Data bank
Some incredible Tango resources I want to highlight:
Music/DJ’ing:
Videos:
- Stephen Brown’s site
- On the Spot Productions (high quality videos)
- Joe’s Tango Web (links to other video collections, mostly from YouTube)
- abraZo (interesting collection of videos on his server)
Building a community
Since commencing a series of Beginners classes and guided practicas a few months ago, it’s gratifying for me personally to see the steady improvements in some of the “regulars” (including not only my own students but also people who have been dancing for some time) who attend our weekly practicas. What can we learn from this particular observation?
Fun and laughter
There inevitably comes a time in any budding Tango dancer’s education that perfecting of the techniques, i.e. embrace, walk, etc., is constantly on his/her mind while dancing.
However – and this is, I suppose, more a reflection as a result of regular Beginners classes these days – I feel that we should not lose sight of the fact that Tango is, after all, just a dance. As a dance, we should aim to enjoy ourselves. From time to time, it’s good not to take ourselves too seriously. That is, despite the training and requirement for good posture, the connection, the navigational skills, the musicality, etc. etc., which are all good to have, we need to somehow inject fun back into Tango occasionally – if not all the time!
Creativity requests
I often get frustrated with the followers in our community who habitually comment/complaint: “Why can’t the guys be more creative?”
To me, this is very much the same as saying, “Hey, why can’t you be taller?” My response is the same for both cases: “Like how?”