Teaching methodology
Since starting regular Tango classes for beginners, I have had to seriously reflect on all that I have learnt: from the visiting teachers, observations on the dance floor, and my personal customization to suit my temperament and style. As probably common to many people who are starting out, occasionally you do get stumped by the simplest of things!
Take the basic yet fundamental concept of walking. You may think, as all of us have already years of practice at this, so what’s the big deal? In other words, is there anything more for you and I to learn??
Feedback loop
During one of the recent practica sessions, as I was commenting to someone (in response to her reaction to my lead) that my dancing appeared to be slowly but surely taking on different characteristics, it occurred to me that this transformation coincided with the increased teaching responsibilities. The need to teach has forced me to critically examine how I perform certain actions, in order to isolate and emphasize specific elements as well as to conjure up exercises which hopefully can speed up the learning. In particular, I feel that I have benefited greatly from my own interpretation of the “power walk” – leading with emphasis on chest while holding back the legs. I guess this is the result of unconsciously concentrating on certain characteristics in my walk, leading, etc!?
Improvisation experiment
Instead of following the pattern adopted over the past month of concentrating on one specific technique during the Friday guided practicas, I decided to try something different last Friday. As a matter of fact, this “experiment” was something conceived as far back as the Porridge Club days (over 3 years ago)! I suppose the History Museum in the end provided the more appropriate venue and context!?
Training log
While in the shower (where else?? :-)) felt inspired to create an ongoing record – the