What Clay Says

A Few Comments and Observations About the Survey "Why I Quit Tango"

2009-07-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Contented and Not-So-Contented Tangueros & Tangueras,

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

Students Teaching other Students during a Class

2009-04-23T16:34:00.000-07:00

In my many years of teaching tango, occasionally I have had students come and tell me that they were dropping out of my class because of some overly eager fellow student who was trying to individually "teach" and "coach" them while the class was going on, and they found it to be very distracting and annoying. Unfortunately, I have never had the opposite happen where a student came and told me that they particularly liked my class because other fellow students were being so helpful.
I am aware that tango dancers are incredible passionate about "their" dance, and want desperately for their partner (if not the whole world) to fall in love with tango and immediately learn everything. However, in my particular style of teaching, I try to focus on a single aspect of the dance, explain it clearly, and then provide beginners an opportunity to practice and become successful at this single aspect. Thus, I need to gently ask students in my class to support me in this style of teaching and learning.
I'm also aware that for a more "experienced" tanguero to continually practice the fundamentals over and over with a beginner can be a bit boring. However, when I find myself in this situation (and I often do take beginner classes), I try to focus on exactly what the instructor is teaching or explaining, and I try to see how perfect and sublime I can make it feel to my follower. Then, after the dance if over, I ask my follower how it felt, if my lead was clear, and if she has any suggestions of how I could improve.
Clay Nelson - Sept 2008

Six Reasons You Shouldn't Dance Close Embrace Tango

2009-04-23T16:33:00.000-07:00

1. It can be physically difficult. Unlike open embrace, close embrace allows zero tolerance for error. If your steps and movements don't match exactly your partners, it's immediately apparent and uncomfortable.
2. It can be emotionally difficult. Locked inside all of us are intense emotional feelings--love, hate, fear, happiness, shame, pride, anger, respect, confusion, delight, vulnerability, longing, etc. For whatever reason, physical human contact--especially heart-to-heart contact--unlocks and releases many of these emotions.
3. It can be unpleasant. Our perception of each other is gained thru our five senses--sight, sound, touch, smell and yes, even taste. The closer we are, the more intense these senses are stimulated--resulting sometimes in an unpleasant experience.
4. It can cause jealousy. Watching your mate dance in close embrace with someone else can make you jealous; your mate watching you dance in close embrace with someone else can make him or her jealous.
5. It can lead to embarrassing miscommunication. Because of the intimacy of close embrace, it's easy for your partner to misconstrue your intentions, or for you to misconstrue those of your partner.
6. It can be addictive. Dancing close embrace can put you into a drug-like state of mind in which you experience extreme ecstasy and perfect bliss interspersed with moments of frustration and loathing. This will only lead you into a depraved state of mind in which you are constantly seeking more and longer "tango highs".
Clay Nelson - August 2007

Dreaming about Tango Nirvana

2009-04-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a dream. I dreamt that someone gave me new car. But it wasn’t just any car. It was a brand new Lamborghini Diablo convertible. Sort of like the one Al Pacino drove in the movie “Scent of a Woman”--cherry red with plush leather seats, 520 horsepower V-10 engine, and power everything.
“Boy!” I thought, “This is going to be great! With this baby I’m going to experience driving nirvana.”
So I opened the door, hopped in and what a surprise! The seats weren’t leather. They weren’t even plastic. Instead they were just hard cold steel painted to look like leather.
“Man!” I thought, “This is not going to be so great--this is not going to be driving nirvana. In fact, this is a lot like dancing tango with a partner who has a really bad embrace!”
Regardless of my discomfort, I put the key in the ignition and started the engine. Expecting it to roar to life, I was really disappointed when after a little pause, the engine just coughed, sputtered, and ran really rough and uneven.
“Wow!” I thought, “This is not what I was expecting from such a sleek powerful sports car. This is not going to be driving nirvana. In fact, this is a lot like dancing tango with a partner who has bad timing.”
Nevertheless, I proceeded on and decided to take the car for spin. I put it in gear and took off. But, much to my amazement, it didn’t have power steering! In fact, it had practically no steering at all. I had to force the steering wheel one way and then the other, and when I did there was practically no relationship at all between the way I turned the wheel and the direction the car went. On top of that, the car drifted to one side and then the other. It was frightening, dangerous, and impossible to navigate.
“Yikes!” I screamed, “This is not fun. This is not driving nirvana. In fact it’s just like dancing tango at a crowded milonga with a partner who can’t follow.”
Well, I did my best and managed to finally pull off the road and stop the car without crashing. I got out, walked away and resolved to never drive any new sports cars again just because it was given to me for free—and especially not because of the allure of her….err, I mean, its shiny new paint job and sleek lines.
* * *
P. S. The same metaphor applies to you leaders. No matter how rich you are, or how many fancy steps you know, unless you've mastered the fundamentals of a comfortable embrace, clear lead, and exquisite timing, your follower is not going to enjoy the ride.
Clay Nelson - July 2008

Use It or Lose It: Dancing Makes You Smarter

2009-04-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

Musings by Richard Powers
For hundreds of years dance manuals and other writings have lauded the health benefits of dancing, usually as physical exercise. More recently we've seen research on further health benefits of dancing, such as stress reduction and increased serotonin level, with its sense of well-being.
Then most recently we've heard of another benefit: Frequent dancing apparently makes us smarter. A major study added to the growing evidence that stimulating one's mind can ward off Alzheimer's disease and other dementia, much as physical exercise can keep the body fit.
You've probably heard about the New England Journal of Medicine report on the effects of recreational activities on mental acuity in aging. Here it is in a nutshell.
The 21-year study of senior citizens, 75 and older, was led by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, funded by the National Institute on Aging, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Their method for objectively measuring mental acuity in aging was to monitor rates of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.
The study wanted to see if any physical or cognitive recreational activities influenced mental acuity. They discovered that some activities had a significant beneficial effect. Other activities had none.
They studied cognitive activities such as reading books, writing for pleasure, doing crossword puzzles, playing cards and playing musical instruments. And they studied physical activities like playing tennis or golf, swimming, bicycling, dancing, walking for exercise and doing housework.
One of the surprises of the study was that almost none of the physical activities appeared to offer any protection against dementia. There can be cardiovascular benefits of course, but the focus of this study was the mind. There was one important exception: the only physical activity to offer protection against dementia was frequent dancing.
Reading - 35% reduced risk of dementia
Bicycling and swimming - 0%
People who played the hardest gained the most: For example, seniors who did crossword puzzles four days a week had a 47% lower risk of dementia than those who did the puzzles once a week.
Playing golf - 0%
Dancing frequently - 76%. That was the greatest risk reduction of any activity studied, cognitive or physical.
Quoting Dr. Joseph Coyle, a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist who wrote an accompanying commentary: "The cerebral cortex and hippocampus, which are critical to these activities, are remarkably plastic, and they rewire themselves based upon their use."
And from from the study itself, Dr. Katzman proposed these persons are more resistant to the effects of dementia as a result of having greater cognitive reserve and increased complexity of neuronal synapses. Like education, participation in some leisure activities lowers the risk of dementia by improving cognitive reserve.
Our brain constantly rewires its neural pathways, as needed. If it doesn't need to, then it won't.
Aging and memory
When brain cells die and synapses weaken with aging, our nouns go first, like names of people, because there's only one neural pathway connecting to that stored information. If the single neural connection to that name fades, we lose access to it. So as we age, we learn to parallel process, to come up with synonyms to go around these roadblocks. (Or maybe we don't learn to do this, and just become a dimmer bulb.)
The key here is Dr. Katzman's emphasis on the complexity of our neuronal synapses. More is better. Do whatever you can to create new neural paths. The opposite of this is taking the same old well-worn path over and over again, with habitual patterns of thinking and living our lives.
When I was studying the creative process as a grad student at Stanford, I came across the perfect analogy to this:
The more stepping stones there are across the creek, the easier it is to cross in your own style.
The focus of that aphorism was creative thinking, to find as many alternative paths as possible to a creative solution. But as we age, parallel processing becomes more critical. Now it's no longer a matter of style, it's a matter of survival — getting across the creek at all. Randomly dying brain cells are like stepping stones being removed one by one. Those who had only one well-worn path of stones are completely blocked when some are removed. But those who spent their lives trying different mental routes each time, creating a myriad of possible paths, still have several paths left.
The Albert Einstein College of Medicine study shows that we need to keep as many of those paths active as we can, while also generating new paths, to maintain the complexity of our neuronal synapses.
Why dancing?
We immediately ask two questions:· Why is dancing better than other activities for improving mental capabilities?· Does this mean all kinds of dancing, or is one kind of dancing better than another?
That's where this particular study falls short. It doesn't answer these questions as a stand-alone study. Fortunately, it isn't a stand-alone study. It's one of many studies, over decades, which have shown that we increase our mental capacity by exercising our cognitive processes. Intelligence: Use it or lose it. And it's the other studies which fill in the gaps in this one. Looking at all of these studies together lets us understand the bigger picture.
Some of this is discussed here (the page you probably just came from) which looks at intelligence in greater depth. The essence of intelligence is making decisions. And the concluding advice, when it comes to improving your mental acuity, is to involve yourself in activities which require split-second rapid-fire decision making, as opposed to rote memory (retracing the same well-worn paths), or just working on your physical style.
One way to do that is to learn something new. Not just dancing, but anything new. Don't worry about the probability that you'll never use it in the future. Take a class to challenge your mind. It will stimulate the connectivity of your brain by generating the need for new pathways. Difficult and even frustrating classes are better for you, as they will create a greater need for new neural pathways.
Then take a dance class, which can be even better. Dancing integrates several brain functions at once, increasing connectivity. Dancing simultaneously involves kinesthetic, rational, musical and emotional processes.
What kind of dancing?
Let's go back to the study: Bicycling, swimming or playing golf - 0% reduced risk of dementia
But doesn't golf require rapid-fire decision-making? No, not if you're a long-time player. You made most of the decisions when you first started playing, years ago. Now the game is mostly refining your technique. It can be good physical exercise, but the study showed it led to no improvement in mental acuity.
Therefore take the kinds of dance classes where you must make as many split-second decisions as possible. That's key to maintaining true intelligence.
Does any kind of dancing lead to increased mental acuity? No, not all forms of dancing will produce this benefit. Not dancing which, like golf or swimming, mostly works on style or retracing the same memorized paths. The key is the decision-making. Remember, Jean Piaget suggested that intelligence is what we use when we don't already know what to do.
We wish that 25 years ago the Albert Einstein College of Medicine thought of doing side-by-side comparisons of different kinds of dancing, to find out which was better. But we can figure it out by looking at who they studied: senior citizens 75 and older, beginning in 1980. Those who danced in that particular population were former Roaring Twenties dancers (back in 1980) and former Swing Era dancers (today), so the kind of dancing most of them continued to do in retirement was what they began when they were young: freestyle social dancing -- basic foxtrot, swing, waltz and maybe some Latin.
I've been watching senior citizens dance all of my life, from my parents (who met at a Tommy Dorsey dance), to retirement communities, to the Roseland Ballroom in New York. I almost never see memorized sequences or patterns on the dance floor. I mostly see easygoing, fairly simple social dancing — freestyle lead and follow. But freestyle social dancing isn't that simple! It requires a lot of split-second decision-making, in both the lead and follow roles.
I need to digress here: I want to point out that I'm not demonizing memorized sequence dancing or style-focused pattern-based ballroom dancing. I sometimes enjoy sequence dances for several good reasons . Plus there are stress-reduction benefits of any kind of dancing, cardiovascular benefits of physical exercise, and even further benefits of feeling connected to a community of dancers. So all dancing is good.
But when it comes to preserving mental acuity, then some forms are better than others. When we talk of intelligence (use it or lose it) then the more decision-making we can bring into our dancing, the better.
Who benefits more, women or men?
In social dancing, the follow role automatically gains a benefit, by making hundreds of split-second decisions as to what to do next. As I mentioned on this page, women don't "follow", they interpret the signals their partners are giving them, and this requires intelligence and decision-making, which is active, not passive. This benefit is greatly enhanced by dancing with different partners, not always with the same leader. With different dance partners, you have to adjust much more and be aware of more variables. This is great for staying smarter longer.
But men, you can also match her degree of decision-making if you choose to do so. (1) Really notice your partner and what works best for her. Notice what is comfortable for her, where she is already going, which moves are successful with her and what aren't, and constantly adapt your dancing to these observations. That's rapid-fire split-second decision making. (2) Don't lead the same old patterns the same way each time. Challenge yourself to try new things. Make more decisions more often. Intelligence: use it or lose it.
And gentlemen, the huge side-benefit is that your partners will have much more fun dancing with you when you are attentive to their dancing and constantly adjusting for their comfort and continuity of motion.
Dance often
Finally, remember that this study made another suggestion: do it often. Recall that seniors who did crossword puzzles four days a week had a measurably lower risk of dementia than those who did the puzzles once a week. If you can't take classes or go out dancing four times a week, then dance as much as you can. More is better.
And do it now, the sooner the better. It's essential to start building your cognitive reserve now. Some day you'll need as many of those stepping stones across the creek as possible. Don't wait — start building them now.

What Level Tango Dancer Am I?

2009-04-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

Frequently students have trouble determining what level of tango dancer they are and what class is most appropriate for them. As a result, they often attend classes too advanced. Some of the basic reasons are:

Students overestimate their ability and mistakenly believe no one in class will notice.
Students mistakenly believe that they will learn faster.
Students think that more advanced dancers only need to learn advanced patterns.
Students want to only dance with “better” dancers.

The problem is, students who do this fail to realize that:

It hinders the instructors from completing their class objectives.
It frustrates and angers the students who have met the criteria and now have to struggle with students who have jumped their level of expertise.
It decreases the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the class.

What level tango dancer you are depends on many factors including:

Number of years you’ve been dancing tango.
Whether you are a leader or follower--learning to lead usually takes longer then learning to follow.
Quantity and quality of classes and workshops you’ve taken.
Quality and the focus of teachers you’ve studied with--e.g., learning and dancing “close embrace” is quite different then “open embrace”.
How long and how often you practice.
Who you dance and practice with.
Natural ability.
Other dance experience.

Thus it is difficult to write a precise guideline to determine each student’s exact level of tango expertise. However, with the intent of providing some guidance, and for the purpose of making each participant’s experience at my tango festival optimal, I offer the following broad guideline of minimum criteria. (Click here for a printable PDF file of the following.)

Beginning Argentine Tango Dancer:

Has had zero or less than one year of experience in dancing Argentine tango. This includes advanced professional grand champion dancers who have not yet studied Argentine tango.

Minimum Criteria for Intermediate Argentine Tango Dancer:

Has been dancing Argentine tango twice a week for at least one year.
Can hear and stay on the beat of traditional Argentine tango as well as vals and milonga.
Understands open and close embrace and can dance comfortably in both.
Leaders maintain line of dance and wait for the follower to complete her step before leading another.
Followers collect and wait for the lead.
Understands the concept of parallel and crossed feet and can lead or follow from one to the other.
Can correctly and consistently execute the following steps solo and with a partner in time to the music while maintaining their own axis and balance:

marking time
walking forward/backward
side steps
check left turn
crusada
back ocho
forward ocho
ocho cortado

Minimum Criteria for Advanced Argentine Tango Dancer:

Has been dancing Argentine tango twice a week for at least two years.
Has mastered all of the criteria listed above for intermediate tangueros.
Has the ability to lead/follow from the chest only.
Can interpret the musicality of tango, vals and milonga—dancing to the beat as well as the melody.
Can correctly and consistently execute the following steps solo and with a partner in time to the music while maintaining their own axis and balance:

molinetes
boleos
ganchos

Clay Nelson - July 2007

How Can I Get Danced More?

2009-04-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

(Written by Beth Anne Osborn, Sept 2008)
If you are new to tango or just new to the Portland Festival follow these simple guidelines and you’ll double your chances of getting Danced.
Attend Classes at your ability level. Don’t make the mistake of taking classes that are beyond your grasp expecting to meet the “Good Dancers.” By choosing the right level class you are most likely to make friends with the people who are most likely to ask you for a dance.
Good Connections begin by establishing a friendly rapport with your fellow classmates. Make a good impression with the other dancers in class by being friendly, helpful and never critical of their dancing abilities. Leave that to the instructors or their spouses! Never, ever talk while the instructor is speaking or teaching a step.
Take advantage of the Free Practicas at the end of the day. This is the most likely place to meet other dancers at your skill level. Practice with as many different partners as possible. The Practica is a safe and non-threatening environment for new dancers. Use this atmosphere of goodwill and camaraderie to arrange for a Tanda or two at the evening’s Milonga with your favorite practice partners.
Arrive at the Milongas early and get a table/seat adjacent to the busiest part of the dance floor. Ladies, remember you catch more flies with Honey than with vinegar, so SMILE and Look like you are having fun. A good attitude is your best marketing tool. Try to make eye contact with other dancers, “Cabaceo.” Remember, Tango is about the quality of the connection between you and your partner not the quantity of Bare skin you are sporting or the flashy clothes you are wearing.
Respect and observe Milonga etiquette at all times. Attention Leaders: on crowded festival floors good NAVIGATION and FLOORCRAFT are the Keys to your popularity. Other dancers will be watching your moves on the dance floor. Make a good impression on your partner and the other dancers.

Portable Dance Floor

2009-04-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

Last year I wanted to put a dance floor outdoors on the concrete next to my swimming pool. So, I bought a 12x14 ft piece of vinyl (linoleum) at home depot for around $50. By the end of the summer it was pretty beat up and I had to throw it away.

This year I looked for something better which would meet the following criteria:

Easy to install
Lightweight
Attractive
Weatherproof
Provide “give” or “cushion” like a wood floor

Various products and dealers exist (try a Goggle search). For my needs I settled on a product made by Dance Deck—which I am very satisfied with. Each vinyl piece costs about $5 (plus shipping), is 1 sq ft, 5/8 in thick, and weights less then 2 lbs. The squares come in four different colors and easily snap together without any special tools.

I bought the product from a dealer on line called Sports Products Plus. The owner, Dan (866-427-1178) was very helpful and responsive in providing me with a sample and getting my shipment out quickly.

Competition Tango?!

2009-04-23T16:01:00.001-07:00

While attending the University of Illinois as an undergraduate engineering student, I taught ballroom dancing part-time for Arthur Murray Dance Studio. As an employee of the studio, I travelled to other cities and entered dance competitions with my students. Then and for many years later, I worshipped grand champion ballroom dancers, and would have given anything to be as good as they are.

I continued to study ballroom dancing (10 consecutive summers attending the BYU Ballroom Dance Camp in Provo Utah), and after retiring from Texas A&M, I opened my own dance studio in Portland. In 1993, I took my first Argentine Tango Class. It was with Luren Bellucci and Michael Walker at Oregon State in Corvallis. What an awakening that was! I will never forget when Michael (who was formerly a competitive ballroom dancer), demonstrated and compared the classic embrace of a ballroom dancer to that of an Argentine tango dancer. Whereas ballroom dancers are open at the top and heads turned away from each with a "cheesy" smile on their faces, tango dancers are closed at the top, introverted, with their focus and attention concentrated on each other. Michael explained that this is so because ballroom dancers are dancing for and trying to impress the judges and/or an audience, while tango dancers are simply dancing for each other. "WOW!" I thought, "What a concept. How could I have been dancing all my life and missed such an important concept?" That moment changed my life and my perception of what partner dancing should be about.

Since that time, I have only strengthened my opinion and resolve that tango dancing is no more about competition then sharing a feeling, or an emotion, or a conversation, or a sexual relationship with another person is. (Can you imagine, for instance, having a competition sex festival) Now, when getting ready to leave for a tango festival in some other city and a non-tanguero says something like, "Oh, are you going to compete?" I answer, "Look, competition dance makes about as much sense as competition sex--it's not about competition. It's about relating and connecting with another person."

At this point some of you will argue that there is, and always has been competition tango in Buenos Aires. Yes, that's partly true. There was some competition during the "golden age" of tango (1930-50's), and again in the new millennium now that all the tourists are there to see it. But my guess is that there wasn't much in between those two times. Furthermore, competition is not what sustained the passion and love for tango that made it endure during the down time before it's resurgence. And competition is certainly not the driving force that makes tango thrive today in the same way competition sustains ballroom dancing. In my opinion, competition has turned ballroom dancing into a perverted and weird parody of itself--I only hope this doesn't happen to tango.

Finally to rest my case, I have a little test. I ask everyone I meet from all over the tango world if they know who Paul Bottomer is. Not one person so far has known him. Well, for your information he is the "Four times undefeated World and European [Argentine] Tango Supreme Champion and World Cup winner". And if you don't believe me, just check his web site. But what relevance is Paul to the tango world? Is he, or was he really the best in the world? Was he, or is he even remotely as good as some of the great tangueros that you and I both know? Has any one of us ever seen him out dancing and enjoying himself at a milonga?

Tango Bumper Stickers

2009-04-23T15:57:00.000-07:00

Make tango, not war!

Will tango for food!

Take pity, I'm a beginning tanguero!

In the beginning there was tango!

Shut up and tango!

Bitten by tango!

Tanguero on board!

Life, liberty and the pursuit of tango!

I came, I saw, I tangoed!

Tango’s a cruel sport!

To tango or not to tango?---now that’s a stupid question!

Give me tango or give me death!

Life’s essentials: tango, tango & tango.

Tango—it’s not just a dance!

Tango--it's not a habit, it's a way of life!

I only regret that I have but one tanda to give to each partner!

A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and tango!

Building a Successful Tango Community

2009-04-23T15:54:00.000-07:00

Three indicators of a successful tango community are its quantity, quality and cooperative spirit. Although many of the factors which affect these indicators are “interlinked”, let’s attempt to take a look at each of them separately.

I. Quantity: Obviously, there needs to be a critical mass of dancers for a community be considered a success. Your first job, then, is to get new people in, and keep existing dancers from dropping out.

A. Recruiting.

1. Classes. Clearly there needs to be classes. But where, when and who teachers them? The best opportunities for holding classes are at community centers, city park districts, colleges and universities. The reason these are the best is because they already have the venues, existing client base, and will usually do the advertising and promoting for you. Existing dance studios are also a possibility, but most likely you will have to twist their arms and do all your own promoting. Typically a group class series will be in the evening, run 4-8 weeks, and my favorite nights (in order of preference) are Friday, Tuesday, Thursday, Monday and Wednesday. At the start of each series, be sure to hand out a printed weekly or monthly calendar of all tango events in your community, and for the absolute beginner’s class hand out a printed free invitation (with time, date, location) to your local milongas or practicas.

2. Teachers. The next tricky question is who should teach? The answer is...you, along with everyone of your friends, neighbors, and acquaintances that knows the least thing at all about tango! I know this is contrary to everything you've heard and thought about tango, but tango is a folk dance and should be shared and taught by everyone. That's the way it originated, and that's the way it will promulgate. This is not rocket surgery, my friend, and the idea is to have fun and enjoy. Remember, everyone of those people that your neighbor, relative, and clumsy former student starts teaching is one more body brought into the tango community—and probably a body that would never have been there otherwise. Furthermore, once they see you dance and hear what a superior teacher you are, they will all end up as your student anyway.

3. Advertising. Personally, I find traditional advertising to be a waste of money. However, most cities and neighborhood newspapers have a free public service calendar in which you can place a short notice of your lessons, practicas and milongas. Depending on the city and location, putting up flyers on community bulletin boards can be very effective.

B. Minimizing Attrition.

1. Weekly (or Monthly) Milongas. Milongas are the reason d'être. Without them, there's no motive to learn tango. Unless, of course, all you want to do is perform—but that’s another bag and although a good performance will win a few converts, tango performances alone will not sustain a healthy tango community. In fact, it will mostly just attract egocentric dancers. If possible, the venue for a weekly milonga should be at a public place (restaurant, park, coffee shop, etc). This is for two reasons. First, it introduces tango to the unsuspecting public. Second, people generally have a lot of pride and like to show off their tango dancing skills. Always include a free lesson at the start of each milonga.
2. Music. You just have to have a good music. Putting a stack of tango CD’s on and hitting the random button doesn't cut it. If your community is new, it will take time for good tango DJ’s to develop. In the meantime, do your best, educate yourself, and play what you think is good tango dance music. (More on this in the next paragraph). Also, you must play tandas and cortinas (3 songs at most for beginners)—but not necessarily at the practicas.
3. Dancing Style. OK, you’re not all going to agree with me on this one. From many years of organizing tango festivals, from many years of observing and attending other peoples tango communities and festivals, and from many visits to Buenos Aires, it is my belief and observation that to have a successful community you must promote and develop a community that is absolutely, insanely and madly in love with dancing close embrace tango to 30’s, 40’s and 50’s golden age traditional music—not because that is what I love the most, but because it is the linkage between this style of dancing and this particular music that makes tango so addictive. Furthermore, I base this claim on my experience as a former dance studio owner and teacher of a dozen different ballroom dances—none of which can compare nor compete with the emotional passion, connection, and exuberance one experiences from improvisational close embrace tango.
4. Weekly Practicas. People want and need to practice in an inclusive, inviting and non-threatening location—nuff said.

II. Quality—developing good dancers

A. Weekend Festivals with Guest Teacher(s). Yes, but be careful! They can be expensive, exhausting, and time consuming to plan. In tango especially, the best dancers are not necessarily the best teachers. Although a great dancer can wow and win new converts with their performances, they can also ruin a community with bad teaching—not necessarily because they have bad teaching methods, but because they teach the wrong material. (See next paragraph.)
B. 8-count basic (or more accurately, 8-step basic--since it's practically never 8 counts of the music). Unfortunately, many teachers still teach an 8-count basic. Yes, the 8-count has some great stuff in it, but here's 8 reasons not to teach it: (1) it’s difficult for beginner’s to execute correctly, (2) it misleads couples into thinking they know how to dance tango, (3) it doesn't encourage good lead and follow, (4) it stifles improvisation, (5) it causes beginners to drift to the center of the floor, (6) it’s useless in a crowded milonga, (7) it stifles musicality, and (8) it's essentially never used by good social dancers in the milongas! Then why is it taught? The answer is laziness, ignorance, and tradition. (One of my favorite stories is about an excellent follower from Portland who was taking a tango class in England. The teacher asked her to do the 8-count basic pattern alone without a partner. She answered that she didn’t know how. The teacher then said, “what are they teaching you in Portland?!” Her answer was simple and perfect… “to follow!”)

C. Basic Vocabulary. So if not the "8-count", then what should be taught? I suggest basic vocabulary such as walking, marking time, check left turn, rock steps, walking outside your partner, crusada, side steps, etc. Being able to lead/follow these basic elements will enhance beginner's navigation and improvisational skills and will allow them to dance on a crowded floor.
D. Getting Good Guest Teachers. Here are three ways to find good teachers: (a) look at the web sites and pick teachers from communities that have renown tango communities (Portland, Ann Arbor, Atlanta, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, etc), (b) check out the web sites of successful tango festivals and look for who’s been teaching there (click here for a list of teachers that have previously taught at my festivals), (c) ask around.
E. Instructional Videos. Yes, from videos you can inexpensively get instruction from the best tango dancers in the world. But here is the problem. Nearly everyone of these videos will teach you a tango pattern—but not the basics of comfortable embrace, musicality, lead/ follow and improvisation. So my recommendation is to use videos, but be aware of their limitations.

III. Cooperation: Maintaining harmony and cooperation in your community will be one of your most difficult challenges. Passions run high in the tango world, and nearly every community I’ve observed has infighting and dissonance. Your job will be to ignore the dissonance and encourage harmony.

A. Allow individuals to seek their level and niche of leadership and participation. In every tango community, various individuals will step forward and take on a myriad of different task that will help develop your community. Examples of these tasks are DJing, decorating, building a web site, offering their home to tango visitors, opening a tango studio, purchasing and sharing music, baking cookies, teaching, etc. Your job is to not only get out of the way when it happens, but to encourage it by asking for help and participation.
B. Don’t prejudge. Many times I have prejudged a new beginner tango dancer in thinking that they will never be very good and will never infuse into the tango community; and I have been so wrong. A year or two later they have become pillars and important contributors to the community.
C. Encourage participation: A small example of this is that when I teach an absolute beginner’s class, I bring in one or two extra CD’s of tango music and ask my students if someone would be willing borrow them, make extra copies, and bring them back to the next class to share with everyone else. That saves me work and gets people into the idea of sharing and contributing.
D. Accept different styles of teaching and dancing. Although I have unequivocally stated above my own prejudices and belief in what and how tango should be taught and danced, because this is Argentine tango there will be widely different opinions on it. Just make room for everyone.

E. Accept and even encourage others who want to teach and/or become organizers and promoters. Frankly, this is probably going to be the most difficult thing for you to do. After struggling for years to develop your community, a newbie will step in and want to teach, or start their own milonga, or want to bring in and host a guest teacher on their own, or want to organize a new tango festival/event of their own. Although it will hurt your pride and you will feel it's unfair, don't block it, don't just stand there, but step up to the plate and offer your help to that person. Remember, "a rising tide floats all boats!"
F. Accept splinter groups and “clicks” that naturally form. From time to time, small groups of tango dancers will want to go off and do their own thing (i.e., have their own party, milonga, outing, or whatever). I have seen some teachers and community leaders express not only discontent, but actually state that they feel these students were being divisive and splitting the community. Don’t feel that way! This is exactly what should be happening. Encourage it and support it as part of the natural growth of the tango community.
G. Don’t accept predatory or toxic behavior from individuals. This can be a difficult issue. Occasionally there will be an individual who has socially unfit behavior. When this happens, do not take it upon yourself to correct it. First discuss it with a few of your most trusted and respected comrades in the community and if, and only if, they agree with you, then take appropriate action by gently confronting the individual as a group and discuss the matter. Afterwards, carefully monitor that person's behavior and if it doesn’t change, you may have to be more persistent. In a worse case scenario, shun them from the community.
H. Develop a local all inclusive web site. Developing and maintaining a web site is time consuming and takes a certain amount of expertise. If you're not familiar how to do this yourself, then find someone to create a very simple web page that you or someone in your community can update easily as information and the communities' tango calendar of events changes.

I. Develop and maintain an email list. An email list is a must for communication and notifying your community of upcoming events. Weekly or monthly you should send out a list or calendar of what's happening. If your list is small, you may want to maintain it yourself. If it is large (mine is over 3000), I'd suggest using an on-line company such as www.constantcontact.com to help you out.

J. Sharing your email list. Once you've worked very hard and put in a lot of time establishing your list, others will either (a) ask you to forward their own stuff to your list--which you should do if it is pertinent and valuable to the tango community, or (b) they might even ask you if they can have your list--which will make you extremely angry at their impudence and audacity. Nevertheless, consider the possibility of emailing your own list with an explanation and contact information so that they can choose themselves if they want to be on someone else's list.
K. Include flyers and announcements from all groups at all events.

Clay Nelson - March 2008

Bitten by Tango

2009-04-23T15:50:00.000-07:00

Background
About two years ago (2006) a friend put forth the idea of making a movie which involved tango and vampires. His reasoning was that there is sort of weird connection between the two--i.e., both vampires and tangueros stay up all night, wear black, shun garlic, and have this sort of compulsive obsessive behavior. Also, there is an eerie similarity in looks between Bela Legosi and Carlos Gardel. Finally, the classic ending tango pose of Carlos Gavito dancing with Marcela Duran can be viewed as a victim submitting to the bite of a vampire.
With this in mind, my friend asked if I had any tango/vampire story ideas. After some thought, I wrote the following "treatment" for a possible movie. The title, "Bitten by Tango" was suggested by Margaret Sax from Memphis.
If you like the story and have any connection with the movie industry, please share or pass on the idea and let me know.

* * *
Bitten by Tango
by Clay Nelson, March 19, 2007

Carla Garcia, a strict vegetarian and a young rising singing star beginning to gain national recognition is having mixed feelings about her popularity and success due to a number of threats and attempts on her life. She’s not sure if it’s just some over exuberant fan, or if other unknown factors are involved. Although her dreams and passion are to one day sing in Carnegie Hall, out of fear and desire to cool the hectic pace of her life and career, she decides to take a break and spend time visiting her mother in San Francisco. At best, Carla’s relationship with her mother is a bit rocky--due to the fact that for unexplained reasons her mother strongly disapproves of her singing career and also because her mother has never been willing to divulge the identity of Carla’s father. Nevertheless, Carla vows to appease and make amends to her mother. During the visit, Carla’s mom invites her to go tango dancing and Carla reluctantly agrees. Although Carla doesn't really get it, her mother seems transformed by the music and dancing, and after a few drinks begins to open up with Carla. Upon returning home that evening, she tells Carla that her dad was a famous tango dancer (Carlos Gavito?) from Argentina who she had an affair with when he was performing in the U.S. Her mom then shows Carla a video tape of her father dancing tango. The performance ends with the famous Gavito tango bite pose.That night Carla has a dream that she’s singing on stage and her father approaches her and they begin to dance tango. The performance again ends in the famous pose, but when the music stops, she looks down and the front of her dress is covered in blood. The next day she decides to go to Buenos Aires to find her dad. Her mother pleads with her not to go and warns of disastrous results. In Buenos Aires, she finds out that her father recently died of cancer. She visits the tomb of her father in Recoleta (where else?) where he is much revered. She begins to meet friends and fans and asks more questions about his death and eventually discovers that it wasn't the cancer, but rather it was the side effect of a radical new radiation/chemotherapy—i.e., an over abundance of a silver isotope used in the treatment collected in his heart and caused his death. Despondent, Carla wants to meet family and goes searching for information about her father’s family by attending and dancing tango in the milongas. She is also cajoled into dropping her vegetarian beliefs and into eating Argentine beef. She makes contact with an old milonguero who claims to have the address of her grandmother. She goes to the address. It’s in La Boca (of course!). Her grandmother is old and half crazy and Carla doesn't know whether to believe anything that her Grandmother says. Plus, there’s the language problem. But according to her grandmother, Carla’s father’s death was not an accident. There had been threats on both his life, and there had been threats on Carla’s grandfather’s life—and by the same people. But who were these people and how were the threats made? After much cajoling and passing around and drinking mate, her grandmother tells her about the threats—and they are chillingly similar to the type of threats Carla had received back in the U.S. Furthermore, it seems that Carla’s grandfather was a famous tango singer (Carlos Gardel?) and the plane crash that supposedly killed him was actually a cover up for the true cause of death—the silver tip of a walking cane was found stuck thru the heart of his badly burned body. Carla begins to suspect that both her father and grandfather were thought to be vampires (which she doesn't’t believe in) and that they were killed by over zealous superstitious people to prevent the spread of vampires. Furthermore, the possibility of her discovering the murders is the reason for the threats on her own life. But she is wrong. Carla’s father and grandfather were in fact vampires, as Carla is herself and slowly discovers as she goes from eating her steaks well done, to rare, and finally in an embarrassing restaurant incident she rushes into the kitchen and devours a steak totally rare. But the most startling discovery Carla makes is that the murders of her father and grandfather were in fact committed by the underground vampire community itself for the purpose of protecting their identity and existence, and their inability to allow anyone who is a vampire to become truly famous and in the public eye--it would just create too much bad publicity! This, of course, means that her own fame, success and stardom are an absolute death sentence--at which point she receives a letter from home containing an invitation to sing in Carnegie Hall.
Clay Nelson - March 2007