The World's Best Tango Teacher

It is only normal to want to find the BEST teacher for your newfound passion. How do you even start? Do you choose the most famous name you hear uttered in reverence at milongas and festivals? Or do you choose by style? Or age group? Or by the way they perform? Or whether they are, in fact, AUTHENTIC Argentines from, you know, Argentina?

I personally do not believe there is any one or logical way to choose a good teacher. Like everything in life, you have to find what works for you. Enjoying someone's performance style is no guarantee that they can impart the knowledge they clearly hold on a cellular level. And what do they teach? Steps? Concepts? Adornments? Philosophies? And do any of these things really teach you to "dance"? The bottom line is that there are no guarantees that you will learn from any given teacher. What works for one person does not for another. And anyway, we all have different lessons to learn. I believe it is important to remember the concept of "the master in disguise".

My own formation as a tango dancer has been rather unique and unconventional. For the first three years that I danced, I never took a single class. I learned just from dancing with as many people as I could. I have the great fortune of having excellent body awareness, so I was able to detect problems with my posture, balance, etc., and then correct them. I was also extremely fortunate to dance with a sensational partner who was able to provide me with exacting feedback which was useful for my personal progress. Thus, I learned backwards: dance first, technique later.

When it became clear that I got the dancing part down, but needed some technique, I took an occasional class. Private classes were fabulous ego massages: I was wonderful, terrific, gifted, a natural. They'd point out a slightly twisted foot or an arm held too high. Period. As for group classes, as most follows know, they are mostly an exercise in frustration, since they tend to focus exclusively on the lead, with a conciliatory comment thrown in for the follow's benefit. Of all the group classes I ever had (even with visiting Tango dignitaries, etc.), I only gleaned one brilliant insight.

Interestingly, it had nothing to do with technique. Maestro Copes wanted to try a step with me which my partner was struggling with, and I got all nervous about dancing with "the legend". We took a couple of steps and he laughingly said to Alicia "I'm twice her age and she's all out of breath". Then he fixed me with that look and said "Relax!". In that moment I had one of those momentous revelations, that any mistakes I was making were directly related to this tension and nervousness. I further realized that it was the lead's responsibility to let me know what I needed to do. If I didn't understand, I simply had to wait until the lead was made clear.

But do Tango's best lessons come from "professional" tango teachers? On my first trip to Buenos Aires, after a couple of wonderful tandas with one lovely gentleman, he politely asked if he might offer a comment on my dancing. I am always open to feedback from those whose dancing I admire. He simply said "try to loosen your waist more". Those six words completely transformed the way I danced Tango. The change was so dramatic that everyone I danced with back home thought I'd spent months taking classes from the masters. On my second trip to BA, another dead-on observation from a tanda partner corrected a pivoting issue nobody else had mentioned.

These candid, private observations have proven to be far more valuable to my growth as a dancer than any class feedback I have ever received.

The source of knowledge and understanding is different for everyone. Anyone can hang up a shingle - and many do, even after 3 lessons! Learning, like praying, can take place both in a structured, specialized setting, or unexpected yet inspiring places. Which is why there are masterful dancers who never took a class, yet total klutzes who've studied with every Tango luminary alive. When people compliment me on my dancing, the are not referring to the steps I'm doing, but the ability I have to blend myself to them. I did not gain this ability from a class.

No matter who we choose to study from, every single element will be different from one partner to another. And that brings me to the topic of this post. Tango is not about the steps, but about putting your feelings into motion, giving up the self to be the communion of two. The best teacher is the one from whom you learn to do that.

No matter what their "credentials".