Re: [TANGO-L] Neverending Ochos

[Tom Stermitz <Stermitz @RAGTIME.ORG>]

There is a very easy solution to this problem: Take a tango lesson.

Seriously. I have never, ever seen this to be a problem with an
experienced follower. It only happens with beginners.


To make this comment more general...What makes the learning process
move more quickly?


For women in particular, learning on the dance floor locks in a bunch
of bad habits. I've noticed that women often improve quickly for the
first 3 months, then they get worse for the next 3 months. Then they
start to improve again as they take lessons to clean up the bad
habits.

The fastest way for a woman to learn tango is to work extensively
with an excellent leader. This can skip the 3 months of decline.
They'll learn even more quickly if they can avoid dancing with the
intermediate guys who don't take lessons but know a lot of
vocabulary. Beginner guys are less of a problem because they don't
lead the women through very difficult material.


A second thing that slows down learning for the women is to move too
quickly through vocabulary. Vocabulary is super-easy for the woman
once they have the necessary technique. You can't do an ocho smoothly
without having a clean axis and the ability to walk smoothly, You
can't do a turn without the ability to ocho, spiral and pivot.
Awkwardly practicing grapevine turns before you have achieved a
foundation slows down your learning because it takes your focus away
from learning the walk and ochos.


How do guys speed up their learning?

Repetition, repetition, repetition of simple movements to build muscle memory.