A few weeks ago when Beth Anne and I posted our survey "Why I Quit Tango (click to go there)", I thought that perhaps 50-60 discouraged beginners would respond. Much to my surprise, well over 300 people have already filled out the survey.
The majority of respondents are women over 45 who have danced for several years; and the main reasons for quitting are (a) cliquishness, elitism, and divisive politics, (b) not being asked to danced, and (c) cannot find a practice partner.
BTW, if you look at the results of the survey (click to go there), perhaps the most interesting reading is if you click on the "Show Replies" link right after questions #12 and #14.)
Although I do not have a magic bullet to solve all of these problems, I would like to offer a few comments and observations from my perspective of having been both a ballroom dancer and a tango dancer.
- Although exceptions exist, generally there are more women than men in tango. As a result, I would encourage women to be cognizant of this fact and that as a result they will most likely be sitting out a lot.
- Because of the imbalance between men and women, I would encourage women to (a) consider learning to lead and (b) bring as many males as possible (friends, relatives, neighbors, etc) with them to their beginners classes.
- Whereas elitism exists in all social dancing, I would agree that it is more prevalent in tango.
- It takes longer to become a reasonably competent tango dancers then it does in other forms of social dancing. Thus, many tangueros who have been dancing 2-5 years do not realize that they are still beginners and have not yet reached the level where they can provide their partner with that "Zen-like" tango experience.
- Because of the extreme intimate nature of tango and the complexity of the dance, there is a greater level of discomfort and frustration in dancing with a person of lesser ability. (I'm afraid this comment may enrage a few readers, but I know from experience that dancing with a neophyte tango dancers is more unpleasant then dancing swing or cha cha with a beginner.)
However, the good news is that less then 2% of the respondents said they would never come back to tango. That means that over 98% would return to tango if the conditions changed! Thus, I think it behooves all of us to be cognizant of the plight of the beginners and to find ways in which we can both encourage them and to find ways to more easily integrate them into the tango community. This may involve: (a) special beginner milongas, (b) instituting some sort of mixers at milongas and practicas, (c) encouraging all tango dancers--especially the more advanced--to be kinder and gentler towards their partners, (d) set up a system of "taxi dancers" available for beginners, (e) suggest to women that they need to bring more male friends (relatives, neighbors, co-workers, etc) to beginning classes and (f) consider all of us to start our evening at a milonga by dancing two or three tandas with those less experienced than ourselves.
Finally,
- I'd like to recommend two relevant and worthwhile readings regarding this topic. (1) How I Can Get Danced More by Beth Anne, and (2) comments and postings on Elizabeth Briton's Blog.
- I hope that the fact that most of the respondents in the survey are from Seattle and Portland is not because I was a horrible influence when I lived there, but simply because the majority of the names on my email list are from there.
Best.....clay
wonderful confirmation of what experience tells us are the principle problems...thanks - oscar, Rome
ReplyDeleteOh, by the way, here is my latest tango video..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-5X1VPtwec
ReplyDeleteAs a single woman who has done both ballroom/social dancing and Argentine tango for many years, one of my frustrations is that it is so much harder for me to get dances at milongas when I go to a new place. I would love to try out more milongas in the San Francisco Bay Area when I can, but whenever I do, I don't get to dance much. I understand the reluctance of leaders to get stuck for a whole tanda with someone who may be a poor dancer, but unfortunately there is no way for me to show them that I'm a competent dancer if I don't get out on the dance floor because no one asks me to dance. On occasion I will go and ask a leader for a dance, but since there is usually a shortage of leaders, that's not always possible. It's a catch-22, and it's very discouraging sometimes.
ReplyDeleteAs Clay points out in (b), a common complaint is not getting asked to dance. This is don't ask you to dance: As dedicated to learning tango as I may be, and as much as I limit myself to basic moves and concentrate on being a clear lead, I'm still a beginner in that I have only three years of tango. Sometimes I find myself dancing with someone way above my level who prefers, as many people do, to dance only with very good dancers. Sometimes they don't mind but sometimes they do. When they do, it's easy to sense. It may be an unpleasant experience for the follower; it's a terrible experience for me. I feel as if I'm back at a high school dance ineptly trying to fake a waltz, or the twist, i.e., a total klutz and dying of embarrassment. So, I've learned to never ask a stranger to dance. I'm sure the I-only-dance-with-experts followers are grateful even if those who rarely get asked to dance are disgruntled. --Regards, David O.
ReplyDeleteClay,
ReplyDeleteI really love the idea of including more mixers into our milongas. As an intermediate dancer I know that I am much more enthusiastic about dancing with a beginner if I also know them as a friend. And I think that advanced dancers might consider dancing with me if they knew me as a person and not as just an "intermediate, or maybe even beginner in their mind" dance partner.
Getting to know each other is the key in my mind! If we all had two goals in mind every time we went to a milonga,
a) support the community (a goal for the group)
b) have a good dance experience (a personal goal)
I think our tango community would actually feel more like a "community" rather than just a bunch of people/strangers dancing in the same room.
Thanks for asking these really importang questions that will hopefully help improve and strenghten our community!
Candace
This looks as if it is all about women. But the root of the problem, in my view, is in the shortage of good men dancers. There are fewer of them, yes, but the rest - only about 5% actually are able to make a good dance. Essentially it make about 20 women for 1 man good dancer. It is definitely not enough. So good dancers can allow themselves to be picky. And other men - not to worry about quality of their dancing at all. They are awful ! Sorry for the truth. And they have no reason to improve. They even have no idea they should improve: their dancing is so limited, so weak, but ladies, most of which are 10 times better willingly dance with them.
ReplyDeleteThe situation will not improve, since the generally level of teachers is similarly awful ! These teachers are not able to produce a good leader, a good dancer for the simple reason they are not themselves.
So the only solution I see is for women to learn how to lead. In my experience, if they do it and since they know how to follow well, they know how to dance well, they very very quickly become good leaders ! Much better leaders then 95% of all men.
Drop these men ladies ! You will never get anything good from them if you continue in the same way. There only reason to make them improve - do not dance with those who do not improve. Dance with yourself. When they figure out the horrifying picture that women prefer to dance with themselves, they might think something about it. At least new guys.
But the picture is not so simple. For example, already for long time, I do not ask any new woman to dance. I dance only with a few trusted super dancers. I have no intention to spent my efforts and breaking my feet teaching at the dance floor instead of dancing. So ladies, you'd better improve too. It was said that 2-5 years they are still at beginner level. They might be at the beginner level forever if they do not learn! Learn only from the best. And who are the best a beginner does not have any idea of. This is another problem for another poll.
Igor Polk,
www.jcctango.org
Wow, I think Igor is being pretty hard on the men and on tango teachers there! I do think it is true that some of the tango teachers out there don't do a good job, but another part of the problem is that beginning men (or leaders in general) really could benefit from a series of classes designed for beginners that starts from basics and builds leading skills. These classes do exist, but not in every community. Many men end up taking only drop-in classes and it is much harder to build up good leading skills that way. The same is true for women, since following is also a learned skill. Both leaders and followers need lots of practice. As a woman, I am interested in learning to lead but I have difficulty finding other women in my area who are comfortable dancing with me to provide that practice. So, while I know some of the leader's footwork and can lead okay with an open frame, I have not managed to develop a good frame in close embrace since I can't practice that without a partner for feedback.
ReplyDeleteClay's observations assume that it is beginners who have trouble getting a dance but, unfortunately, even quite good dancers can find it hard to get a dance. And, as one of the posters said above, you can't show that you are good if you can't get that first dance. I wish that people would be willing to take a chance on someone they don't know, even for less than a tanda.
ReplyDeleteAfter 5 years of tango, I finally evolved into an adequate dancer. At least I'd guess so, since I was able to get dances with follows I considered to be skilled. Fortunately, I had a regular partner to practice with. I was concerned about the many follows who received few dances, and lost a number of women friends - good dancers who went through the classes with me - because they were simply unwilling to sit around all night. I was into it for the dance, and would dance nearly every tanda. When my partner would tire, I would make it a point to dance with those who were not dancing. I got some really bad dances for sure, usually from beginners, but I also got some really good ones from follows who were my equal or better. Through it all, I tried to remember how many terrible dances I doled out when I was beginning, and the kindness of follows who not only tolerated my beginning struggles, but continued to dance with me as I developed. I don't really buy into the lead/follow ratio as a rationale for letting perfectly good dancers sit around all night. Nor do I necessarily buy totally into skill as a primary factor. How many times have we seen older, more experienced leads swarm beautiful young tangueras with limited skills? I believe that to build a genuine community, leads need to step up and take some responsibility for seeing that everyone can experience the joy of tango.
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