[TANGO-L] How long does one need to dance to be good? (some numbers)

[Brian Dunn <brian @danceoftheheart.com>]

Dear list,

Sometimes numbers just aren't the best way to express something...but, given
the conversation, here's a few numbers, for what they may be worth:

30-90 minutes - The average time in class for a "middle-of-the-bell-curve"
person to successfully demonstrate the ability to both lead and follow a
subset of rudimentary tango steps safely and considerately around the floor
in typical "milonga conditions" in close and open embrace (based on our
experience).

4-6 months - the point in an aspiring tango dancer's education that several
well-known Argentine instructors defined for me as the time to shift in
primary focus away from "step vocabulary" towards an INTENSIVE immersion
into tango music - in the car, in the shower, at work, at home, etc.

5 months - the typical length of time Carlos Gavito suggested it would take
a reasonably talented follower, if she worked hard with good leaders, to
become "good."

2 years - an initial period of time at the start of the local Colorado tango
community that a well-known local instructor described as "beginners
teaching each other their mistakes."

2 years - the length of time Mariano "Chicho" Frumboli's current partner,
Maria Eugenia, had been dancing tango before they debuted as a world-class
tango teaching/performing couple.

10 years - the typical length of time Carlos Gavito's parter Marcela Duran
suggested it would take for a leader to become "good."

All the best,
Brian Dunn
Dance of the Heart
Boulder, Colorado  USA
www.danceoftheheart.com

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