The most obvious but least acknowledged observation is that it is more work than people think.  Someone has to have a sound system, and if it is built into the venue it will need upkeep.  Although no one is surprised that electronics and liquids don’t mix, they are surprised by how often the two come into contact in a food service environment.  Then there’s floor maintenance, we like a smooth floor but the same powder that makes dancing easier makes every other aspect of running a venue more difficult if not outright dangerous.  Ideally the floor is cleaned before the dancers come to remove old spills, and then afterward to get our powder off the floor.  There are tables and chairs to be moved, lights to be adjusted, often a water station and staffing for food/bev to take care of.  All this has to happen before we even get dancers on the floor, or an introductory class to start.  To those of you who have helped me pull up cables, move furniture, or any of these other tasks: thank you.  I probably don’t say that enough.

Once we get the physical space set up, there is the work of making an event run.  Most venues want an introductory class to drive business (more on this later) and fresh blood is required to keep a scene moving.  Classes need teachers, milongas need DJs, and events need promoting.  Facebook works about as well as the old email lists did, in that it gets the work out to people who are already in the know.  Old fashioned “dead tree” flyers are still one of the best ways to get new people in to an event, and that requires another skill set to put together.  In the end, for a weekly dance + class that run from 3 to 4 hours you have triple that time in man-hours of work.  The most visible parts of the machine are on the dance end, but a majority of the work goes on behind the scenes and is usually done by people working for the venue.

I bring this up because the Maker House and its employees have been working their asses off for over a year to provide us with the best experience they can, beyond a clean floor and chairs to set our stuff on.  There have been wine specials.  The hollow floor had to be repaired.  The mural is still undergoing restoration.  We’ve burned out those tiny fake-candle-tea lights.  There have been amazing animated backgrounds for our dancing, and they have politely kicked people out of the room before I set up the sound system every week.  Each time I am amazed at the amount of work they put in.   There is no direct exchange of money for it, they just hope we buy food and drinks- and maybe we will speak highly of the venue to our friends.

In the end, and thru no fault of ours, this gambit didn’t play out for Maker House.  Remember them fondly, and if you run into Tony, V, or Matt in the next two months stop them briefly and say thanks.  V set us up in the beginning to fill out their Wednesday night lineup.  Tony helped her run the show for months, and when they moved on Matt picked up the slack.  When the closure was announced Matt was even working on a poster for us, so I think he was just as surprised as we were.

The point of learning by exploration is that you will make more meaningful connections between previous experience and new ideas if you can come upon them yourself.  My Tango teacher would call this an ‘organic’ method (which I never appreciated at the time).  I find it easier to relate to this kind of knowledge thru a story so here’s my parable that has nothing to do with Tango.

*fade out, and back in with a soft lens*

I was building a roost for my hens.  By this point I had been gifted some power tools, but no one had ever shown me how to use them.  My first few attempts at chicken-centric building were fairly disastrous (one day I came home to find the flock on my roof) but I was going to try again.  As I was measuring and cutting, I noticed I had an odd end piece of wood left over.  I figured I shouldn’t waste it, and looking at my roost I saw it could almost fit diagonally between an upright and a lintel.   So I shaved off a corner and voila!  No one told me that bracing at 45 degree angles was a solid structural idea, but my roost survived the week and I started doing it on other projects.  Had I gotten that information as received knowledge the odds are that I would have forgotten.  Stumbling onto something on your own lasts a lifetime.

*the lens clears as you return to something dance related*

This is something that you can look for in a good lesson.  Often the “point” isn’t apparent at the beginning, just a warm-up dance or two that slowly morph into an unfamiliar movement.  But it is intriguing, and while novel the movement doesn’t feel bad.  You check yourself in the mirror and it even looks pretty cool as well.  Now that you’ve had a chance to explore there is greater meaning in your new-found skill, and the Explanation is something you almost ask for (instead of almost sleeping thru).

E-1: Engage!

This is, surprisingly, the hard one.  You not only need to be engaged by the subject matter, but there needs to be a connection struck between what you already know and what you are going to learn.  Teachers in adult education often take engagement for granted, because you can always leave if you don’t want to be there.  The more important level of engagement is lost when we don’t attempt to engage you at the beginning of a lesson though.

How many times have you started with repetitive drill work?  Even though you know drills are important, doesn’t it seem a little boring each time?  As a teacher I can easily watch a class warm up and take stock of the level of each dancer to help my planning, but I will have already missed the important engagement step.  I think back to one of the most insightful teachers I ever had, and his classes often started with games.  These games have, to me, seemed juvenile at times- but there was a level of engagement in them that is lacking from many classes.  It is a way to bridge the non-Tango world with the Tango, and it allows you to start to truly understand the techniques even before they are taught to you.  Also, it is fun!

How can you engage yourself when you don’t have this level of support from your teacher?  (I slyly suggest taking classes with someone else- someone blonder- someone with scars on his arms and forehead… )  You can do what I have often done, and show up early.  Ahead of the start of class, you can warm up not just your body, but your mind.  Then even if you have basic ‘oatmeal’ work at the start, you are already in the Tango mode.  The warmup can be anything- I often just practice overturned ochos and crosses in place to see how well I can balance.  There is something magic in creating your own liminal experience to help engage you in the task ahead.

I’ve spent the past few years going back to school, which is a tale all in itself.  Something strange happened to me though; I started studying the science behind teaching and learning- and in the process became a far better student.  I went from dropping out of college a decade ago to being on track to graduate cum laude.  The largest fundamental change I made was analyzing the teacher-student relationship in great detail- it is what I was studying after all.

How can you become a better Tanguero(a) then?  You are going to learn to teach!  This may sound crazy, but I have support from both published literature and dance luminaries on this one (See both Learning and Cognition in Education edited by Vibeke Grøver Aukrust and Clay’s Tango page at http://tangoclay.us/building-a-tango-community/ ).  This may take a while, and there is extra reading in this course (cue groans) but in the end, you will be a better Tanguea(o) and the community you live in will be better for it.

Next will be a discussion on the 5-E learning cycle.  I’ve got some basic links here for you to peruse, don’t be put off by the NASA and science type links.  It will come back to dance soon!  We got closer to the science of teaching thru teaching science, so I’m standing on the shoulders of giants here.

5-E explained: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/nasaeclips/5eteachingmodels/

Constructivism for adults (aka “why all this early childhood stuff- I have kids!”): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivist_teaching_methods#Constructivism_for_Adults

It is with mixed feelings that I make this announcement.  Our Wednesday night Milonga will be leaving Casa Vicente after October 16^th.  It has been a wonderful run, of over eight years, but after working the numbers time and again it has become apparent that there isn’t room for enough dancers to make a Milonga bring in the revenue needed.

The Wednesday night Milonga will go on, and for those of us old enough to remember we have survived worse.  I am scouting new locations over the next two weeks, and hope to have no break in our continuity.  I would like to invite you to come and share a bittersweet moment tonight, or next week, on the dance floor.  The ambiance at Casa Vicente will be hard to match.

I think Chaucer said it best in The Knight’s Tale:

Daniela has been dancing almost her whole life.  After receiving her MFA in dance and choreography from ASU in 2000 she started teaching Argentine Tango.  Daniela has taught classes and workshops as far away as New York and Massachusetts, as well as in every state along the Mexican border.  In 2012 she and her partner Rommel won 2nd place in the USA Argentine Tango Salon Championships!  Daniela is also certified in Restorative Exercise, and brings her knowledge of bio-mechanics to every class she teaches.

To make the weekend special, we are straying from some of the traditional workshop formats.  All the classes on Saturday will be size capped at three couples.  This allows Daniela to work with you in a more focused setting, and will ensure that you get the most out of the classes that you take.  There will be technique and style work along with the more familiar step-pattern knowledge.  Saturday evening Daniela will be joined by Rommel to teach the pre-Milonga class at the Sheraton, and they will do an improvised demo as well.  On Sunday there will be a follower’s technique class with a playful figure and some RES work to round out the Tango weekend.

To register for Saturday’s semi-private classes, contact Erik (you can use the form to the side of the page) with time slot desired and partner/group information.  For Sunday’s class or advance Milonga tickets, you can use the paypal button below.

I groan inwardly.  It is too early in the morning, and I may have had too much to drink the night before.  I’m not even sure what it is that he has, but I’m assuming we talked last night about something.  There are empty bottles of barleywine lying around, and he looks like he may have slept in the chicken coup.

“What do you have?”

“Your Milonga!  It will be in a place that is a little mixed up, but ‘suited twos’ dancing!”

There’s a moment when you have to decide if you may still be drunk, or if your (through no fault of your own) mysterious pseudo-mentor is just not making sense.  I try a tactic to bring some sanity back into the conversation.

“Did you sleep in the chicken coup?”

“Si, pero no entiendes?  A mixed up school ‘suited twos’ dance!”

Anagrams.  We were talking about vesre and anagrams.  It wasn’t the correct ‘to’ or the right place to pluralize, but I wasn’t even sure my swarthy companion could write in his own language.  Time to rub the fog out of my brain and play along with him, it isn’t the worst idea he’s come to me with.  If only this could get the feeling that my teeth have sweaters on them banished as well.

“So, last night … we were… al depo con idiomas…?”  I tried.  It is harder than you would think, even in your first language.

“You remember!  Now get that espresso machine on, quiero feca! With caffeine I can give you more ideas.  Like this: a place where a ‘soused twit’ can learn to dance… or perhaps ‘Desiccated Fowl Shoos Unto’?”

“I’ll give you credit for fitting the whole name in, but I think the night in the coup has adversely affected your mind.”

“Well, I think that it is a way better name than Studio West School of Dance.  Why do they call it that, when it is so far out East?”

“Geographical Vesre, I thought you’d appreciate that.”  I couldn’t help but grin as he groaned outwardly.

“Fiaca!”   I called out to him.

“Erik, I didn’t know you would be home!”

“Is that why you jumped over the fence and are now harassing my chickens?”

“The back door was locked, so I couldn’t grab a beer.  I was killing time while I waited for you to come back.  Amigo, he estado cerbrando, y tengo la solución a tu problema!”

I’ve heard his crazy ideas before, and he always asked for money when he put forward even the slightest effort.  I sighed and told him, “I’m not giving you any money, but if you’d like we can go to the bar and you can tell me all about my problems.”  This wasn’t an expensive habit, but my liver could ill afford prolonged contact to him.

We pulled up a stool at a place up on Fourth with cheap drinks and heavy pours.  I was going to get my money’s worth!

“I heard about your friend with the car-place.  I was sad to hear that you were thinking about stopping the Milonga after this month, although you should get a better name next time you do one.  Like after a song, the way we do it in el Sur.”

I almost choked on my gin, “Wait, I was just scouting new venues!  I really wasn’t thinking about quitting, I’ve out lasted almost every location we’ve danced in.  Who said that?”

“Unimportant.  And the reason you out last venues is the same reason you always find your keys in the last place you were looking.”  I wasn’t sure if the drink was affecting my unlikely counselor or if it was one of his deep moments.  After taking a protracted swig he continued, “But it is good to hear that you are looking for a new place.  That was part one of what I was going to tell you.  Before part two, we have another drink!”

I placed another five on the table, and the artist/bartender poured another round.  After another sip of what he called ginebra the ideas came freely, “I know you have your reason, but I think the name is stupid.  Can I say that to you?  But you will keep it.  You are stubborn, like me.  Next I think you should get some friends involved.  You could have your friend from Argentina come and host one month, and invite that cute one from Phoenix down to teach a class too.  What do you think?”

“By my friend from Argentina, am I to assume you meant yourself?”

“Claro”

“Aside from that dubious suggestion, and the strange pass you made at an old friend of mine just now, I think you just described what I have been doing for years.”

“Hmmmm.  Perhaps it was someone else’s Milonga I had suggestions for….”

I looked at my half full glass and sighed.  “You know, we can have a drink and chat anyway.  And after what you did that one time, I’m never hiring you to teach again.”

“Next week then, and I’ll have more ideas for you!  Also, did I not apologize enough already?”

“It isn’t me that you need to apologize to…”

That said, let’s not make this a sad event.  My father always told me not to go gentle into that good night!  For the last hurrah we’ll pull out all the stops.  Bring a folding chair, if you have it, and some food or a beverage to share.  I started on a new playlist this afternoon containing the best Tandas that have always gotten people up on their feet.  Lacie’s fudge will (as always) be divine.  All that we need now to have the best time ever is you!  I’m setting up the RSVPs now, so if it looks like a huge turnout we may spring for some extra dance floor and set it up outside as well.

We will also have visiting master Michael Walker teaching the class before the Milonga, so there is even more cause to celebrate.  If you haven’t already seen the notices, Michael will be teaching workshops all that weekend and his classes are not to be missed!  When I first started out (back when Dinosaurs ruled the Earth) Michael was a candle in the darkness.  He can be demanding, especially technically, when it is appropriate; but he always gives out praise when it is earned.  It is difficult to find a teacher who can walk this line, and he has been doing it decades.  If you can, take all the classes that Michael is offering!  I am incredibly proud to have him come to this amazing venue for the last dance at Prestige.

I knew that voice; there was only one person who would call me that anyway.  “Pet..” I started, but was hushed down.

“Don’t say my name!  I still owe McGarrey some money!”

“That won’t be a problem.  There’s no Milonga here anymore, and he’s out of town for good.”

“Excelente.  Well, buy me a drink!  Then you can tell me why you look so worried and where the Tango is now.”

We went over to the District, got some rotgut, and I let him know what was on my mind.  How there are problems teaching codigos, how the flow of traffic is hard to control, how much people talking on the floor has come to bother me on a personal level.  The old man listened and nodded, and I think he had two more glasses of Old Crow while I talked.

“Well Colfa you sure seem more old now than when we last met!  The people talking on the floor bother you!  Jajaja!  You remember what it was like to be young still?  We never teach codigos you just learn them.  Pero la Pista, that is something I can help you with.  There are three things you already know, but you have no words for.  With no words, how can you discuss this with anyone?  Here is where we start.”

Dysfunctional Floorcraft

In a perfect world we will all move seamlessly around the floor, more or less in unison.  This state of floorcraft bliss is subjective and the absolute speed varies from song to song and Milonga to Milonga.  You have to be able to adapt to the relative conditions of each song and each floor.

Oftentimes one of the couples on the floor will not be moving at quite the same rate as the others.  There are two basic types of “bad couples.”  First are space hogs, they hog space by not progressing forward.  If you notice there is a lot of space in front of you, and people are backed up behind you then you might be a space hog.  Second are the jammers, they keep running into the couple in front of them!  If there is a ton of space behind you, but the couple in front won’t get out of your way then you may be a jammer.

What do you do when you notice someone else being either a space hog or a jammer?  You don’t call them out during the Tanda, or even the Cortina!  This is always counterproductive.  There is little to do to solve the problems immediately, but a word or two later on may help.  It may also result in hurt feelings and misunderstandings.  Sun Tzu, in the Art of War, advocates becoming formless like water and I think this is the best short term solution.

In an effort to avoid the hogs, some people moving around the offender.  I’ve heard comments that cutting lanes is considered to be almost as bad as the hogging behavior itself, but on a floor with some depth to it you could get away with it.  A good leader will have enough repertoire to still dance without progressing, but it can be a frustrating dance nonetheless.  Jammers are harder to deal with, when someone is trying to make you move forward and invading your space a leisurely volcada is probably a bad idea!  The most tactful answer to a jammer is for the leader to interpose between the offending couple and his partner.  I’ve also found it useful to slow down considerably and allow the eager-beavers to pass, while this only sends the problem downstream they are no longer a danger to my partner and I.

The Form of Function

“Colfa, is it not funny now that you lost weight to call you that?  We need a new name for you, and a new drink!”

Another round of whiskeys, it was getting late.

“So what is the best way to have good floorcraft?”

“I call it el Tren.”

“Like in Chicago?”

“No. En Espanol.  El Tren de Tango.”

The idea seemed to be this; when couples follow at a respectable distance from each other, a Tango Train is formed.  The back couple protects those in front from harm, and the lead couple keeps the train from running into danger.  The couples in the middle benefit the most, having a blissful bubble to dance smoothly in without being disturbed.

“So, how do you decide who is what part of the train?”  I asked.

“Es organico. You just do it.  We don’t talk about it, that would be unmanly.  We all dance together, like… como se dice la Gestalt?  All parts of one thing?”

“That’s deep Petroleo.  You studied the German School?”