The Honor and Privilege of Teaching

Watching It All Come Together

I am proud of my students, the current group and all of the students with whom I have had the privilege of working over the years. 

Week after week, they show up full of passion and energy, ready to work and eager to learn. They watch the demonstrations carefully and tackle the week's exercises with enthusiasm.

When I make suggestions and corrections, they respond immediately. It's a joy to watch them overcome limitations and do things that they couldn't do at the beginning of the hour. 

Sometimes, I see them practicing steps or discussing techniques after class. That always gives me a thrill. When students ask me questions during or outside of class, I can tell that they've put a lot of thought into the topic. I do my best to provide answers that inspire them to explore the topic further. 

Even when a student struggles and requires extra attention, every roadblock that they overcome and every quantum of improvement is significant. It humbles me to watch them make their hard earned breakthroughs.

But my favorite moments in class occur when the students begin to use the concepts and the material in their own way. They go beyond repeating a step of fussing over the accuracy of a technique. They improvise. They combine ideas and movements in new ways. Leaders and followers move in delicate but certain synchronization while creating their own choreography. They interpret the music with sensitivity and reflect details of the arrangements in their movements.

When I watch it all come together, I am moved sometimes almost to tears. It is beyond beautiful. It's exciting and real. It's tango in its purest sense, an intimate connection between two individuals and an orchestra that comes to life before your very eyes. 

These are the moments that mean the most to me. This is what keeps me in the game, week after week, year after year, in any type of weather. The essence of teaching is inspiration the guidance to help someone unleash their own ideas. This is a thrill that I can't describe, even though I have had the honor and good fortune to experience it on many occasions.

Thanks, students, for giving those special moments to me, and more importantly, to yourselves.

¡Buena suerte amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com

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Filling Technical Gaps

Basic Steps To Better Tango

Technique is built in layers over time. A strong foundation supports the ability to execute advanced techniques, while a weak foundation inhibits progress.

Our foundational technique can have weaknesses for a variety of reasons. First of all, everyone is different. We all have varying levels of ability in different technical areas. One person might move gracefully but lack balance, for instance. Another person might be musically expressive but lack quality of movement.

A particular teacher might spend more time on one technique and less on another depending on their own biases or the preferences of their students. Or they might not explain certain techniques well.

As I suggested in the last post, students who are eager to move ahead to higher class levels might not spend enough time on foundational material.

Whatever the reasons for the technical challenges of any individual student, just about every advancing dancer will profit from a refresher in fundamentals at some point in their development. 

Working on fundamentals is not a sign of weakness. Professional dancers work on fundamental technique all the time, all the way down to basic walking. Professional athletes work on fundamental technique. Basketball players shoot free throws at every practice. Golfers work obsessively on their swing. Professional musicians work on fundamental technique practicing scales and arpeggios religiously.

If fundamental technique is important to the people at the top of each of these disciplines, why wouldn't it be important to anyone and everyone who is still in the developing stages?


A Commitment To Your Own Development

I'm going to suggest two approaches that you can use to improve your fundamental technical skills. The first is an ongoing approach to practice. The second you can undertake as a project when you have time.


1. Practice Fundamentals

Set aside at least ten minutes at each practice session (on your own or at an organized practica) to work on fundamental techniques: walking, ochos, molinetas, boleos without the support of another person, etc. 

Focus on clean technique. Focus on posture and a relaxed frame (no tension). Use a mirror or a video camera to see what's working and what needs improvement.

You can squeeze these exercises in during sets when you don't have a partner, but I would suggest that you do them right at the beginning of the session so you don't run short on time. 

Don't get discouraged if this turns out to be more difficult than you expected. Stick with it. You'll discover quickly how important these exercises are as you begin to see improvement in your dancing.


2. Retake Classes At The Fundamental Levels

If you are an Intermediate or Advanced student or an experience social dancer, consider taking Beginner and Pre-Intermediate level classes as a refresher. Do this for a period of at least 12 weeks continuously if you want to get the most out of the exercise. That doesn't mean stopping by occasionally over a three-month period. It means showing up and doing the work week after week.

If you're thinking right now that this would be a complete waste of your time, you might be right. If you show up with the wrong attitude or if you fail to work hard, it will be a waste of your time, and you'll be an annoyance to both the teacher and the students.

For instance, if you stride into class like some self-important Baron von Tango who's going to treat the beginners with an opportunity to dance with you, you've already failed. The beginners were doing just fine without you, and they have a teacher to show them what they need to know. 

You are here to work on your own technique. Let that be your focus.


The Rule Of 20

It is at least twenty times more difficult to execute a technique cleanly than it is to do it in a sloppy or arbitrary manner. What happens when you do something that's twenty times more challenging than what you've been expected to do before? You get stronger. You get better. 

It's enough for the beginners to just get through the step and gain some understanding of the techniques involved. As a more experienced dancer with a desire to improve, you need to hold yourself to a higher standard. Execution isn't your goal; perfection is.

You won't reach perfection, and that's okay. But you need to push yourself toward that ideal. That's why simple techniques like the backward ocho are worth repeating. As we push toward new levels of accuracy and fluidity, even techniques can become quite challenging.

Watch the teacher as they demonstrate to the class. Try to match their quality of movement and the expressiveness and nuance that they put into the move. The teacher will give you pointers from time to time. Take everything that they say seriously. A teacher in the middle of a busy class doesn't take time to make a comment unless they feel that it's in your best interest to hear it.

If you would like some inspiration as you work your way through the fundamental level classes, watch videos of your favorite tango performers. Watch how gracefully and elegantly they perform even the simplest technique. This is your new standard. And that is precisely why repeating a class on fundamentals will NOT be a waste of your time if you approach it with focus, dedication, and humility.

Now get to work. :-)

¡Buena suerte amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com

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Cracks In The Foundation

Why Racing Ahead Could Hold You Back

Everyone loves a promotion. A promotion says that you have worked hard, accomplished significant objectives, and that your work is noticed, valued, and appreciated. 

Students feel that same sense of accomplishment when advised that they're ready to move up to the next class level. It's a joyful and fulfilling experience for teacher and student alike, recognition for commitment to hard work and a rising level of ability and understanding. 


Skipping Ahead

Unfortunately, some people bypass the recommended promotion schedule. They either move up too early or skip over fundamental levels altogether. This almost always works to their detriment.

If a class cycle is meant to run for eight weeks, but someone drops out in half of that time - because they didn't find the material interesting, or because they thought that they would advance faster by enrolling in a higher-level class - the resulting "skills gap" can cause problems for years. 

Why? Because if the foundation is weak, everything that's built on that foundation will be unstable. It's nearly impossible to focus on the demands of advanced material when one struggles with weak fundamentals. It's like trying to run a marathon with your shoes untied. Can you afford to trip over your own steps while running a race that lasts for hours? That would be an extremely frustrating experience. Why set yourself up for failure?


When You're In Over Your Head

Attend an intermediate or advanced workshop sometime, either at a tango festival or when guest teachers come to town. Look around the room as the students work through the exercises. I'm betting that you'll see some people there who aren't ready for the level of material that's being presented. 

This is a frustrating situation for everyone. It's frustrating for the teacher, as they'll have to take time to explain material that the students should already know. It's frustrating for those who understand the fundamentals and signed up to learn advanced concepts. It's frustrating for those who partner with the struggling student, and most of all it's frustrating for the student who came to the workshop unprepared. 


The Right Pace At The Right Time

Over time, students need to tackle more challenging material in order to advance. But we learn best when we're working at the appropriate level, a level where we are challenged but not overwhelmed, where we can build on the skills that we have attained already.

Unfortunately, students sometimes rationalize that they'll learn more in a more advanced class. The truth is that they don't learn more things in an advanced class, they learn DIFFERENT things. But the advanced material requires an understanding of and fluency with material from prerequisite levels. 

You can't study literature while learning to read. You need to learn to read first. When your reading skills are well developed, you can study and appreciate literature effectively.

Here is another common and unhelpful assumption. A student might rationalize that if they can handle the material in a class at a higher level, then they didn't really need the prerequisite classes. For example, if they attend an Intermediate class and it doesn't seem difficult, they'll conclude that the Beginner and Pre-Intermediate classes would have been a waste of their time. 

The lower level class would have afforded them time to develop important foundational skills. Moving ahead without that foundation will cause problems for the student eventually, even though they seem to be "doing well" at the moment.


A Quick Martial Arts Lesson

Reputable martial arts schools are regimental about student promotion. Each student wears a belt or some other marking to clearly highlight their level. Students are informed that they will remain at their current level for a specified amount of time (six months or perhaps longer). Eventually, they'll be required to demonstrate what they have learned during a formal and rigorous exam.

If they pass the exam, they move up a level. If they don't, they have to keep working on the skills at their current level until the next testing opportunity.

Imagine a new student, a "white belt" walking up to the master of the school after a few classes. The student says that he's bored with the white belt exercises. He saw the more advanced students working on some interesting material, and he'd like to be admitted to that class.

The master will explain that progress takes time and that it's important to work on white belt skills for a period of time before advancing to a new level. Hopefully, the student will understand the message and dedicate himself to working at his current level. 

If he keeps pestering the master about the possibility of early advancement, the master will conclude that the student lacks the commitment to learn challenging skills over time, or he doesn't respect the school's teaching approach. In either case, the student will be asked to leave the school.


Dance Dilemma

The dance world is a bit more relaxed. Teachers don't want to deal with the stress and drama of enforcing promotion policies with impatient students. Students who feel that they aren't being challenged may leave the school and seek instruction elsewhere, i.e. where someone will let them do whatever they want. 

Given the choice of letting the student take a class at an inappropriate level or losing them altogether, what do you do? Sometimes it's better to give in and let them do as they please. At least if they stay in your school, you may have a chance to fill in their technical gaps over time (with private lessons, for instance). If they quit, you can't help them.


The Excuses

I've heard a lot of excuses over the years, and it always breaks my heart just a little bit. 

"I already know the steps that they teach in that class." 

- Okay, Miss Student, but what you don't realize is that learning to dance isn't about memorizing a series of choreographed sequences. It's about gaining and refining critical skills. The sequences are part of a method to help the student develop better dance technique. Technique can always be refined and improved, so don't bash the steps, even if you've seen them before many times.

"My significant other is taking the Intermediate Class." 

- Okay, Mr. Student, I understand when couples want to experience something together. It's wonderful. But wouldn't it make much more sense if your partner came to YOUR class, instead of the other way around? That way, you can work together as your skills grow. And I'm willing to bet that they'll profit from reviewing more fundamental material. Why am I so sure? Because everyone benefits from fundamentals, even professionals.

But if you want to take that more advanced class, I hope that your significant other will be able to correct all of the complex technical problems that your are about to develop.



The best excuse is the non-excuse. People come to class for a while and then disappear. I'll run into them one day at a milonga or a workshop, and they'll tell me that they're taking advanced classes at XYZ school. Then I'll watch them dance and cringe at the obvious weaknesses in their technique, weaknesses that could have been addressed and all but eliminated if they had dedicated a little more time in lower-level classes that focus on the development of fundamental technique. 


How To Escape A Bear Trap

We have seen how some people get themselves in trouble by skipping ahead too quickly. How do we fix that? 

Even someone who has followed their instructor's directions carefully can end up with technical weak spots. (Everyone has weaknesses or areas that require extra remedial work, regardless of how diligently we train.) How do we fix that?

Good questions! And that will be the topic of an upcoming post. Please stay tuned!

For now, realized that your progress is VERY important to your teachers, and they are thinking all the time about your skill level and your training needs. When they plan their classes, they do it with the needs of their regular students in mind.

Trust your teachers and seek out their advice. If you ask about moving up to the next level and they don't seem enthusiastic about that possibility, or if they ask you to stay at your current level a bit longer, don't take that as an affront. See it as an opportunity to continue to improve skills that will be critical for your future development.

And please, never just start going to a higher-level class without first discussing it with your instructor. Even if it seems more interesting. Even if your friends are taking the class. Even if the instructor for that class seems like they're more fun. If you move ahead before you're ready, you're only making things more difficult in the long run. 

Eventually, if you want to improve, you'll have to come back and revisit the skills that you failed to develop along the way. Why not just put the time into developing those skills now? That is the BEST way to improve.

¡Buena suerte amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com

All Rights Reserved

   

Tango Blues

Roots, Rhythms, and Changes

The Argentine Tango is a folk dance with complex roots. It descended from a rich folkloric dance tradition fused with musical and cultural influences from around the world.

The tango wasn't developed by academics or choreographers. It wasn't fashioned for the court at Versailles or the ballrooms of Vienna. It wasn't danced to the established music of classical composers.

The tango was never a dance for the aristocracy. It was developed by poor and working class people, people with hard lives who danced for the sheer joy of it.

The original tango experts weren't experts by virtue of their talent or their training, but rather due to their love and commitment for an exciting new art form. The tango filled their hearts with passion and comforted their souls during difficult times. 


"Put on your red shoes and dance the blues." - David Bowie


The tango and the blues are like close cousins from distant lands. 

- They came into existence at roughly the same time. 

- Both emerged from folk traditions with multi-cultural influences. 

- Both were developed and performed by the poor and the working class. 

- Both express feelings of loss and sadness and difficult times, but this expression makes the troubles seem more tolerable.

- Each has a recognizable style and structure, but neither is strictly formalized.

- Within the context of the established structure, performances are improvised most of the time. (Some songs and some choreographed performances are preplanned in detail.)

- Both genres are flexible and adaptable, and they blend well with other genres and influences.

- Notably and regrettably, decades passed before either the blues or the tango were accepted widely in their respective homelands.


Blue Notes

The blues and the tango share two fundamental ideals.

The first is a strong connection with emotion during performance. Feeling outweighs technique in importance in both genres. Virtuosity is not a requirement for being a blues musician or a tango dancer. But the ability to express emotion and to connect on an emotional level with others, that is what makes a true bluesman or tanguero. 

The second ideal is that of an open and evolving nature. Many varieties of blues have emerged over the years - rural blues, delta blues, Chicago blues, rhythm and blues, the earliest rock 'n' roll songs, and the blues-influence rock of music legends such as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and The Rolling Stones. 

Tango also evolves continually and organically in surprising ways. Various styles of Argentine tango are danced today, and no two experts dance it exactly the same way. More styles will emerge as new generations experiment with the structure of the dance and blend it with musical influences from the future. 

This open architecture should be embraced; it is a great asset of both the tango and the blues, and it keeps both genres vibrant and current generation after generation. 


Boom Boom

And here is one final though to ponder. The blues and the tango emerged from the humblest of beginnings. They weren't commissioned by wealthy patrons. They weren't derived from classical theories. But when the right mix of people merged in the right places at the right times, a miracle happens, and two beautiful, living art forms emerged.

Mankind needs the blues, and we need the tango just as we need stories and drama and poetry. These art forms were developed not out of a desire for pageantry but out of simple necessity. We are simply not complete without the blues and the tango. Thank goodness that some inspired people brought these exquisite gifts to life.

¡Buena suerte amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com

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The Music of Octavio Brunetti

A Remembrance

Virtuoso pianist Octavio Brunetti passed away on August 29th at the age of 39. A native of Argentina, Mr. Brunetti was best known as a performer of tango music, both as a soloist and with a number of accomplished orchestras and ensembles.

I didn't know him personally, but I enjoyed his inspired playing on many occasions. It was always a good night when Octavio Brunetti was on the bandstand.

His approach to the piano was joyful, playful, elegant, and fun. It's not uncommon to associate tango music with deep, somber emotions, and Brunetti's music communicated those emotions brilliantly. But there was also a sense of comfort and contentment in every note that he played. It was like the persistent, heartfelt hope that springs out of a blues song even when it describes our deepest struggles.

You could see that joy on his face as he played and when he relaxed with friends and admirers. A positive energy seemed to flow from the man in every moment. His music took that joy to soaring heights.

He was technically accomplished, of course. His performances were effortless and consistently flawless. But music is so much more than hitting the right notes at the right time. Octavio Brunetti had an unmatched command of musical expression.

I remember in particular the exaggerated tempo changes that he used to enhance well known pieces. All of a sudden, you felt everything slow down - slower...slower...until time all but stood still. He would play so expressively in that moment of temporal suspension, squeezing every drop of nuance and emotion from each highly anticipated note. And then he would speed up again, as though a powerful and precise machine were accelerating to full throttle.

Words can only describe the experience to a point. I hope that you'll go online and view some of Mr. Brunetti's performances. Or better yet, purchase his album, Te Amo Tango, in order to experience the brilliance of this irreplaceable musician. He was a gem in the worlds of both music and dance, and his joyful, playful, enthusiastic presence will be missed by everyone who ever experienced his incomparable artistry, musicianship, and personal energy.

¡Buena suerte amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com

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Courage

Facing Fear and Moving Forward

It takes courage to learn to dance. 

It takes courage to learn to do anything new.

It take courage to ask the unfamiliar voice on the telephone what you need to do in order to get started. It takes even more courage to show up for that first lesson.

It takes courage to learn to move your body in new ways and do things that will feel hopelessly awkward in the beginning.

It takes courage to try your best when you know that you will receive corrections and urged to try again and try harder.

It takes courage to return week after week, especially when it seems as though you're not making progress very quickly. Real progress rarely comes quickly.

It takes courage to attempt to learn something challenging in a room full of people, some of them perhaps more experienced, some of them potentially judgmental.

It takes courage to ask questions. Is this a reasonable question, we might wonder, or are we simply admitting our ignorance and looking foolish?

It takes courage to undertake and repeat and repeat again the difficult, tedious, awkward exercises reauired to elevate a skill to a new level.

It takes courage to go out to the milongas and dance with people of different levels, with people who have studied different styles, and with people who might not be very patient. 

It takes courage to endure rejection and criticism, especially when the criticism is unwarranted.

It takes courage to face the fear of making mistakes or "messing up" in public.

It takes courage to stick with something after a particularly difficult or humiliating experience, to figure out what went wrong and to learn how to have things go better the next time.

It takes courage to admit when something isn't working when you thought initially that it was going well.

It takes courage to see ourselves clearly and honestly, the good and the bad.

It takes courage to admit our limitations and accept our weaknesses. And then to work on those weaknesses.

It takes courage to ask for help.

It takes courage to take guidance and to act upon it with steadfast conviction.

It takes courage to grow, to advance, to evolve.

It takes courage to embrace openly.

It takes courage to improvise.

It takes courage to express oneself freely.

It takes courage to share responsibility with a partner.

It takes courage to experience the intimacy of connection and partnership.

It takes courage to tango. 

I applaud anyone who musters the courage to take that first lesson.

I applaud anyone who maintains the courage to keep working, to keep pressing forward toward a challenging goal.

I applaud anyone who survives one of those inevitable, gut-wrenching milonga experiences where nothing goes right, and then comes back out again in a day or week and discovers that all is not lost, that the unfortunate night was an outlier, a one-time event.

There is no tango without courage. 

Without courage, there's no connection, no communication, no intimacy.

Without courage, there's no interpretation, expression, no improvisation.

Without courage, there's no exploration, experimentation, or discovery.

Without courage, there's no risk, and without risk, there can be no reward.

Have courage.

Let go of the fears that hold you back.

Lose yourself in the dance.

Because if you can't lose, you'll never know how it feels to win. 

And if you can't let go, you'll never go anywhere. 

Dare to dance.

Dare to grow.

Dare to connect.

Dare to express.

Dare to be who you really are.

Dare to tango.


¡Buena suerte amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com

All Rights Reserved

   

World Cup Wonder

Surviving Your Darkest Hour

It was a rough day for the hometown World Cup fans. Germany could do nothing but score. Brazil could do nothing to stop them. 

The game was lost well before halftime. The Brazilian players had to put on a strong face and play out the rest of a hopeless match in front of millions of fans world wide and their own shocked and sobbing countrymen.


Bad Things Happen

No matter how prepared we are, no matter how skilled or experienced we are, it's still possible to have a bad day. A disastrous day. A calamitous day. A performance that will haunt us for years.

No one is immune to bad fortune. Anyone can have a meltdown when a perfect storm of negative events rains down with unexpected fury. The storm will come for each of us sooner or later. The breakdown will happen. It's not a question of whether, but when.

When the worst happens, it will hurt. We'll feel anguish. Humiliation. Agitation. Despair. Physical and emotional discomfort. 

We'll experience profound self-doubt and disillusionment in that bitter moment, a moment that we shall be destined to play over and over in our minds for months and years to come.


Replay

But, guess what! You'll get over it. If you live through the experience, you can pick yourself up and start again from where you left off.

You'll play another match. You'll dance another song. You'll compete in another contest. You'll deliver another set of results. In the aftermath of unimaginable humiliation, you'll get up, get yourself together and do what you love to do. And you'll do it again and again and again.

To live a life where you do what you love to do. Would that be worth a few bad experiences along the way? A few really bad, publicly humiliating experiences, versus a lifetime of happiness? That's an easy decision to make.

Failure feels horrible, but it doesn't kill you. It doesn't render you weak or unable to compete. It doesn't stop you from taking reasonable chances.

But the fear of failure can immobilize you and kill your dreams.


Dancing Beyond Fear

Never let the fear of failure or humiliation hold you back. Refuse to let fear prevent you from taking the chances that you need to take in order to reach your goals and enjoy the life that you want to live.

Imagine the worst possible scenario of embarrassment, humiliation, and loss of stature. Now imagine something ten times worse. You could survive that. You really could. It won't be pleasant, but you would make it. You would emerge bruised but better for it.


The Fulfilled Life

Now imagine years and years on end of living your dreams, adventure after pleasurable adventure, in a life that fulfills you completely. Would you trade all of that just to avoid a few occasional moments of powerful humiliation?

Take a chance. Take lots of chances. Live your life. When life pushes back in an unpleasant way, roll with the punches, grieve for what you've lost, put yourself back together, and get back to doing what you really, really love to do.

There's more life to live. There are more dreams to follow, more objectives to accomplish, and more people with whom you can share your highs and lows. 

¡Buena suerte amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com

All Rights Reserved

   

Discovering Your Super Power

Leverage Your Strengths

I spend a lot of time on this blog discussing aspects of the tango that we might want to improve - technique, musicality, creativity, the quality of the embrace, leading and following, floor craft, etc. 

Hopefully, the exercises and insights inspire reflection on these topics. If they get you to try something new, so much the better! If you want to advance to new levels, you'll need to put in some work. Work on your weaknesses and try to explore untapped possibilities.

But today, I would like to discuss things that we do well already, skills that come naturally to us. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. It's not good to focus on our weaknesses all of the time. 

Let's take inventory of your strengths, your innate abilities - your "Super Powers" - and discuss how you can utilize them when you're dancing. 


What Is Your Super Power?

Your Super Power is something that comes more easily to you than it does to most other people. 

- Maybe you move smoothly and gracefully without really thinking about it.

- Maybe you adapt well to a variety of partners and styles. 

- Maybe you have exceptional balance and/or coordination. 

- Maybe you're joyful and pleasant and relate well to your fellow tangueros.

- Maybe you are naturally at ease when you dance and don't let yourself worry about making mistakes. 

- Maybe you have an exquisitely comfortable embrace that partners enjoy.

- Maybe you have an analytical mind that enables you to understand steps combinations quickly and thoroughly.

You probably have some idea already what your Super Power is. People probably mention it to you from time to time.

My super power, for the record, is dancing musically. I hear details in the music and link elements of movement to elements of music. I can do this without thinking about it, and when I think about it, I can do it even better. I'll speak more in a moment about how this power developed.


Super Powers Are Not Perfect

Hmm! Just when you starting feeling good about having a Super Power, I go and call it imperfect! ;-)

Sorry, I'm not disparaging your Super Power. I just want you to understand the context of what it is and how you can develop it.

You have a Super Power - I'm quite certain of this. You might even have more than one. But you might not recognize it. You might think, "my dancing isn't all that good yet - how can I have a Super Power?"

You don't have to be perfect - or even advance - to have a Super Power. In fact, no one is perfect. If perfection were a prerequisite for anything, we'd all fail.

But as I said above, everyone has strengths and weaknesses. I'm certain that there's something that you do better than your peers. The area where things come more easily to you - even if you're far from perfect in that department - that's your Super Power. 

And now that you have an idea what it might be, you need to learn how to use it. And in order to use it, you need to develop it.


Growth Opportunity

Having a Super Power doesn't mean that you don't have to work on that area. It simply means that you'll advance more quickly in that are IF YOU CHOOSE to dedicate work to it.

I mentioned my ability to dance musically. I've been fascinated by music for my entire life. I play music, compose music, and of course, I enjoy listening to music. I have a musical brain, so it's not surprising that I'm a musical dancer.

But, my dancing wasn't always as musical as it is today. Even though this is my super power, I still had to develop it.

Advice from teachers was helpful. In fact, one teacher stopped in the middle of a song, looked me in the eye and told me that "musicality is about more than being on the beat." Another teacher once noted that I wasn't stepping on the beats accurately. 

Whoa! Wake up calls! And they were right. In the first instance, I was focusing on the accuracy of my musical timing, but I wasn't taking into account the melodic and expressive qualities of the music. So, I worked on that. 

In the second instance, I was focusing so much on technique and not enough on the music. I had to learn to be aware of both simultaneously in order to do them both well.

None of this came easily. Having a Super Power doesn't mean that you don't have to work on that aspect of your dancing. Musicality comes naturally to me, but developing it still required work. 


Harnessing The Power

Well, here's an exciting news flash for you.  

This just in: There's no free lunch in the study of Argentine tango.

You, too, will have to work on your Super Power if you want to make the most of it. 

The good news is that, unlike your natural weaknesses - which are going to drive you crazy for years - you'll be able to improve your natural strengths quickly once you identify them and give them some attention.

With your Super Power, you already start at a higher level than the rest of the field. With a bit of work, you can take it even higher.


The Big Question

So, what is your Super Power? What is that aspect of dance that just seems to come naturally to you? Are you still unaware that you have one? Are you afraid to admit it? 

Remember, your Super Power doesn't have to be perfect, or even good. You might still be a diamond in the rough, undeveloped and unpolished. But it's in there. Ask your friends to help you identify your Super Power, and help them to identify theirs.

If you have trouble identifying your Super Power, think beyond tango. Think about who you are as a person. Are you passionate? Athletic? Studious? Relatable? Creative? Your super power is in there somewhere.


Discovery

Many of us spend time focusing on problems, replaying mistakes in our minds, obsessing over challenges, wishing that we were better in some way, and experiencing prolonged frustration as a result. 

This is your chance to take inventory of what you do well rather than what you do poorly. It's important that we take time to focus on strengths as well as weaknesses - important for healthy, long-term development and important, too, for our attitude and emotional well-being.

Develop and awareness of your strengths. Appreciate what you do well and create a plan to improve further in these areas. Expand your super powers and enjoy every reward that they bring into your life.


When You Find It

Study it. 

Exercise it. 

Develop it until it shines brightly.

Try to apply it whenever you have the chance.

Learn to appreciate and leverage your natural abilities, and they will make just about every dance experience more pleasurable. 

¡Buena suerte amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com

All Rights Reserved

   

Tips for Leaders - Avoiding Disappointment

Find The Silver Lining

If you're a social dancer and you dance with unfamiliar people at milongas and practicas, sooner or later you'll find yourself in the embrace of someone who struggles a bit. Their technique, balance, and skill level might not be up to par with that of your regular partners.

This is a very common situation. How you handle it will say a lot about you.


The Natural Reaction

"Oh, boy! I'm stuck with this partner for the next ten minutes?"

If that thought or something similar passes through your mind, don't feel badly. You're only human. It's natural to feel a tinge of disappointment.

You came to the milonga to DANCE! You don't want to be burdened with followers who can't keep up with you, who can't execute the steps that you want to lead.

Here's my emphatic recommendation: GET OVER IT! 

Feeling grumpy won't make the tanda go any faster. Nor will it improve the situation in any way. A miserable attitude yields a miserable experience for both dancers.


The Next Level

You objective should not be to tolerate an awkward tanda, but rather to elevate it! Celebrate it! Invigorate it! 

Take this challenging situation and transform it into something special. Give this follower a tango experience that she will appreciate for a long time, and you'll feel that your own joy and satisfaction will be uplifted in kind. 


No Excuses

So what if this partner isn't very good? How good are YOU? Are you as good as you think you are? Well then use those skills and experience. Make something beautiful happen with this person. Because that's what partners dancing is all about.

If you can't figure out how to lead someone - anyone - for three simple but elegant tangos, then perhaps you shouldn't be criticizing the follower. Perhaps you should criticize the fellow in the mirror. Apparently, he has some work to do.

There are leaders who could lead this follower and make her very happy. There are men who are up to the job. Are you one of them? Do you aspire to have that level of skill? Then jump in and get to work. Stop ranting and start dancing.


Finding The Solution

Everyone has limitations. But everyone has something that they can do well, or at least well enough. The key is to focus on what works for each partner and to avoid the areas where they struggle. 

Accept each follower for who she is. If all that she can do is walk, then walk. If she stumbles after every third step, give her the time that she needs to catch her balance. Let her reconnect with you through the embrace, synchronize, and then pick up where you left off.

If the only sequence that she can follow is the one that she learned twenty minutes ago in the pre-milonga class, then build on that sequence. Dance it musically. Deconstruct it and reassemble the pieces. Lead a simple improvisation that she can follow and enjoy.


The Beauty of Connection and Simplicity

Forget about challenging, complex moves for the next ten minutes. You'll have a chance to do them with someone else very soon. You don't need to perform Cirque du Soleil to convince people that you're a good dancer. The good dancer is the guy who gives the ladies the dances that they enjoy, not the ones that left them feeling confused, overwhelmed, and full of doubt.

The more that you concentrate on what's possible - the fun and the joy, not just of dancing but of sharing a pleasurable experience with another person - the less you'll worry about what's missing.


This Above All Else

This is the simplest part of the whole formula. Don't let yourself feel disappointed. Enjoy your time with each partner, even those who struggle. As you discover what works for each person, cherish those moments and those insights. 

Never, ever, ever let disappointment show on your face. Unless you want everyone in the room to think that you're insufferable.


Deferred Rewards

The tango community is small. There's a good chance that you'll see any given partner again one day. When that day comes, she might have blossomed into a very capable tanguera. 

If you treated someone well in their early years, when they're struggling, they'll remember that, and they'll appreciate it. And you'll have a friend and a good partner in the tango world.


Remember - It Takes Two To...

You're not perfect. You make mistakes. You lose your balance occasionally. Your lead isn't perfect every minute of every dance. How about your quality of movement? Your technique? Your improvisation and musical interpretation? Your floor craft? Are all of those flawless?

Like the rest of us, you probably still have plenty to master.

A tango is a shared experience. In a shared experience, there's shared responsibility. A particular follower might have to work very hard to keep up with you. That doesn't excuse you from working hard to keep up with her.

Leading isn't an easy job. The best leaders accept that. They accept responsibility for what happens, the good and the bad, and they put effort into making each and every dance as enjoyable as it can be. 

Not so good leaders take credit when things go well and blame the follower when the dance doesn't go smoothly. Who would want to dance with someone like that? And what hope does that person have of making significant improvement?


A Humbling Recollection

I remember when I first started going to milongas. It was intimidating and very challenging. I had trouble dancing with many followers. But with experience, I improved and was able to dance with more ladies.

I didn't get better by grumbling, moping, or criticizing others. I got better by practicing, by understanding my weaknesses and improving where I realized that I needed work. 

As I worked on developing my own abilities, all of the followers seemed more capable! ;-)


Avoiding Disappointment

Blaming the follower yields a disappointed follower, nothing more and nothing less. Dancing around the room with a look of disgust on your face discourages other followers from wanting to dance with you.

This post is about avoiding disappointment. That's the title of the post. Avoiding Disappointment - in BIG letters. I went back and checked.

What I didn't specify was WHOSE disappointment we are trying to avoid. It's not enough to avoid only your own bad experiences. Take the holistic approach.

Avoid your own disappointment by accepting others for what they can do and working actively to share a good tango experience with them. In turn, you're generosity and encouragement will help them to avoid their own sense of disappointment.

Give every follower a dance to remember instead of an attitude to forget.

¡Buena suerte amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com

All Rights Reserved