On group classes ...
I would like to hear what others have to say about this topic. I would appreciate any comments you may have. I am hoping that this info would ultimately reach teachers and maybe the group classes would improve.
Lately I've been taking less and less group classes because I'm getting increasingly frustrated with the experiences I'm having in the class. Here are my sources of frustration.
1) skill level
it seems to me everyone is grossly overestimating their level. I've attended intermediate classes where followers did not have BASIC following skills (like waiting for the lead, having the ability to maintain their own axis while pivoting, having a presence, being able to disassociate (or even knowing they are supposed to) their upper and lower body, being able to walk in a straight line, etc). I'm sure leaders sucked in equal amount, I just didn't have any experience dancing with them.
It seems like everyone judges their skill level by how many years they've been dancing. In my opinion, that's just as accurate as judging one's skill level by the amount of money they paid for their shoes.
As a result of wildly different skill set, either the teacher is lowering the difficulty of the class to the lower common denominator which will make it boring, or they don't and I don't have anyone to practice with and it's frustrating.
2) gender imbalance
for whatever reason nearly all the classes I've even attended are "leader heavy". Spending half the time "practicing" a figure with an imaginary partner is too frustrating for me.
3) the switching partners nightmare
I wholeheartedly agree that people should dance with as many people they can to refine their leading/following skills, but the process of "switching partners" is always a bloody mess. There is little I hate more in tango classes then that moment where everyone is looking around confused trying to figure out who's changing and who's not, trying to figure out if they are "desperate" enough to RUN to a decent
follower/leader or risk doing another round of dancing with an imaginary partner or worst, "dancing" with someone lacking basic skills.
Now here are some suggestions on how to address some of these issues :
1) Registration required with payment in advance
The teacher should accept registrations in such a way that the leader/follower ratio is always 1/1. Asking for payment in advance would increase the chance the attendance is better. Also, it will allow the teacher to build on elements taught in prior classes.
2) Pre-vetting students.
The teacher should not accept students who's level is not at the level required for the class. Period. They should rather encourage those to attend a lower level class if available. They should judge the people's level by dancing with them, not by how many years have passed since their first lesson.
3) Have a system for changing partners.
There was ONLY class I've ever attended that had a decent system of changing partners. They asked all the couples that are not switching to go in a corner. They ask all the others to partner up and form a circle. Then they asked the leaders to memorize that spot in the room where they were standing. When "changing" partners was requested, all couples that were not switching were to go to their corner, all leaders where to take their current follower to their "spot" and then the followers would rotate one to the right. This way, everyone danced with everyone and there was never that awkward moment of trying to figure out where do you go.
4) DO ask people to change partners but not every 2 minutes and more often then every 15 minutes.
5) Less lecturing and more practice time
It seems like most teachers like to hear themselves talk, so in a lot of cases I spend up to 60% of the class time listening to the same thing 5 times. Say what you have to say succinctly, have people start working on it and then go individually and address the issues they have.
6) Dealing with unequal skill level
Do not slow down the class if a few people cannot keep up, move along, we ALL paid for the class, I have no reason to subsidize the training of the few that can't hack it. Spend equal time with all the students, just because some can do better then most doesn't mean that they don't need input. If they were perfect they wouldn't attend the class.
8 comments:
1 - skill level. This one I have issues with too. On the other hand, if teachers only allow in students appropriate for the skill level, they won't make any money which leads to tango schools closing down. A bit of a catch-22. I switched tango schools because at least the one I attend now has better quaity of teaching and their students are more up to par. Maybe you need to switch schools too?
2-gender imbalance. at my school, there are too many women. Usually, teachers aim for equal number of men to women. Usually, not always. Sadly, men tend to drop out more than women so even with teacher's efforts to even out the ratio, it may not stay that way. ask your teachers if they can ask female students from other levels to join in the class as volunteers. the benefit for the volunteers is extra practice and learning. that's how it's done at tango schools where I'm from.
3 - switching partners. I find partners don't get switched enough. I think they should switch every tanda to mimick realistic settings at a milonga. And that teachers need to encourage couples to break apart and learn to dance with others. In my class, there's none of this mess you're talking about. The teachers start playing the music and students hurry up to find a partner to start dancing, that usually takes care of this. as far as risking dancing with someone with basic skills, the way I see it, if those with basic skills get a chance to get with more advanced students, they improve and won't be so basic anymore. everyone needs an opportunity to learn and develop their skills. you were a beginner once too, imagine if no one wanted to dance with you because of that.
I don't like excessive lectures either, such a waste of time. would be nice if teachers just make their point and get on with it.
C'est tout.
Caroline, I do make a point in dancing with beginners, but not in an intermediate class. That's what practicas are for. In a class I expect to be able to learn something, not to teach people the basic stuff.
And about switching partners I was referring to getting stuck with someone WITHOUT basic skills.
Good points otherwise. Thank you.
1. I do have the same feeling regarding the fact that people overestimate their skill level. This problem is especially serious in "workshops" given by guest teachers. This type of workshop usually has classes for increasing difficult levels arranged in series. I noticed that many people lacking basic skills just kept taking classes one after the other, regardless whether the level of the class matches their skills. That's why I eventually ran away from a workshop I attended last weekend. I was attending a class for "intermediate" level. However, more than 80% of the leaders there couldn't even walk properly. That really freak me out. I wanted to learn something as well, rather than teaching a leader how to stand straight without his belly popping out while leader. That really freak me out.
2. Although I agree that the teachers should set up a rule for screening students, I do think it's very difficult to define criteria. Some teachers I know use "tango age" as their standard of screening the students. However, I doubt whether it's appropriate. I met a girl in Buenos Aires, who has been trained as a professional modern dancer since she was eight. It only took her 2 years to learn tango and become a qualified tango teacher. I think maybe the best way of screening students is to have a set of requirements ( such as the student should get when to do gancho 90% of the time ) that the students have to live up to before attending the class. The teacher can even give a screening test in the first class. But, I am not quite sure whether many people can accept this idea, since I believe lots of people do tango just for fun. Being too serious about the "level" of the students probably will scare them away.
> It seems like everyone judges their skill level by how many years
> they've been dancing.
Sure, but dancers have no choice if they want to select classes from
teachers who define the lesson level on that basis. Most class teachers do
define level by how many years you've been dancing (and most of the rest
by how many steps you've learnt!).
> that's just as accurate as judging one's skill level by the amount of
> money they paid for their shoes.
Agreed. Often girls in their first month or so are of a higher standard
than those that have danced/classed for many years. It's tragic to see
them demoralized by classes that have them trying to follow leaders who
despite being 'advanced' by years, still haven't got the basics.
> As a result of wildly different skill set, either the teacher is
> lowering the difficulty of the class to the lower common denominator
Professional class teachers are in a situation where they have a real
problem reconciling on the one hand being truthful to students about their
standard of dancing and on the other filling the classes.
I'm sure that many teachers would love to be free to say what they know to
be the truth: past beginner, the longer you've been doing classes, the
lower on average is your standard of dancing.
As tango instructors, we COULD run our tango classes like dance
academies and require advance enrollment to balance gender ratio. It
would be nice if it worked that way. It assumes demand is high and
space is limited. More likely, we are trying to recruit as many
people as possible to fill our classes and build our communities.
Most of us are teaching a social dance for recreation. People are
relaxed about it; it's a diversion from the 9-to-5 and they don't want
restrictions. I don't think that's bad. We want tango to be fun. If we
get too strict about it, we won't have students, and no one will have
fun.
On the other hand, I think this could be feasible for advanced
classes. I've tried it with some workshops given by visiting
instructors but people still show up at class time anyway without
pre-registering. I don't want to turn someone away who cares enough to
to learn to pay xx$ for a class or workshop. It hasn't ever destroyed
gender ratio.
The instructor might also examine why the classes have a biased gender
ratio. Are women not attending because all the focus is on the
leader's role? As instructors we tend to place blame on leaders for
mistakes, but this can create a tango culture where women are
overconfident and men lack confidence, which leads to bad partnership
in general. Both leader and follower are responsible for a good tango.
> 2) Pre-vetting students.
>
> The teacher should not accept students who's level is not at the level
> required for the class. Period. They should rather encourage those to
> attend a lower level class if available. They should judge the people's
> level by dancing with them, not by how many years have passed since their
> first lesson.
We COULD have a series of examinations and grant diplomas that are a
pre-requisite for attending the next higher level class.
Actually, I do recommend students take a lower level class if that is
appropriate. Or sometimes I invite them to attend a lower level class
while they take the higher level class.
If a class focuses on technique rather than buliding a rich catalogue
of executable figures, even students taking a class at an
inappropriately high level will benefit.
There are always surprises. Students do not learn at a constant rate.
Instructors could have advanced classes by invitation only. At that
level, the instructor knows who is ready for the material. At lower
levels, there are always surprises (in both directions).
> 3) Have a system for changing partners.
If you form a line of dance and have students dance in a line-of-dance
(instead of executing figures 'wherever') and teach them not to pass
each other (contrary to standard milonga protocol), you could dance
for a complete song and then rotate to the next partner and then every
leader will dance with every follower at least once.
> 4) DO ask people to change partners but not every 2 minutes and more often
> then every 15 minutes.
How about every 2:30 - 3:30, i.e., the length of a song? Besides
giving couples practice at dancing a whole song, It spreads the
ability differences around more evenly and gives people a chance to
construct a dance and navigate (assuming a line-of-dance is enforced).
The length of a tanda (about 8-12 minutes) is probably too long. It
could get people stuck with poor partner matches.
> 5) Less lecturing and more practice time
>
> It seems like most teachers like to hear themselves talk, so in a lot of
> cases I spend up to 60% of the class time listening to the same thing 5
> times. Say what you have to say succinctly, have people start working on
> it and then go individually and address the issues they have.
Yes, practice is good. Instructors need to be precise and concise in
their communication. However, instructors DO need to communicate.
> 6) Dealing with unequal skill level
>
> Do not slow down the class if a few people cannot keep up, move along, we
> ALL paid for the class, I have no reason to subsidize the training of the
> few that can't hack it. Spend equal time with all the students, just
> because some can do better then most doesn't mean that they don't need
> input. If they were perfect they wouldn't attend the class.
Yes, don't 'dumb down' the class to the lowest level. However, don't
teach at a level more advanced than most people can learn. I think
it's worthwhile to teach mostly to the middle half of the class. They
are ones who will benefit most.
There is a common ground - technique. Everyone can improve technique.
Also musicality. There are some people who can't remember steps who
have great musicality. (There are an even larger number of step mavins
who lack musicality.)
Be kind. You CAN dance 2:30 with just about anyone. If you let
students dance instead of talking, you have time to pull aside
students with more problems and address them.
Instructors should also dance with students during the class. They can
address some issues while dancing. These should be technique issues
rather than 'where to put you foot next' issues. 'Where to put your
foot next' can be addressed out of the line-of-dance.
>From experience, I find that those who complain the most are those who
most overestimate their ability. Humility is good ... even for
instructors. Learning tango is a lifelong experience.
1) My former ballroom teacher has four levels, 4 being the highest. When a new student drops in, whatever he may be saying about his level, the teacher sends him to his level-1 class. Then after this one level-1 class he makes his own opinion about the student and sends him to the appropriate level. As a result he's perfectly in control and his classes are very homogeneous. But yes, more than once the prospective student feels offended and never comes back.
2. Gender imbalance is never a problem if partner changing is managed well. With the ballroom teacher we switched partners every one minute, all we had to do was to remember who was in front of us. Agreed, it's easier to manage this in ballroom classes than in AT classes.
"Leader heavy" classes, yes, this is the case everywhere in my neck of the woods. Women quit classes as soon as they feel ready for the milonga, and this happens very quickly. As Tete (Rusconi) says, "they women learn by dancing, but we, we have to learn the hard way".
Find a regular partner. I searched actively, answered to "partner-seekeing" ads, wrote to teachers to know if they had un-partnered followers. Most of these dozens of contacts led to nothing, but now finally I have one regular partner for each of my four weekly classes and all in all I'm happy with each of them.
3. I remember women skipping me and hurrying to the man behind me, when I was a complete beginner. Lol. If there is a gender balance then the switch of partners will always work. If it's unbalanced then the teacher has to take care of the partner changing. If the teachers don't manage it well then you have to find a better teacher.
Registration required and payment in advance: this is done in big festivals like the CITA. But the CITA also takes care to always have 50 taxi-dancers of either sex ready to come and balance classes if needed, which shows that registration and payment in advance don't guarantee a gender balance.
Agreed on the switching partners comment! Especially in beginner classes, it is really hard when you hear "Switch partners" and you stand there like an idiot trying to figure out who to switch with. Having the option taken away from you to choose a new partner takes the whole "school yard" feeling of scrambling for the better leader/follower because you know eventually you will partner with everyone in the class.
I don't agree with most of the demands here. It's a free world. Take it or leave it! Let other people do whaever they pleased and paid for. Teachers need to eat too!I agree with Ron that restrictions will work only if the demand is high. Not the case in tango communties (most of the time). Most classes are like that and I also stop taking most or come with a partner ALWAYS. Regarding changing partners. Facundo and Kelly (I think) had this system to line everyone up and leaders and followers pair randomly while going the length of the room and coming back to the "meeting place" to pair with the next person in line. Worked like a charm and no one was left behind. Also, Sorin, try to switch roles if there are more leaders, it's very useful!
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