their simple vocabulary, they aren’t running into people or stopping in confusion, and they feel like they are “almost” dancing. Notice it is about whether they FEEL successful.”

Then he went to describe some strategies than he had personally put to practice. Seems to complement very well the sentiments I expressed above.

Comment on Group tango from DNI by belinda-tang

belinda-tang — Mon, 05 May 2008 03:51:59 +0000

Hi! You are back in action, good:) This performance by the DNI company was at the Opening Night of Pulpo Tango Week, 10-17 Oct 2007. I remember it as I was there, on the same side of the camera. Hee:)

Btw if you need to contact me, do so via gmail. My poor Mac has been down for 2 weeks, can´t get to my Singnet email.