Re: [TANGO-L] Tango versus Argentine tango

[Ecsedy Áron <aron.ecsedy @OM.HU>]

Dear Steve,

 > On a visit to Dallas, Nito was watching someone who had been 
 > dancing Argentine tango for sometime but who also danced a 
 > variety of ballroom dances.  Nito commented to me that in 
 > his experience that someone who continued to dance many 
 > ballroom dances would have slow progress in learning 
 > (Argentine) tango.  He said the the approach to the dance, 
 > the expected posture and the way of moving were enough 
 > different to slow the learning of Argentine tango.

I believe this comment is just a sort of comment most ballroom dancers get from authentic dancers. I was dancing 7 years active competitive international ballroom when started tango. I don't say that I was at home in tango immediately, but I needed a LOT less time than anyone "from the street" to progress at higher levels. "Telling your left foot from the right" is a great advantage when learning any new form of dancing, no matter how different are they. 

The only truth in what Nito said is, that at the very beginning ballroom dancers have different problems than complete beginners: they have to overrule burnt-in routines, instead of learning to control their bodies, which means that yes their ballroom routine is in the way, but it doesn't mean that they going to advance slower with others on the same course. 

Lack of proper motivation, however, may be a problem: advanced ballroom dancers already learnt a lot about dancing, so they may feel that on a beginner course they ought to perform better than "civillians" even if they don't invest so much energy into it. Of course this is not necessarily true...

Cheers,
Aron

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