"Oh, good grief!" the dancer thought to himself. "Not again!"
"Stop!" commanded the wizard. "We have been waiting for you!"
"Um, yeah!" the tanguero said cautiously. "I, um... I already talked to the guy on the other side..."
"Wonderful!" the wizard exclaimed. "If you have made it this far, I have the utmost confidence that you now possess a clear understanding of your limitations."
"Yes, very clear!" the tango enthusiast agreed, nodding his head. He thought to himself: "This is a nightmare!"
"Excellent! So, why don't we begin by reviewing what you learned on the other side? It will be good for your memory and your concentration."
The tango dancer took a deep breath. "Okay."
"Go ahead when you're ready," the wizard encouraged him. "And please be sure not to leave anything out. The other wizard sent me a full report on my iPad."
"What is it with you wizards and your iPads?" the tango enthusiast asked incredulously.
"We like iPads," beamed the wizard. "They're magical!"
"Yeah, whatever!" muttered the dancer. "Anyway, what I learned on the other side: Okay, I learned that my technique is a little sloppy in places, and I have to work on my quality of movement."
"Good!" the wizard said gleefully. "What else?"
"I need to work on becoming a better improvisor."
"Okay..."
"I have to find some way to understand music better. And I have to figure out how associate it with my movements. I think that's probably my biggest weakness."
"Well, it's good that you realize that."
"And of course, there are a some advanced techniques that I still need to learn, but the other guy didn't seem to think that they were very important."
"That's fine," the wizard assured him. "Anything else?"
The tanguero thought carefully about how to phrase the last item on his list.
"I learned that the most important thing of all - especially when I'm at a milonga - is to make sure that whatever follower I'm dancing with has a good time. Even if she's not a good dancer, I have to figure out a way to make our time together meaningful and give her a tanda that makes her happy."
"Excellent!" shouted the wizard as he smiled brightly. "You have gained great insight!"
"Thank you," the tanguero responded cautiously. Even the ogre seemed to be pleased, or at least not as intimidating as he had seemed from the bridge. But the dancer wasn't about to take any chances.
"Now then," the wizard announced. "We do have something to discuss with you."
"Oh boy!" thought the dancer. "I hope this goes better than the last time."
"Tell us," said the wizard, "how you intend to improve upon the weaknesses that you just mentioned."
The tanguero hesitated. "I haven't really had time to think this through."
"Take all the time that you need," the wizard said. "We may even be able to help you."
"Okay," said the dancer. "Well, I guess maybe I should take some more private lessons."
He was startled when the ogre let out a growl.
"What's that?"
"What's what?" asked the wizard.
"Why did he growl?"
"Perhaps he didn't like your answer."
"Why didn't he like my answer? I mean, if I want to improve, I should take more lessons, right?"
"Perhaps," mused the wizard. "If you can find a teacher who is willing to develop a course of study that targets your individual deficiencies, and if you can commit to working with that teacher over the course of several months, then yes, lessons will be helpful.
"But if you go to someone who just teaches you a step for an hour - and then you forget that step in a few weeks, which is probably what will happen - that isn't going to advance you very far."
"Okay," said the dancer. "I see your point."
"What other approaches might you try?" asked the wizard.
"Well, I'm hoping to go to some tango festivals this year. I think that might be a good learning experience."
The ogre growled more loudly this time.
"What is it with him? He's growling again."
"He's growling for a reason," said the wizard. "That might not be the best course of action in your case."
"Are you telling me that I won't learn anything at a tango festival?"
"Oh, quite the contrary!" insisted the wizard. "One can learn many things at a tango festival. You'll be exposed to new ideas and new teaching styles. You'll have the chance to dance with a host of new partners. All of that could be helpful in some way."
"So, what's the problem?" the tango enthusiast demanded.
"The problem is that your deficiencies are not caused by a lack information. They are rooted in your inability to fully utilize information that you already have attained."
"Okay. I guess I can see your point."
"You'll need to dedicate yourself to improvement over time," the wizard explained. "A weekend festival goes by so quickly. It will be enjoyable, certainly. It probably will be interesting. The material and the ambience may inspire you. But spending one weekend going to workshops and milongas is not going to help you address your fundamental limitations."
"Okay," said the tanguero. "Well, I already take classes twice a week, and I go to milongas on the weekend when I can. I guess I'll just keep doing that and try to improve over the long run."
The ogre lunged forward suddenly and grabbed him. "Wait! Put me down!" screamed the terrified dancer. But the ogre refused put him back on the ground. Instead, he flipped the man upside down and dangled him over the railing of the bridge by one leg.
"Put me down!" the dancer screamed. "You people are CRAZY!"
"I would caution you not to make him more angry than he already is," warned the wizard. "I have seen him throw people into that river; sometimes they don't come back out."
"Come on! Put me down! PLEASE!"
"He'll put you down in a moment. But first I want you to think about something."
"Are you nuts? I can't think about something while I'm upside down!"
"Well, think about this. How are you going to improve if you keep doing the same things that you have been doing all along?"
"I don't know! Oh my goodness! Just put me down!"
"It's okay," the wizard said to the ogre. "You may set him down. And please do so gently! I would like to talk with our friend a bit. We'll see if he can come up with some better ideas now that inversion therapy has had a chance to refresh his perspective."
¡Buena suerte amigos, y muchas gracias!
Daniel
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