Colgadas with changes of embrace - final workshop, 10th Aug - and farewell soon

I hope you're well and enjoying your dancing.

As you may already know, I've been planning some travels for a while and it looks like that's finally going to happen from the end of Aug now. So... the last workshop before I go away is coming up on Saturday 10th August, 2-5:30pm.

It's going to be on colgadas - an especially fluid and beautiful movement in tango. For those who haven't tried them yet or never got the hang of colgadas (excuse the pun) this will be a good introduction. For those already confident dancing them, there will be some cool variations for you to play with and a chance to refine your technique.

The way the workshop will be structured it will be suitable for anyone already able to dance crosses, ochos and giros. All skill levels will be suitably challenged :)

No partner required but pre-booking essential. For full details and to book your place see: http://www.tangolingua.com/workshops/southampton/colgadas-with-changes-of-embrace

Group lesson consolidation:

While it's a bit quieter over the summer and without the beginner courses, the Monday lesson will be rolled into the Wednesday lesson, 8pm, upstairs @ The Slug & Lettuce, Southampton. It's been wonderful teaching at The Wool House and I hope to return, but no Mondays for now. Please come on Wednesdays instead. Everyone is welcome.

(Re last Wed, I think most people are checking the Facebook page for updates and so will already know, but last week there was a late notice double booking so we had to move to the Wool House. My apologies if anyone wasn't able to access the FB for details. Back to normal this week at The Slug and Lettuce!)

Private lessons:
If you want to really accelerate your learning, add that extra bit of smoothness, style and confidence to your tango, or explore new or old movements in more detail, private lessons are a great way to do it. For more info and booking see: http://www.tangolingua.com/tango-lessons/private-lessons

Get the latest news by liking the FB page:
If you want to know what's coming up in the group lessons, or get early notice on workshops, social events then the best way to do that is like the Tango Lingua Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TangoLingua

Skill swaps:
For a while now I've been experimenting with non-money forms of exchange for tango lessons. I've found it can be a great way to pick up new skills, get help, and get to know people better, while at the same time offer more of a chance to learn tango to those who couldn't otherwise afford it. Obviously money is a handy thing and I have just as much use for it as most people, but I recognise that payment for lessons (or paying the usual price) isn't always an option, and I really love sharing what I know and helping people find joy in their tango dancing, so I'm happy to do skill or resource swaps as well. Things I'm interested in at the moment include: help with marketing and event organizing, locally produced organic food, learning Spanish, physio and sports massage, clothes alterations, and learning other dance forms from professionals (e.g. salsa, jive, contemporary, jazz). If you think you would like to offer something along those lines in return for learning tango, get in touch!

Travels:
Just a few words on my plans. I feel drawn to go exploring around different countries for a bit, not least to continue my learning and development in tango and other dances. I do plan to return, but can't say exactly when that will be.. I will miss all my students in Southampton and other places, I've got so much enjoyment working with everyone and sharing a bit of what I know. And a huge thank you to Claudia for assisting so well with the teaching these last months. The Wed lessons will continue until the end of August (check FB page for updates) and private lessons will also be available until then. I'll be posting updates from time to time on my adventures here (feel free to add me) and other places.

What to do if you want to carry on learning tango?
For lessons there are at least two other schools in the Southampton area: TLC and Nu Tango  If there are other options I'll let you know.. :)
There are also regular social dances organized by them and others.
Practice is also crucial if you want to develop a smooth and varied style. For that I recommend either joining a local practica (practice session) or starting your own as as group. If you want to tips on doing that, get in touch.


Take care, and I hope to see you soon,
Joe

'Sexy leg wraps and ganchos' workshop on Sunday 30th June, new venue, and other news

It's been a while since I sent out a newsletter, I hope you're well and enjoying your dancing.

I've just made a little preview video for the upcoming 'sexy leg wraps and ganchos' workshop on Sunday 30th June. Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152972729125424
If you'd like to learn how to dance these movements with confidence and style, you can find full details and booking info on the workshop here:
http://www.tangolingua.com/workshops/southampton/sexy-leg-wraps-and-ganchos
(No partner needed, but pre-booking required)

Venue change for Mondays and a new arts project:
The Monday lessons are now at the beautiful Wool House building, on the corner of Bugle Street, near Red Funnel Ferries. If you don't already know about it, it's a stunning, 15th century, grade 1 listed building. See a map here: http://www.tangolingua.com/find-us

Most of you will know Claudia. Well she's running a rather exciting community centric arts project there: "This summer, Element Arts will open the space to the public, to host a variety of activities from exhibitions to workshops, loosely based around the stories and heritage of this building since it was built in early 15th century". Join the FB page for more details: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wool-House-Project/161866223995816
The main program will be starting from July, but already you can enjoy tango there on Monday evenings :) Same time, 8pm, with practica after the lesson.
And yes, there are also plans afoot for some milongas..

No new beginner courses over the summer:
Both Monday and Wednesday group classes will be for students already with some experience of tango for the duration of the summer. (If you are a complete beginner and want to start learning now, you may want to consider taking a couple of private lessons before joining the group class). As numbers tend to be a bit lower over the summer, if you come along you'll enjoy the learning benefits of a small group class :)

Private lessons:
If you want to really accelerate your learning, add that extra bit of smoothness, style and confidence to your tango, or explore new or old movements in more detail, private lessons are a great way to do it. For more info and booking see: http://www.tangolingua.com/tango-lessons/private-lessons

Get the latest news by liking the FB page:
If you want to know what's coming up in the group lessons, or get early notice on workshops, social events then the best way to do that is like the Tango Lingua Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TangoLingua

Skill swaps:
For a while now I've been experimenting with non-money forms of exchange for tango lessons. I've found it can be a great way to pick up new skills, get help, and get to know people better, while at the same time offer more of a chance to learn tango to those who couldn't otherwise afford it. Obviously money is a handy thing and I have just as much use for it as most people, but I recognise that payment for lessons (or paying the usual price) isn't always an option, and I really love sharing what I know and helping people find joy in their tango dancing, so I'm happy to do skill or resource swaps as well. Things I'm interested in at the moment include: help with marketing and event organizing, locally produced organic food, learning Spanish, physio and sports massage, and learning other dance forms from professionals (e.g. salsa, jive, contemporary, jazz). If you think you would like to offer something along those lines in return for learning tango, get in touch!

That's it.

Introduction to Aerial Technique in Tango - workshop notes

Content overview:

• increasing and mirroring contact to set up good conditions for flight
• lengthening, reaching and supporting – not jumping or throwing
• using the hips and core for stability and balance
• smooth, safe landings
• putting it into practice with 3 aerial movements:
  • a suspended leap along the line of dance
  • leg wrap into knee lift, with and without turn
  • walking on invisible stairs

Workshop plan:

Aim and intro: to give a clear and accessible introduction to the techniques for flying and lifting in tango, with an emphasis on safety, smoothness and making it easy.

length: 4 hours, including break time.

Warm up:

include ankle, calf and thighs as well as back exercises.

Exercise: Lift off on parallel bars movement – lengthen legs and spine towards ceiling, while pushing shoulders and arms down (as if pushing up and suspending body on parallel bars).

Exercise: Squat exercise – as above, keeping shoulders down, but thinking about lifting from the hip. Knees stay slightly bent.

Go into above two movements from walking and from a change of direction.

Exercise: Stand side by side arms around waist of parnter. Slowly take their weight until you are entirely supporting them. Do slowly and keep the lift very low. Try both sides. The more surface area in contact, the easier it tends to be. Lifter lowers hips, draws and counterbalances.

Note: When you dance tango the aim is generally to stay together. This is especially crucial when one of you is in the air :) Doing this in a safe and comfortable way is a shared responsibility for both leader and follower. The approach we'll explore today is an application of the mirroring concept which one key to the Tango Lingua approach. This is where the quality and direction of intent from the leader is mirrored (i.e. reflected) by the follower through the points of contact. Now let's get a feel for that on the ground first.

Exercise: mirroring game, standing, fixed embrace, then with shifting embrace. Practice releasing and re-establishing contact points.

Exercise: use above concept to increase contact through a more wrapping embrace through a forward ocho on the closed side from side step. Take into a forward walk for follower and leader.

At this stage we're almost ready to approach our first flight. But first some important safety and technique points.

When flying do not jump I cannot emphasize that too much. If you jump then someone has to catch you. If they're not 100% ready to do that on your way down, and in the perfect position, their body will be subject to a large shock and possible injury. It will also look, let's call it un-smooth.

What's the alternative to jumping? Lengthening and stretching up, thus raising your centre of gravity, making you much easier to lift.

When lifting do not throw Similarly for leaders, do not throw your follower into the air, lift in a smooth, controlled fashion. Sudden acceleration into the air will lead to unpredictable results.

(Maybe for some really big lifts a jump can help, but we're doing small ones today and will focus on lengthening the body rather than jumping)

Question: what do the shoulders and arms do, and what would happen if they came up during attempted take off?

(should stay locked down, arms hold frame while airborne, else shoulders get lifted instead of you)

Repeat lift off on parallel bars and squat style movements.

Demonstrate first lift: suspended leap in line of dance.

Before you try it, you'll want to know about how to land :)

Just as the follower reaches and lengthens towards the ceiling when taking off, the follow reaches and lengthens towards the floor, the very instant they feel the leader is beginning to take them down. Do not delay.

For leaders, make sure the follower is well supported, all the way down. Do not drop at the last moment before they reach the ground. Hence the need to be really in tune with each other.

Question: Why might it be difficult for the leader if the follower doesn't reach for the ground, once the leader is indicating a decent?

(they have to carry the follower for longer, bend legs more and potentially have a greater strain on their back or risk of dropping the follower)

Leader tip: As with the warm up exercise, it's generally easier to lift with the hips slightly under your partner. When lifting make sure your spine is straight and not stooped over, align the shoulders back and down and engage the gluts and lower abs, to give extra stability to the spine.

Leader tip: step close to the follow on the step preceding the lift.

Leader tip: to make it easy for the follower to land on the other leg, making one big arching movement (the slow-motion leap), avoid pushing you hip through, which will tend to send their hips forward, making it more likely they'll land on the back leg again (the slow-motion hop...). To some degree you can also use the open side of the embrace to give a slight tilt toward the front leg.

Question: How can you get your hips slightly lower than the followers using the mirroring principle for contact?

(release, move, reconnect – in a smooth way)

Follower tip: Just as the leader is tensing their body when lifting you, if you do the same (mirroring the quality of contact) you'll feel lighter and easier to move in the air.

Follower tip: to land on the front leg, making one continuous slow-motion leap, picture you legs following the long arcing motion of the leader's frame as they lift you. Use your back muscles to balance the tension in your abs to avoid your hips tilting forward, and allow the back leg to bend slightly after take off – as you would naturally do if really making a leap.  

Follower tip: For added smoothness and style, let the arc of your hip and legs follow behind the arc of your chest. i.e. use contra-posture to give a beautiful cascading effect to the movement.

Movement 1: Practice 'suspended leap'.

Break time 20 mins for food and drink

Quick warm up

Introduce walking on invisible stairs movement. Cycling, stretching for floor on each cycle, staying in time with music. Secret to smooth take-off and landing is timing, and leader and follower posture. Each cycle could be a landing, reaching for floor.

Movement 2: Demo how to make more seamless take off (disguise adjustment of embrace during turn).

Practice movement.

Movement 3: Demo leg wrap into knee lift.

Counter balance, then lift.

Discuss role of compression is frame to 'freeze' followers free leg before lift.

Explore criticality of leading and following accurate step direction and length before the lift.

Show variations with turn and 'dip'.

General demo and Q & A.

practice time.

Feedback and questions welcome. Feel free to use these notes for your own purposes. If you'd like to go over any of the points or techniques with me in person, or have me come and teach this or similar to a group, just get in touch :)

[This was actually my first time presenting an aerial technique workshop, and it turned out everyone there was a woman. With a mixed group I would have been impressed with what everyone accomplished, but given it was all ladies this time (where were you men?), I'm doubly happy :) Just goes to show, with the proper technique lifting is no problem - even when they tried lifting me a few times (90kg+)!]

Introduction to tango teaching course - session 1 notes

For an overview of the Introduction to tango teaching course see: http://www.tangolingua.com/courses/intro-to-tango-teaching-roleplay-and-fundamentals-review

Session 1:

Outlook and attitude:

What is your aim in teaching?

Aims of teaching
focus is on me and how others see me	focus is on the student and their learning process
Status prestige popularity respect sex appeal authority entertaining yourself thus less attention for the quality of the learning experience for the student. Some indications of the above aims, identified in the session: * attention seeking, showing off * putting students down, or being overly critical * lecturing * habitually seeking assurance or expressing self-doubt (e.g. “I'm probably not explaining this clearly, sorry” or “There's probably a much better way of doing this” (takes focus away from student's learning, invites their doubt in you, or leads to them blaming themselves for not understanding) * unwillingness to admit that they don't have the answer to something, or that they might be mistaken. * frustration with students for not getting it * apathy about students learning	Serving others sharing the joy of knowledge helping other find skill and confidence helping others access and explore their creativity helping student to not care about making mistakes (because they're great aids of learning) helping others have fun thus more attention on what works well or less well for getting good learning results – helping you become a better teacher and learn more. Some indications of the above aims, identified in the session: * observing student comprehension of guidance. * not showing frustration * using language accessible to students * providing balance of encouragement and points for improvement. * respecting student's ability when dancing with them * exercising tact and sensitivity when students get frustrated with themselves or each other. * willingness to say 'I don't know' (and where appropriate 'let's do an experiment to find out'). * genuine care and attention for student's learning, but without taking the student's dancing abilities as a personal reflection on them.

By focusing on the student and the quality of their learning experience with you, much more than your status as a teacher, you put yourself in the best position to do a great job.

In practice, perhaps no-one is going to be 100% focused in the right columns all the time, but if that is our aim, we'll tend to do the best job of teaching that we can.

Students teaching other students

Teach what you have confidence in → according to how you have been taught → until you've refined and tested other ideas that work better.

Conflict resolution and constructive critique.

This will be the subject of a later session, but since it came up in discussions a brief consideration is given here.

Two students are working together and one says to the other:

“You're doing it wrong”

The Tango Lingua approach is to celebrate mistakes, because without them learning would not be possible. Instead of thinking in terms of 'fault', treat the learning process as an experiment, note the outcome and try something different. Enjoy the process of refining what you're doing.

A possible response to the students above, addressed to them, or the group as a whole, could be along the lines of:

“With tango you will both learn the most and have the most fun if you focus on working as a team and just treating things not going to plan as an opportunity for you both to learn, rather than focusing on who was right or wrong. Also your partner is much more able to do a good job of leading or following you, if they feel relaxed and happy in an embrace with you – for which a mutual attitude of respect and teamwork tends to help.”

For offering individual constructive input to students, that encourages their focus on learning, rather than on having made a mistake, the following are some example approaches:

“See what it feels like to do it this way ...”

“To make it even better try ...”

“Do you prefer how it feels when you do …?”

“What difference does it make when you do …?”

“Try it more like ...”

“Compare these two ways of doing it ...”

* What if you're asked about technique you're not sure about?

Be honest, say 'I don't know.' or 'I'm not sure, but perhaps it works like …' if you have some idea. Make a note of questions you don't have the answer for, and try to find out so you can answer them next time.

* Some students may take the attitude 'you're just a student like me, why should I listen to you?' or 'I will eat my shoes before I let you tell me how to dance'.

Remember you're there to offer your understanding, according to what you've been taught. If students seem to have an issue with it, if you approach the situation in a humble and honest way, explaining 'this is what I've been shown by my teacher, who has asked me to share that understanding with you, but it's up to you if you want to listen or not', then other students are more likely to pay attention, compared to if you just tried to take up a position of authority.

In practice, a class that is organized with teaching assistants, will be clearly presented as such, so all the students know what to expect at the beginning of the class. E.g. “I will be asking some of my more experienced students to assist in teaching you during the class, where they will share the same techniques that I have taught them. This is to make sure everyone gets the most input from experienced dancers possible, with consistent technique, and thus the best learning experience.”

The same knowledge presented in different ways

While the core technique you'll be practicing and sharing will hopefully be the same, people often have different ways of understanding the same thing, and thus different explanations, analogies, ways of demonstrating or use of tactile input will work for different students. So you will use your intelligence to select different approaches as called for.

Discussion point: Relating to the above, students have different rates of learning. What attitudes might help you avoid getting frustrated, or becoming impatient with them? What would the affects of getting impatient with them be?

Some comments from the session about the likely affects on students were:

They'll feel frustrated, upset, or angry with themselves.
They wouldn't enjoy the lesson.
They wouldn't come back.

In conversation attitudes to avoid frustration were located on the green column (focus on student and their learning process), while it was agreed a self-focus of the teacher more easily leads to frustration, because a student 'not getting it' becomes a personal reflection of the teacher, in the teacher's mind.

The question was raised 'Are there some people who are just never going to get it?'

If the focus is solely on technique, there will be some people who really struggle with it despite different approaches at helping them learn. In these cases it's worth remembering there are various reasons why a person would do tango, including all the social elements. There are also different levels of technical understanding and ability, and for some a very basic level allows them to get the satisfaction from tango that they want – which is OK. If though the student remains frustrated with themselves, talking with them about their expectations, what they're prepared to put in to get there, along with the joy to be had from simply walking in an embrace, may help.

Role-play:

Teacher teaches for a few minutes, emphasizing certain attitudes or outlooks from the red (self-focus) column, participants offer critique identifying the attitude.

Participants do the same, teach something for a couple of minutes, emphasizing a certain attitude from the 'me focus column'. Other participants act as students and play certain roles, e.g. 'I don't understand', 'My other teacher didn't do it like that', 'I'm bored with this'.

Then repeat the same exercise, trying to imbibe the 'student learning focus column'. Other participants offer their feedback.

Water game

What's the idea behind it?

When you move through water you feel the connection/contact of the water with your body at all times, in all positions. The connection is constant and consistent. When you dance with that quality of connection the possibilities for playful musical expression are truly infinite, and exploring them becomes natural and exciting. Without that consistent quality of connection, developing your tango technique and expanding your vocabulary becomes comparatively like stumbling around in the dark. Thus the water game is a key tool in the Tango Lingua approach to tango.

The basic level of the water game uses steady, smooth movement without much focus on momentum.

Activity: Go through the basic level water game.

Other participants go through aspects of the water game. E.g. side steps together, forward steps for follower, teaching the rest of the group and identifying common misunderstandings from beginner students which the others act out.

Two unique learning opportunities and a new performance video

The snow came and went, but tango continues. I hope you've been enjoying your dancing (and life beyond dancing). Here's the latest 'skinny'.

I have two unique learning opportunities to announce, coming up very soon:
The first is a 6 week course for those who are interested in developing their tango skills through gaining some practical teaching experience.

The second is a workshop on flying and lifting movements in tango.

I also have a little video of my latest performance in London, which I thought you might enjoy watching. Read on for the link.

For those wanting to take their first steps in tango, or deepen their understanding of the basics which underpin the rest of the dance, the next 6 week Argentine Tango Fundamentals course starts on Monday 18th Feb. Details here: http://www.tangolingua.com/courses/argentine-tango-fundamentals

For those nearing the end of their first 6 weeks and wondering what comes next, your learning will continue on the Monday sessions, as you reinforce the fundamental technique, adding confidence and playful possibilities with practice - repetition is the key to really 'getting it'.

Additionally you are also invited to the Wed sessions where we focus on more of the modern elements of tango, including leg wraps, shared axis movements and other wonderful things :)

Workshops

On Sunday 17th Feb, there will be a workshop on flying and lifting movements in tango. Here you have the rare opportunity to discover how these beautiful movements work - while performing them with safety, smoothness and elegance.

The workshop will be held in Southampton at StudioSo, 1-5pm. You do not need a partner to book. Places limited to 12 people only. For full details and booking please see: http://www.tangolingua.com/workshops/southampton/introduction-to-aerial-technique



For anyone who will be in London or fancies traveling I'm running another workshop with Liz Bayley on Sunday 10th February, 2-5pm (followed by a 1 hour practica) in Highbury & Islington. This one is titled 'Playful Barridas for him and her'. For full details and booking see: http://www.tangolingua.com/workshops/london/10th-feb-tango-magic

Special courses

As detailed in the previous newsletter, I'll be running a very unique 6 week tango course starting on 12th Feb. It's based on the idea that - with the right kind of approach - helping someone else to learn something helps you to learn what you're teaching even better, as well as leading to more knowledge being shared and ultimately everyone becoming more of the dancer they want to be. Places are limited.

The course is an introduction to tango teaching, with role-play and fundamental technique review. It's aimed at anyone who has been tangoing regularly for at least 8 months and thinks they might enjoy getting some practical teaching experience. If you're curious about it, please check out: http://www.tangolingua.com/courses/intro-to-tango-teaching-roleplay-and-fundamentals-review

Performance video

On Saturday January 26th, I was in London taking part in the Wellcome Collection's final 'Rhythm is a Dancer' series event with Liz Bayley. (Details here: http://www.wellcomecollection.org/whats-on/events/lets-get-physical.aspx) This involved being a part of a panel discussion of professional dancers and performers, and giving a tango demonstration to the audience. It was great fun, and I managed to get hold of a little clip of our improvised tango performance, which you can see here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z0teyEsLRs


Do you like it?


Shoes:  A few students have asked about what shoes to wear for tango. Essentially if it doesn't mark the floor, is comfortable and allows you to pivot easily then it's fine. Generally any sole that isn't rubber will allow you to pivot, e.g. leather, suede or plastic. If you want something specifically for dancing, then you can go online for the cheapest prices (google 'dance shoes'). If you want to buy from a local shop, there's a dancewear shop in Woolston (http://www.roynondancewear.co.uk/) where I got my very first pair. I wear ballroom practice shoes, jazz trainers and ballet pumps and they all work pretty well. You can also get a shoe that has a great fit and feel and then buy a suede sole to stick on from a cobbler. For followers I'd recommend having both a pair of flats and heals, ideally. I hope that helps :)

Can't afford lessons? Finally, I know that times are hard for many people with the present economic conditions. If you'd really love to come to more lessons but can't afford it, send me an email to see if we can come to an arrangement, e.g. a skill swap.

New Year tango news, good things to come.

Happy New Year! I hope you're well, enjoyed some time relaxing with friends and family and are already successfully working off the mince pies (if perhaps you over-indulged, like I did). Read on for the first Tango Lingua update of the year..

In brief

Monday sessions have resumed. A big welcome to all the new beginners! For existing students, remember this is also a mixed class, so you're welcome to come too.

Wednesday sessions resume this evening, 8pm, upstairs at the Slug and Lettuce. (See http://www.tangolingua.com/find-us for map)

Workshops and more coming up soon!

For those who I couldn't see in Dec, and any others interested, I now have some space to take new private lesson bookings.

2012 review

Let me first say what a thoroughly enjoyable occasion the Xmas social was, thanks to everyone to made it along! It was great to have the opportunity to get to know each other a bit better.

Of course for some who came, it was the first ever milonga attended, so a big congratulations there for diving in and having fun!

Which brings me to the Xmas special sessions - a chance to try some dynamic nuevo tango movements. It seems that those who came really enjoyed it, so if you'd like more of that sort of thing (with the usual breakdown of technique - of course) let me know.

As for the rest of the year, well, it was rather eventful on the tango front. One of the clear highlights of my whole year has been the pleasure I've had teaching everyone, and seeing much progress in your dancing.

As a tango school, Tango Lingua is still young, beginning in 2010, and I feel I've grown along with my students since then. 2012 was the year professional performances and even a bit of film work started coming in, which was quite exciting for me. I was also very happy to do some traveling again to further develop my own skills, at the teachers training event with Homer and Cristina Ladas in Holland.

In 2012 I started offering afternoon workshops in Southampton, which I've got some very positive feedback about (so you can look forward to more of those in the months to come), as well as in London.

Towards the end of the year there was an unfortunate and unplanned series of venue changes, sometimes a new venue each week (and not always with such a great floor)... Well since November things have been settled, I'm extremely relieved to say!

Currently we have two lovely venues. On Mondays the StudioSo dance studio, and on Wednesdays upstairs at the Slug and Lettuce (see http://www.tangolingua.com/find-us for a map). Both offer a fantastic space to learn and dance. So if you've not come for a while because you found the constant venue changes last year a bit much, but you're still interested in learning tango, come and check out our beautiful new venues!

Lift sharing to milongas (social dances) often makes the journey so much more doable, so I set up an editable map to help students and dancers do just that:
The map tool, with a simple guide to using it, can be viewed here: http://goo.gl/maps/eu6rT and the link to be a collaborator (i.e. add your details and make use of it), once you're signed in to your Google account is:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=203369741653538269829.0004cddae1db464233973
If you have any problems with it let me know! If everyone who has asked me about it so far, added their details it would be a well populated page, so do please put yourself on the map!

Lastly, towards the end of the year I set in motion a plan to evolve the Tango Lingua approach to teaching and learning tango.. more of that later.

Workshops

Following on from the success of last year's 'Technique Booster' workshop series, I'm planning on the next one for the 3rd weekend of February (16th, 17th). Now, as several people have asked about it before, I'd like to put the idea out there of making this a 2 day event, where we'd run both Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 1-5pm. If you like the sound of that, let me know now. Otherwise it will be the usual single afternoon workshop (day TBC).

For anyone who will be in London or fancies traveling I'm running another tango workshop with Liz Bayley on Sunday 10th February, 2-5pm (followed by a 1 hour practica) in Highbury & Islington. For full details and booking see: http://www.tangolingua.com/workshops/london/10th-feb-tango-magic

A new way of teaching and learning tango

Back in December I fielded the idea of offering the opportunity for students to develop their tango learning, by also assisting in teaching elements of tango to other students.

From my martial arts background this was the model for each club. E.g orange belts taught the white belts, greens taught the oranges, blues the purples, and so on, while the sensei supervised, organized the content of the class, made corrections to each group and did demos. It actually worked extremely well (and most likely has done for centuries). When you teach something, with an attitude of sincerely wanting to pass on understanding in the best way you can, you re-learn what you're teaching, thus deepening your knowledge.

It's not about having to be a master to teach, it's about sharing what knowledge you do have, and helping yourself by helping others.

Since Dec I've had a range of feedback, most of it very positive, but also some concerns. The concerns as I understood them centered around, on the one hand being afraid of being in the spot light and taking on some of the responsibility of a teacher (when you came to learn in the first place!), or not knowing where to begin. On the other, some students have had experiences in other tango schools where students tried to teach them or a friend something and it resulted in confusion, frustration, upset or a loss of confidence - which obviously I'd like to avoid here!

Firstly, if you decide you'd like to try this, clear guidance will be given and you will start very gently. In fact I plan to run special coaching sessions for those who want to take part in this. I've already had about half a dozen express interest, so if you can confirm that to me ASAP then I'll go ahead and organize things. My belief is that these sessions will help avoid the potential pitfalls of a more distributed teaching and learning model, while maximizing the benefits for everyone.

What will the special coaching sessions involve you ask? (Cue evil laughter "mwahahahaaaa"). Well... a mixture of role play, practicing teaching the rest of the group different elements of tango, giving each other constructive feedback, focused revision of basic technique so you can reliably and clearly pass it on, as well as dance it, along with exploring how different approaches and attitudes to teaching affect the learning outcomes.

It will be fun, challenging and priced to be affordable for anyone who is interested. It will most likely be organized as a 6 week course on a Tuesday evening, but that's subject to change. The sessions will be open to anyone who has completed a Tango Lingua beginner course, or otherwise been coming to lessons regularly for a few months.

Other news

On Saturday afternoon, January 26th, I've been invited by the Wellcome Collection in London once again to perform in their 'Rhythm is a Dancer' series with Liz Bayley. The last one was a great success, and they asked us back for the finale event!
Details here: http://www.wellcomecollection.org/whats-on/events/lets-get-physical.aspx

If you're interested in coming, it's free, but you need to book now (see above link).

Re the Tango Tone-Up classes, due to other work commitments I'm having to put them on hold for now, as fun as they've been. I'm really sorry to disappoint anyone who was looking forward to them continuing. I hope to return to the concept again in the future. Meanwhile if you want to join me for some exercise you're welcome along to the Southampton Body Weight Training group meetups in the Common, where we meet to do a full body workout on the bars :) Ask me in class if the want more info on that.


Enjoy your dancing, take care, and I hope to see you soon,
Joe