Reflections of a tango professional

Warning: 
This post contains boring, disenchanting or even disturbing details about the life of a tango professional. 

I have long pondered whether I can actually publish this, because it might be severely misunderstood. This is why I have to prepend the following:

This article is in no way meant as a complaint about my situation. I really like my job and find it rewarding to help grow an international tango community, meet lots of interesting people and bring joy by promoting such a wonderful dance. I also cannot deny, that I savour the attention, positive feedback and respect for my work. Ah... and dancing with a lovely person who has absorbed some of our principles into his or her dance! I get to reap the harvest of our endeavours directly in the milongas or encuentros. I have actively chosen tango over the career as a psychologist and am glad I did.

But as you know, I am a very realistic and rather prosaic person and a lot of my tango friends, students and clients do not seem to know what my profession actually consists of or implies. Their romantic misconceptions often leave me speechless. At first. Then I try to explain and get carried away. That can be quite annoying for the person whom I am talking to because they were just making polite small-talk. This post is so that I can say: read my blog. 



Here are the facts about my life as a tango teacher, dj and organiser.

1. Job description
My main activity is not dancing or being at milongas. It is not even teaching. 
What I do mostly is to sit in my office (or elsewhere) in front of my computer. This is where I spend 80-90% of my work hours with: event-, class- and travel organisation, preparing local team meetings, building and updating several websites, analysing or preparing music for classes or milongas, updating client data, editing videos, preparing class-content, writing and sending out class material, communicating with students, organisers or team members, writing invoices and bills of delivery, advertising in several languages and much more. A huge part of this involves spreadsheets, online forms and lists and is as exciting as the work of an accountant. Luckily I don't mind such tasks. But add some more annoying work like buying provisions for events or teacher-trainings, cleaning the studio or setting up venues and you'll understand my typical work day. Yes, there are the days during which I teach or dance, but even then the overhead work does not go anywhere. It still has to be done. 
In general I can say: My most important tools aren't dance shoes but the computer and my most important body parts aren't my legs but my brain. I could very easily do most of my work with a broken leg, but basically nothing without my computer.
When I am at home, I get up early in the morning and spend my day in front of the screen until dinner. I try to make a break around noon for a workout and breakfast. In the evenings, I watch a series or movie with my non-tango-sweetheart and go to bed around 11. I usually read 1/2 hour before I fall asleep. 
On rare days, I retire to my sofa in the afternoon because I started work before 6 in the morning. But as I take my computer with me, I usually end up working again. Like now. 
I do not take holidays and I will answer your e-mails within a day (usually within the hour) even on X-Mas or my birthday. 

2. Business travels
How come that everyone wishes me "have fun" when I am travelling to someplace for workshops? Would you say the same to an executive or engineer going to a business conference? Apart from the very few times per year that I go to an encuentro just to dance, travelling stands for a series of very challenging days with only few hours of sleep. Apart from classes, demos and dj-gigs, I squeeze in all the duties described above in the hours free of the payed work. Again, I love my work, but it is still work and I'd rather hear "I wish you lots of energy or success" than "have fun" as if I were going on a holiday. 
On business trips, I don't have time for sightseeing. Although I travel to many exciting places, I seldom see anything apart the tango venues, hotels, airports, train-stations and restaurants. And no, it does usually not make sense to stay a few days longer. I just spent some time in Austria with friends prior to an engagement in Slovenia. It was lovely, but the two extra days of group activities meant that I arrived less well rested than usual for work and overhead tasks piled up. I cannot allow myself to do this very often.
On days of traveling from A to B, I have some more time to read a book, because working whilst driving a car or sitting in a plane does not function well for me. If a train is not too full, I sometimes manage a few tasks on my computer, but I usually do not get a lot done because of the iffy internet. Traveling itself can take up two entire days per week. Judging by the actual work-output, you could call these holidays, but considering the amount of fatigue and stress, I am not sure if I can agree with this interpretation. 
In the past, we traveled up to 46 week(ends) per year. Now we are at home more often because of two encuentros, a 4-module tango-teacher-training, as well as workshops and classes in our studio. Less travel reduces my general stress level but increases the overhead-workload. How so? Well, when we give workshops at a festival or local school, the organisers will manage the client-bookings and payments, a huge part of the advertising and all local logistics. When we offer a workshop in our hometown, all of this is my job. 

3. Financial aspects of tango dj-ing
To dj does not generate an income to speak of, but is rather a very expensive and time-consuming hobby. A well known tango-dj can earn between 100€ and 250€ per gig plus expenses. (A local non-tango-dj in a disco earns a minimum of 500€.) Taking into consideration that you will have to buy lots of music and expensive equipment, the profit will be around zero, if not a loss. Some popular djs who live in an area with many regular milongas might be able to make a modest income, but usually even they have day jobs to pay the rent. When I am invited to dj at an encuentro, I see it as a great opportunity to play music for nice dancers, to get into an event for free and have my travel-expenses covered. My salary will most likely be spent on meals during the weekend. 

4. Financial aspects of organising events
Organising events or milongas will usually not be profitable. Sure, if you've got a regular milonga with more than 100 visitors in your own studio and you don't pay an external dj... But most local milongas just cover the expenses or make a loss. Our local milongas often are within the deficit range, but we see them as important service for our students and the community. 
Events like encuentros can generate a profit. But please note that the biggest part of the income will still go into the venue, djs, other staff, equipment, catering, insurances and taxes. Sure, if the organisers are smart, an event with 200 visitors can make an income of 1000-5000€. Sounds a lot? Not if you consider the work hours that go into organising it. 
Please be aware that the only ways of making an appropriate income with events would be:
- Reducing the expenses and therefore the quality and/or exploiting djs and helpers. Which would be evil and stupid!
- Raising prices. That would be the sensible thing to do, but tangueros will complain when the event costs 120€ instead of 85€. Considering that the entrance fee is the smallest expense over a weekend... well... 

5. Financial aspects of teaching
The only activity that can generate a decent income in tango is teaching. But even then, I do not know any tango teacher who could be considered as wealthy by normal standards. 
I live from tango since 2006 and cannot complain. Actually I think that we are better off than many other tango teachers (see note below *):
We have (a little) above average per hour prices and therefore generate an appropriate income. Our lifestyle is acceptable: we never had to hunger, we rent nice apartments and I can afford to buy a new Macbook and iPhone every 5 years. Or books and videos. Or invite a friend for dinner in a restaurant and give money to family needy members. But I do not own a house, our car is old and I do not have a pension plan. Why is that?
- Because of the disadvantageous proportion of classes (payed work) to overhead (not payed work). I will usually not teach more than 6-10 hours per week, sometimes less, because we do not travel all the time. 
But teaching is my only income to speak of. So why don't we teach more? Well, even if there were more engagements, I would not have the time to actually take on more classes because of the overhead workload and the traveling from A to B. When we started traveling for workshop weekends, we decided to give up our regular classes in three cities. It would have been just too much.
The ratio of payed/not-payed work is better during tango-holidays (14-20 teaching hours per week) and teacher trainings (25-30).  
- We do only seldom take on privates during workshop weekends or festivals, because we have to preserve our energy for group classes for which the organiser carries the financial risk. We also do not charge for demos - unless it is during a festival where the other teachers also get payed for their shows.
- Because in spite of a good turnover, work-related expenses are quite high and we spend a considerable part of our income in tango again: travel to encuentros as paying customers, buy tango music, software, online services, ads in tango magazines, studio rent, equipment, paying staff, inviting clients for dinner... yes, I also buy shoes and dresses - but from what I can tell, much less than most dancers.
- We often give substantial reductions to people with a low income, in rare cases up to 100%. Sometimes, I even offer free classes or seminars for entire groups because I want the tango community to develop. In tango, one cannot just take, one has to give as well to keep the system running. 
Had I pursued my career as a psychologist, things would look very different.

6. Expiration date of tango careers
Unless you are an "old Argentine maestro or milonguero", who will still be invited for classes abroad and highly respected in Buenos Aires, please do not expect to make a great living from tango once that you've passed a certain age. Younger, better dancers are constantly popping up and the memories of customers are surprisingly short. No matter how impressive your résumé as a teacher or how much you have perfected pedagogical skills, you will eventually be discharged. 
And even if not: can you imagine how the above described workload will feel when you're 75? Would you really want to travel that much, live out of your suitcase, often staying at tango people's homes without any privacy at an advanced age? I actually pity the "old ones" who still have to go on tour. 
Successful local teachers in big cities will have better prospects, but only if they play their cards well and integrate young talent. 
Rigorose diet and exercise (or just good genes) as well as plastic surgery might also help, but Detlef and I have now both passed the 50s-demarcation and I stopped colouring my hair recently. We're not young anymore and one can see it.
This last consideration may sound particularly harsh and bitter, but I am just being realistic. I have been teaching tango and expanding my business for 18 years. I do not regret having chosen this path, but I'd better start working on a backup plan. 

Conclusion:
The life of a tango teacher, organiser and dj is not in the least bit as glamorous as you imagine. Sure, there might be the few top-notch "maestros" who do not prepare their classes, are so famous that they do not need to take care of publicity, will answer mails with a delay of weeks and can spend their retirement on the beach. But I guess that these are rare exceptions. And even then: these artists might spend hours per day practising or preparing choreographies. That's maybe a little bit more exciting than managing the pizza-list for our encuentro, but it is also hard work. I guess.

Please consider all this:
- when you see me or another professional being tired or not dancing a lot during a workshop weekend,
- before you complain about the costs for a class or an event,
- before you plan on taking up one of these activities professionally.

... in particular if your partner is not a tanguero. You need a very, very understanding sweetheart. Luckily, I do.



* This is just a guess, because I know of so many tango stars living in tiny flats or even entirely out of their suitcases. But maybe they are just smarter and saving money for the future. It is true that I do not see a lot of professional teachers at tango events unless they are there for work. As mentioned above: we still go to encuentros a couple of times per year and everyone knows how expensive these trips can be. I guess we could save a lot of money by not going or by participating for free and staying with local dancers. But we don't feel comfortable with such practises and we love dancing. So: spending money for tango is indispensable. Also: what would be the point of teaching a social dance and not dance yourself? Right?


P.S. Here is a link to a post from 2011. As you can see, my general perspective has not changed over the years. 

The Tango Zone

Remember a few years ago? 

In 2010, the first year of this blog, I wrote about how our own hometown had become a tango free zone for us. And this was true for so many years:
We were traveling all over Europe and to the USA, sometimes for 46 out of 52 weeks. It was interesting and rewarding, but also exhausting and it estranged us more and more from the city in which we lived and still live. Dancers from all over the world often assumed, that we were teaching in our hometown, when in fact, the local dancers did not even know our names. There were years when our annual Encuentro with 200 participants hosted not more than 4 dancers from Saarbrücken.

Although this was normality for such a long time, it never felt quite right: having to travel far just to dance one tanda; knowing that tango here was so different from what we loved... 

But things started to change little by little: 
Once in a while, we would organise a workshop weekend in our small Tangokombinat studio and I started to offer Ladies Only seminars. Sure, most participants would come from afar, but there were always 1 or 2 locals. And sometimes, dancers from Saarbrücken would visit a workshop with us in some other town. So - although we still did not dance or teach regularly in Saarbrücken, some local dancers got to know us and our philosophy. 
But it was our teacher training that re-connected us with tango in our hometown. In order to offer an evening activity for our teacher-trainees we would organise a milonga during each module. This is where the local tangueros got to interact with so many nice dancers that had traveled from far to work with us. They (most likely) heard positive feedback about our classes and noticed that there was no kicking and jumping at our milongas.
In 2016, we then organised the first edition of Pequeña with the aim to bring together the (still) few close embrace dancers from our home region with friends from all over Europe. It was an instant success and many new bonds were forged.
But the real change happened when in 2018 all of a sudden four dancers from Saarbrücken asked to participate in our TTT. Wow! We would never have anticipated this!
All of a sudden we spent a lot more time with local dancers, exchanged views, ideas and sorrows. We actually got to know each other.

And there was one other thing: 
During the TTT, I got increasingly envious of our graduates who were giving classes in their hometowns. Regular tango classes. Teaching beginners. We had not done that for many years. Our workshop participants, even the teacher-trainees, even those who followed us around the globe were never really our students - they had discovered tango elsewhere. Sure, I am happy with what we achieved and how many dancers we could reach with our ideas. But it is still different than having your own students whom you can teach from the beginning. In the years 2002-2007, when we were giving weekly classes in Metz, Landau and St. Wendel (never in our hometown!), our pedagogical, musical and technical skills had been much less developed. Now, after so many years of teaching, learning, researching, discussing, I was eager to work with beginners from a new and improved perspective.

So I thought: It's now or never!

I wrote a mail to our local tango-friends, asking them, if they'd be interested in making tango in our hometown nicer - all of them responded positively. And with such great enthusiasm and dedication. All of a sudden, it was not only me, but Detlef, I and 9 friends! 

Everyone is helping to promote our activities, eager to participate, to develop as dancers, as djs and as hosts at milongas. Since our first meeting, we've started a bunch of activities:

• Monthly milongas in the Tangokombinat studio,
• Weekly classes for beginners and for those who want to improve their dance quality, 
• A practica and milongas organised by our friends Armin and Elena, 
• A simple couch-surfing platform for our events in Saarbrücken,
• Outdoor dancing and much more...

Yesterday, at our monthly Minilonga - for the first time - we could integrate beginners into the fold. In their first four classes, they have learned to move in the ronda, to invite by mirada and cabeceo and to change roles! Yes, we're teaching both roles from the beginning and I think it is already showing great results. Although there was (as usual) a huge female majority at yesterday's milonga, no-one sat and moped. Everyone had fun. And I even saw a few men following. 

Not bad, eh? Guess the tango free zone is not tango free anymore!

The only downside: much more work. Building up something takes a lot of time and energy. What little was left for leisure activities and quality time with my sweetheart is now gone. Apart from my usual work organising and actually holding our international teaching-activities and events, I've now got classes during the week, meetings, fixing up the studio, workshops to form new djs for the community. Plus my new leading-practise twice a week ... sigh... anyone a youth potion? Should I by now not be preparing for retirement? But then, there's no retirement on a tango-teacher's wage anyway. So: on we go.

Incompatibilities

In this very nerdy tango-related post, I want to point out, how some common follower’s techniques or habits can make improvisation and navigation difficult and a comfortable embrace or good connection hard to achieve. 

I know that this post might antagonise female dancers - as much as my last blog was popular amongst women. Please be assured, that I do not write to insult or criticise, but to help create more awareness about the outcome of specific tango techniques. 

I am here not speaking about beginners who are struggling with their posture and actually might not yet have a technique. This is why I will not comment on issues that are considered as "mistakes", no matter what approach you follow: bad posture, a general lack of control over tension and relaxation, not carrying the weight of your arms, hanging on your leader or pushing too hard against him/her, stepping away from your partner, not knowing the music, not actively taking spaces...

Let’s assume that a dancer with some experience has sorted out most of those issues or is as least aware of them.

I am explicitly addressing "advanced" followers. You will dance at Milongas, Encuentros and Marathons. You look super elegant and do the most complex moves with ease. You might even be a successful teacher or performer. But that does not mean that your techniques are universal or helpful in all situations or with all partners. 

Don’t get me wrong: I do not think, that followers should have to adapt to every technique of any leader. On the contrary, that is the leaders job as well. I will, e.g. not pivot when not being given the space to build up my top-to-down spiral. But I will usually find a way to make the movement happen without having to compromise my ideas. Or I will not do so, being aware that this leader might not want to dance with me again. It is my choice. But I assume, that very few followers consciously want to hurt their partners or block movements. This is why I will describe advantages and disadvantages of techniques and habits.

I am aware that how I useful I find a technique, is defined by my priorities. Let me point them out:

• A soft embrace and deep connection
• Organic and comfortable movements
• Real improvisation
• Musicality
• Social dancing

As I have written before: for me as a social dancer, it is about how it feels from the inside and not how it looks from the outside. Elegance is a plus, but no top priority. And my priorities determine the techniques and concepts that I use and teach.

Other teachers or dancers have different priorities and will therefore use differing concepts and techniques. So when I am disappointed by someone’s technique, another leader might be perfectly happy dancing with the same person.

Before shrugging off my blog as the quirky ideas of a mediocre dancer, please remember that I have been teaching for 18 years all over Europe and the USA. Therefore: If a follower’s techniques are incompatible with mine, they might be incompatible with others as well. Not least with the ones of my teaching partner. How often do you think that Detlef is disappointed by how uncomfortable a dance was and by how little he could improvise? I still remember when he came back from a milonga in Rome, almost having cried on the dance floor, because none of the women was willing to do a shift of weight to their right foot.

In this blog, I am mainly writing from the perspective of a leader. Let me comment on that as well:

As a teacher, it was alway my standard to understand whatever we do in class from the perspective of both roles and be capable of leading it. This is why all of the following observations have been confirmed in the class context as well as on the social dance floor. In a crowded ronda, in a close embrace, I usually stick to simpler movements than in class: variations of the walk, milonguero ochos, simple turns… The more disappointing it is, when some of these very basic moves will absolutely not function.

Sure, I (like any other leader, also Detlef) make mistakes, but please be assured, that after so many years of in-detail analysis, I will always be able to tell, why a movement did not function in a given moment. So when I could not step out to the right lane, I might not have prepared this properly by turning my leg in the hip and by this opening a space. But it might also have been the follower’s doing, because she did not open her left side due to her asymmetric embrace. In this complex dance and communication, both partners contribute to the successes and failures. This post is about the follower’s part in the interaction.

My dear friend Ms Hedgehog has recently written a great blog on what it takes to be a good social dancer. She focusses on the positive aspects and I agree with everything she writes. But because of being my usual critical self, I will rather present a list of techniques and habits that can make the dance less agreeable or even limit improvisation significantly. 

The order below is coincidental.

1. Projection of the free leg

This is commonly taught by teachers with the idea of "making space for the leader’s front step". With the tiniest invitation, the follower will project her free leg to an extended position using a significant amount of muscular control in this leg. 

Advantages of this technique:

• Lazy leaders get super results. They just hint at something and the follower will terminate the whole move on her own.
• Looks very elegant because the legs are nicely extended.

Disadvantages of this technique: 

• The leg is not really free and lead-able. Changing the length or speed of a step, as well as re-directing or stoping the movement is much harder, because the leg is already on a trajectory towards an anticipated direction. Therefore improvisation and musicality will be limited. 
• Often, this technique inhibits small steps altogether, because the leg will be extended into a long step on principle. This will endanger navigation on the social dance floor. It is not always the fault of the leader when a follower runs into other dancers and hurts them by stepping down with a lot of energy. 
• Loss of connection. When dancing with a follower who uses this technique, I will only feel connected in the initial moment of the movement, but during the transfer the connection is lost because her leg moves independently from her gravity centre. I would like to feel connected on every inch of the transfer.

What we teach: We concentrate on pushing from the supporting leg and letting the free leg move with the gravity centre like a pendulum. It is relaxed and has roots in the floor. Thanks to this approach, we also never have to think where to put this leg. Agreed: It looks less elegant.

2. Closing the position as quickly as possible

This technique is often connected to the projection of the leg and has the same advantages and disadvantages. In particular traspiés (or rock-steps) are difficult to communicate because they happen in the open position and leaders often have to stop those followers with their arms in order to prevent an automatic closing.

What we teach: a closing will eventually happen by a complete transfer of axis onto the new supporting leg and coming back (up) to a straight leg.

3. Overactive rotation of the hips and automatic pivoting

A lot of teachers stress that the hips most be rotated as quickly as possible in order to allow for speedy pivots with a big angle. 

Advantages:

• Leaders, who don’t want to dissociate get super results.
• Pivots and ochos remain a follower’s movement and nothing in the leader’s body will distract from it. (Or this is what a famous teacher once told me.)

Disadvantages:

• Basically the same as in 1, because improvisation and connection are inhibited. Ever tried to lead a milonguero ocho (without pivots) with such a follower? Or just change the angle of rotation in a pivot? Impossible, because she will automatically rotate her hips to a maximum. Or try rotating your upper body towards your partner to compensate for an offset of feet: she will most likely pivot a little and therefore the next step might go into a different direction than intended. Walking in crossed system is often impossible and unintended crosses happen. 

What we teach: Lazy hips. A rotation will only happen when it is communicated by an opening of space around the axis of the follower, so that she can create a spiral in her body from top to down. No opening equals no pivot.

4. Step on one line

A lot of teachers ask followers to walk on a virtual line, therefore they will position one leg behind the other when walking backwards or forwards. 

Advantages:

• This is elegant because the position will always look closed. Leaders who change direction with almost every step, might never notice the disadvantages of this technique.

Disadvantages: 

• Try walking front-to-front with such a follower’s technique for more than 2 steps. It feels very weird, because she will aways position her free leg directly where you want to go with your next step. You constantly have to compensate by opening your position laterally. Later have her walk on two lines and follow her free leg. That will feel completely different.

What we teach: Step on two neighboured lines.

5. Have musical automatisms

A lot of followers will automatically double the speed in a number of movements: the Ocho Cortado, the cross, the back and side step of the molinette structure… This comes from teaching steps linked to fixed rhythmical patterns and I cannot find any advantages in this approach.

Just imagine: I want to lead a turn in normal speed to slow music, starting with the back step of the follower - I invite her to pivot and - whooosh - she’s already finished the turn. ARGH!

Also the contrary is a problem: you might want to speed up for a longer time because the melody says 12341234 (think D’Arienzo), but she slows down after the second step (123_), because she is used to quick-quick-slow patterns. It will be impossible to interpret the melodic rhythm.

What we teach: Adapt the movement to the music. Don’t ever memorise a rhythmical pattern with a figure. Learn any step/figure in a default variation (normal of half speed). Then practise changing speed in every possible position.

6. Have movement automatisms

The result of traditional step learning is that followers (and leaders) will develop very strong preferences for certain movements and are often incapable of dancing variations. 

I mentioned above how Detlef often does not succeed in inviting followers to do a simple shift of weight to the right foot because they block the movement. No problems changing to the left.

Sorry, but I cannot think of any advantage in creating these strong habits, so I am just going to point out some of the typical habits:

• Dancing a cross only on the usual side and expecting to be "forced" into a cross with the right left in front of the left leg instead of just reacting to the same leading mechanism on the other side.
• Being used to stepping forward with the left food in the "8-count-basic", but blocking any front-to-front forward movement with the right foot. Walking forward with the right leg on the outer lane in an ocho cortado might still work, but stepping forward into the space of the leader just will not function. Trying to prepare this step forward, I had followers change leg, turn their hips or even fall onto me, because they rather do a volcada than stepping forward with their right leg. Ask Detlef to tell you his story of that very tall and heavy follower doing a volcada instead of a front step. His back was hurting for days!
• Cross or uncross automatically. Do you know, how many variations there might be around the traditional cross - apart from doing it on the other side as mentioned above? And did you know that you might prevent a leader to walk on the outside lane for a longer period, because you cross automatically after 2 steps? Are you expecting him to "block" the crossing?
• Automatically projecting your leg into a back step after a pivot because you expect an ocho to happen. What if the leader takes the pivot back?
• Automatically rotating the hip to a neutral position after a back or front step in a turned movement, because you expect a side step to happen. This result of lifelong molinette practise will prevent any variation in turns.

The list is endless. Unfortunately, these automatisms prevent everything that goes away from the traditional patterns as well as any real improvisation without fixed patterns, based on freely linking the smallest elements.

Sure, if you dance with a leader who repeats patterns without actually communicating them, it helps to know them in order to make the dance work. But do you really want to be so unflexibel?

What we teach: Be prepared for any movement in any given moment. Also: Relax the free leg and let it fall towards the floor with its own weight, so that your body is also physically prepared to react naturally to unusual and/or subtle movements. 

A note: Yes, dancing with leaders who really improvise can be challenging and might feel stressful. Even I sometimes enjoy dancing with someone more predictable, in particular when I am tired. But I would not always want to dance that way.

A second note: Dancing with very creative leaders requires much more focus on the communication, so there won’t be much capacity left for decorations. You either have to ask more actively for the time/space to decorate or skip decorations altogether. Which is what I do. And you won’t see a lot of followers who are dancing with Detlef do a lot of firuletes either.

A third note: Yes, even Detlef has these automatisms because he learned tango based on steps before we started teaching and breaking up these patterns. In the first years, we also taught more figures but nowadays, we seldom teach steps anymore. And if we do so, we will vary them in manifold ways to prevent automatisms. This is why some of our students dance much more freely than we do. 

7. Push with the head

I don’t think that any teacher consciously instructs followers to drop their head or to push their forehead against the leaders right cheek or forehead. But a lot of advanced dancers do so because of misunderstood cuddling or the wish to imitate the aesthetics of famous dancers. 

Advantages:

• Looks feminine?

Disadvantages: 

• Starts hurting after a while because of increased tension of neck-muscles. 
• Leaders move their head into a left-bent position to get out of the way. (I once watched Detlef tilt his head more and more to the side because of the follower invading his space with her head. He looked really stupid.)
• Inhibits movements to the so-called closed side. (See 7.)
• Often has a negative effect on stability of axis, even without the pushing.

What we teach: Hold the head upright and in line with your spine. Search for head contact only if it is anatomically possible.

8. Push with the right arm and/or asymmetrical embrace

A high tension in the right arm of the follower is very often taught in combination with a stable v-frame. Often followers are told to give resistance so that force (or at least tension) can be applied to communicate pivots. In the v-embrace, the other side is often closed and the two shoulders will usually be much nearer than the ones on the so-called open side. I know that v-hold does not necessarily imply a pushing arm, but the problems created are comparable.

The positive effects of this technique:

• I am not sure, but one obviously does not need dissociation. A follower can remain more passive and let herself be pushed or pulled into pivots. The strong frame might also increase stability when doing automatic pivots with a spiral starting below (see above). It is certainly easier than doing pivots actively by creating a spiral from top-to-down. 

The negative effects of the technique:

• Any pushing or tension in the arms just feels less comfortable and starts hurting after a while. Even Detlef (who works out on a regular basis) can sometimes barely stand the pain a fragile follower causes with her strong right arm. You don’t believe me? Ask him.
• With a right rigid arm, the follower pushes herself into an asymmetrical position. So even if a v-shape is not intended, an open and closed side are created. You can see that with many "milonguero" dancers who are starting out with a parallel chest-to-chest position, but then open to a v-hold in ochos or turns.
• A general v-hold or pushing arm results in movements feeling uncomfortable or even being impossible into one direction. Try to walk on the right outside lane in parallel system with a follower who pushes with her right arm or brings her left shoulder so much forward that she cannot dissociate to the left anymore. You won’t succeed. Most likely it won’t even be possible to walk straight without her pulling you to the right side, because she not only opens her right side but also turns her hips with her as a result. This makes navigation really hard. And please examine your back-ocho technique: there will often a nice opening for an organic pivot on the follower’s right leg, but the pivot on her left leg is initiated by the leader pulling her with his right arm.  Or she will pivot automatically. I find it illogical to use different techniques on the two sides.
• In general v-shape will also affect all musicality as it inhibits free change of speed and step length on both sides. (This is a huge topic!)

What we teach: Have soft arms. We want to embrace, not to have a stable "frame". We connect and exchange information in the centre. The leader opens spaces that the follower takes actively. We are therefore searching for a parallel position of the upper bodies and want to be free to execute all movements comfortably to both sides.

Note: When dancing with a leader who uses either active pushing/pulling with the arms or at least relies on the stable frame for building up a tension for a pivot, I will not compromise my priorities and start pushing, but rather find other ways to make the movement work: Either create a counter-spiral in the body or not pivot and reach the end position by doing a milonguero-ocho. My arms remain soft.

9. Dropping, lifting or swinging the hips

Sometimes this comes from the wish to look sexy and might result in a slight difficulty of taking steps back speedily. But very often such a hip movement comes from consciously or inadvertently wanting to pull the free leg to the axis in the end phase of movements. In dynamic steps the phenomenon might not occur, because the initial push is enough to transport the axis fully to the new leg, but try a very slow transport of axis in a back step of the follower. In the last moment it might feel, as if the follower is breaking away and her axis gets wobbly.

What we teach: The hips remain calm and parallel to the floor. The transfer of axis is done by the former supporting leg that pushes until the axis is above the new leg in particular in slow motion.

10. Be overactive

A lot of advanced followers seem to think, that they constantly have to do something in order to dance interestingly or musically. They will decorate, insert double steps, change weight without invitation, move, move, move. They never stand still. Being calm equals being boring. Right?

This is very handy for leaders who do not have a clear leading technique or who are un-inspired, but I think that constant activity makes it impossible to build up a more intimate connection. Sure, feel free to fill spaces, to add to the dance, to give input to the leader. But please: don’t move all the time. Can we not just stand for a second. Slow down? Enjoy the embrace? Just listen to this tiny piano fill? Just honour the end of the phrase? Does tango have to be so nervous?

When I dance with a guy who expects me to act all the time without inviting me properly, I might do so. For a short while. But then I usually get bored, because of the lack of interaction and communication. So I might just stand and embrace. You’d be surprised at what can happen then! 

So. This is it. Sorry to be a know-it-all. 

I am aware, that every dancer will make her personal choices. I always assure our students, that our techniques are just options amongst many. But I am strongly doubting that everyone actually makes conscious choices. I so wish that advanced dancers were more aware of their techniques and possible outcomes. Not only for the sake of the leaders, but for your own comfort and clarity. So that you can make better informed choices!


P.S.
Some might think, that they now understand our entire technical concepts. Nothing I can do about it, apart from saying: buy our Book + DVD Caminar Abrazados and you'll how much more there is to it. Or visit one of our classes. You might be surprised. And no, I am not ashamed of self-advertising. ;-)

Making better choices - wasting less time, energy and money

Tango is an art, it is a social dance and it is a business. 

Understanding these different aspects of tango is crucial when it comes to making informed decisions about what events you go to, what teachers you choose and how you want your dance to develop. So this post is about priorities and money well spent.

When it comes to choosing tango events, many people make conscious and well-informed decisions. Since the turn of the century, the tango community has grown and diversified and there are now events for all tastes. (Check out this post from last year.) There are of course dancers who love all sorts of events, but most of us have preferences. I think that’s a good thing, because knowing what you like and where to find it will minimise the risk of being disappointed. 

But are tangueros and tangueras as careful when it comes to making general decisions about their dance and with whom they want to study. I am not so sure.

Here is a story.

We are regularly teaching in Basel (Switzerland) in the form of consecutive intensive seminars - 4 hours on a Sunday over the course of 3-4 months, 1 class each month. People will book the entire seminar, that are accompanied by a guided practica. The groups are limited to 10 couples and we drive from and back to our hometown on the same day. Six hours of driving and 4 hours of teaching on one day ist quite exhausting and we ask for an appropriate salary. So these classes are not cheap and if someone commits to such a course format and is willing to pay a considerate sum of money, you’d think that they inform themselves in advance about what to expect. But this is not always the case. 

Last Sunday was the first module of the new series - a Milonga seminar. As announced in the class description, we started with an half-hour-session of bodywork on yoga-mats. I immediately noticed a gentleman, who did not take a mat and preferred standing in the back without doing the exercises. I did of course not insist that he participate. For all I knew, he might have a health issue. 

The rest of the seminar contained - as announced - lots of musical work in the group, enough time to apply the musical concepts in the parallel walk and two simple movements, that we varied on several levels to not have the participants memorise a step. There was a lot of interaction in form of games, short discussions…

During the entire class, our special participant was obviously not willing to really commit to the class objectives. His facial and corporeal expression was defensive, if not hostile. As he was also struggling with the execution of the exercises, we of course offered feedback and help as we did with everyone else. He did not even show a positive reaction when being addressed personally in a friendly manner. 

After class he told the organiser, that he would not come back for the rest of the seminar. He did not feel cared for and would have preferred that we showed more steps which he then could have repeated, like the argentine couples do. (His words, not mine.) In addition to that, the organiser hinted that the gentleman may not be used to receiving an honest feedback as most teachers in that region usually praise without offering alternatives.

So our guy was upset and quit. This is sad and I wonder, if we could have done anything else to improve the situation. Maybe. I will certainly analyse it in-depth to do better another time.

But I feel strongly, that there was not much that we could have done. I think we were not the right teachers for him and that he was looking for something that we would not provide. This is why I reckon, he cannot have read the class description or checked our website in advance. A purely frontal classes with step learning was not what we promise - on the contrary. So is he to blame for his disappointment?

Not entirely.

How many teachers will claim that they teach social tango and don’t show steps but rather focus on connection or musicality? Workshop description are often exciting reads. But when you visit the class, leaders and followers will have to stand on opposite sides of the room and practise complex moves independently from each other. So how can clients rely on anything that is published or even be bothered with reading it? After all, any written material ist of a promotional nature and professional teachers are trying to attract and not to put off dancers. 

Actually, believe it or not, I have to exclude ourselves. Already our first videos in 2003 were uploaded to avoid clients coming with false expectations. After all there are lots of things that we won't teach and the ones we teach, we will present in-depth. Our classes are (albeit Detlef's inclination to jokes) not geared towards entertainment, but towards serious study. This is why everything we write (and do) is meant to encourage the right clientele and discourage dancers who are looking for a different kind of tango or learning experience. Of course we do not always live up to our expectations and might even disappoint the people whom we want to attract. But having participants who are not open for our philosophy and/or methods are luckily a rare exception. This is why the recent incident made me ask:

How can we avoid such situations? How can future clients really inform themselves about the product they buy and therefore improve the chances that both students and teacher are content with the work.

From the teacher’s side, I find that quite simple: 

Please live what you teach. Don’t advertise falsely. If  you want to teach a social dance, please dance socially! If you want to teach complex and acrobatic moves, take dance classes, practise every day and make them look as perfect as possible! If you claim to be good teachers, please prepare your classes properly and constantly work on your teaching methods or skills! In any case: if you take money for a product, please take what you are doing seriously! It’s a job - for god’s sake.

My advise to all students: 

Do not rely solely on what any teacher writes. Look at what he or she does and examine the results of their work. Then make a decision based on what you want to achieve in tango. 

So this post is ultimately about defining one's priorities and then choosing appropriate products. The following is a description of the steps of such a decision-making process.

A Checking your general motivation

Ask yourself whether you really want to work on your dance and are willing to learn, maybe even change? Or are you happy with where you stand? 

If the answer to this question is:

I am happy with what I know and do; I don’t need to develop any more - this is perfectly fine. Don’t force yourself to take classes, because everyone else does or if you go, comprehend them as an entertaining activity. But do not visit any classes in which your abilities might be put into question. If you are not willing to receive an honest feedback, the result can only be frustration for both you and the teachers. Also: please do not expect to dance with all the top dancers. Unless you are already perfect (which is unlikely, because no one is ever), they might want to develop and could be looking for something different in the dance.

Although I am a teacher, I don’t think, that one has to learn and improve constantly. If you are happy with your abilities and the resulting situation then why should you? Spend your money on a nice pair of shoes! I mean it.

But if your answer is:

Yes, I am curious and there are things that I want to improve or change - then you should try to define your priorities and goals. Without knowing what you want to achieve, the hole learning process will take much longer and you are going to spend a lot of money on trial and error.

B Defining your priorities 

This is about defining how you want to dance, so please ask yourself the following questions: 

Do I want to dance elegantly or is this not my priority? Do I want to decorate my steps? Do I want to be challenged with complex movements or am I happy with simple variations of the walk? Do I want to dance tango shows, do I want to become an artist or do I want to dance socially only? Do I want to feel comfortable and want to be invited for my nice embrace? What kind of music do I like and how do I want to interpret it? What is important for me at this stage of my tango life?

Why don’t you make a list of priorities in a ranking order?

Just to give you an example, these are my priorities as a dancer: 

• a nice embrace and deep interaction
• an interesting musicality
• harmonious, comfortable movements that feel "technically" right for me
• improvisation
• an intellectual challenge (understanding how movement and music function in order to become a better teacher and dancer)

You can see, that elegance e.g. is not one of my priorities. If elegance develops from a harmonious movement and a good technique, then I am happy. But I would not compromise general relaxation and comfort for looks. This is my personal choice. You have to make yours. If elegance is top priority for you, you will need an appropriate technical approach, e.g. working with projections to make your legs look extra long and straight. Every technique comes with advantages and disadvantages and you should choose them according to your priorities.

So, let us say that you have defined your personal priorities and goals. Most likely taking classes will (apart from serious practise) be one instrument to achieve your goals. This means choosing appropriate teachers. The next paragraph will therefore deal with sources of information and with questions to examine.

C Choosing teachers

1. Read what they write.

Please read what teachers have to say about their methods, class-contents and their general philosophy. Do you agree? Do you share the same ideas? Good. Please proceed with the next paragraphs. If not, find other another teachers to look into. 

But be aware: there is the issue of language. We all use it differently. For someone, improvisation will mean putting together different steps, for someone else it is deciding each moment, which single element to use. "Technique" can be understood as general bodywork, posture, communication and execution of very basic elements (e.g. a pivot) or it can be understood as steps. Also: the teacher's native language may be another than your own and a third language (often english) will be used to communicate. So there is a huge potential for misunderstandings.
Additionally - as discussed above - whatever you read (class descriptions, flyers, websites, blogs - yes, also this one) is ultimately promotional material. I don’t want to imply, that all texts lie. Many teachers will surely advertise with the best intentions of describing their product and motivations properly. But even the most honest text will still not be conclusive, because it does not tell you everything you need to know. 
So written material might be helpful to exclude teachers, but you will need information from other sources to decide whether you really want to work with a particular person or not.

2. Watch dance videos.

Please ask yourself: Do I like what I see? Do these teachers dance complex steps or do they focus on seemingly simple moves? Do they dance musically? Do I perceive them as being elegant? How does their embrace and posture look, comfortable or stiff? Do I see anything at all that I would want to study?

A few hints: If you see a dancer decorating her every move and making lots of high boleos as a result to the most subtle invitation, but you currently want to focus on the embrace, better don’t go to the boleos class. If you see a couple mostly walking to the music and not executing any giros with enrosques in an open embrace, please do not expect them to teach these movements. 

3. Check out the teacher’s activities and behaviour at milongas.

Inform yourself: What is their background? Do they dance in a tango show and understand themselves as artists? Do they visit local milongas or other social tango events? Do they dance with each other or professionals only? Do they dance with "normal" dancers? How do they behave on the dance floor? Do they show off or adapt to the ronda?

A few hints: If the couple in question does not visit social dance events or will only dance with each other - don’t take their class on adapting your embrace to different partners. If they disturb the ronda with their fancy moves, don’t expect them to teach a tango that is fit for the social dance floor. But: The skilled artists might nevertheless be the perfect teachers for you to develop a complex repertoire if you are planning on performing in a theatre or if you are looking for a practise challenge.

I am no artist, so please do not expect me to teach you a lot of things that will impress an audience. But by watching me dance at a Milonga, you could come to think, that I might help you to enjoy a tanda of Biagi or Di Sarli! 

A note: many teachers (including myself) will be tired after a day of workshops and may not dance a lot during workshop engagements. So you might not want to base your decisions on the observations of one or two workshop-weekends only. And of course there are brilliant artists who are social dancers at the same time!

4. Interview other consumers.

If a couple is either teaching locally or is travelling internationally, there is the chance, that others have already taken their classes. Ask about their experiences. Did they like the class? Was it well prepared? What are the pedagogical methods of the couple in question? Do they teach frontally or do they interact? Do they show many steps or do they work on the basics? Is there additional class material? 

A hint to the decision making process: Please do not take a class of teachers that might engage you in group interaction, when you just want to receive input. 

5. Look for class summaries on the internet.

Class summaries do not only provide information about class-contents, but might also give an impression about general methods. There are e.g. no typical „end-of-workshop-dance-demos“ from Detlef and me on the internet. Why? Because we rarely show steps and will in any case rather make an extensive summary with explications in which we explain the basic concepts and then additionally send written material by e-mail. As we do not want dancers to memorise steps, we cannot just have them film the moves at the end of a class. In order to show what we do, we have uploaded two excerpts of class summaries on Youtube. They are quite old, but still give a good impression. One is in German, one is in French. 

Other teachers will have similar videos on the internet. Watch one or two of them before signing up for a class. If the class summary shows a long sequence of acrobatic moves, please be prepared for that kind of work in future classes. If they focus on small technical details, don’t complain if the they ask you to pay attention to those details in class.

6. Dance with the teachers and/or their students:

This is actually the most important criterion. If you don’t like what you experience, then don’t take that class. If you like their embrace, musicality, movements, navigation skills - go for it!

But, as I mentioned in section 3: You cannot base such a decision on one or two samples only. Every dancer - including a professional teacher - will have a bad moment and not every student is a key to judging the teacher’s abilities and methods. You will need a little time to get a valid impression. 
Also: you cannot expect a professional teacher to dance with every potential student, so dancing with the students will be a more likely option. And ultimately, they are even more important, as they show the results of the teaching. Even the best teachers are not always super dancers and some of them will not even use their own principles. There are e.g. teachers who promote counter-body-movement in the parallel walk, but cannot apply it in their own dance. Others oppose to it officially, but still use it unconsciously. So dancing with students who apply these teacher's principles, will tell you much more about the content and quality of their teaching.

With this, I come to one last observation:

It takes some effort to make informed decisions, but I think it is worth it in order to avoid mis-spending your hard-earned money - in particular if you plan on doing intensive seminars or tango holidays.

Nevertheless, you might not always have the capacity or motivation to go through such a decision-making process. It is totally fine to take a chance and sign up for workshop spontaneously. 

But if you do, please do not show up with strong preconceptions. If you are openminded and prepared for surprises you might learn something valuable in an unexpected context or during an exercise that you cannot see the point in at first. Sure, you may also learn that you do not agree with these teacher's ideas or that you are looking for something completely different. But this is positive too, because it helps you define (or re-define) your priorities. 

So don’t be mad but rather try to make a better choice next time.