Re: [TANGO-L] How to teach rhythm? The Contrarian view - A question of Ethics

[Tom Stermitz <stermitz @TANGO.ORG>]

Interesting.

Obviously, not everybody can be above average.

But, there is a characteristic of many people in the US that I call
"pseudo self-esteem". People who think they are talented, when in
reality they are average. Sometimes there is the attitude of "It
should take me only 3 or 6 lessons or the slightly more-enlightened 3
- 6 months." You have a huge washout after the first month. They
wouldn't approach martial arts or skiing or engineering that way.

Retention and then actual success requires first convincing people
that they CAN succeed, but also that it will take time and effort.


Perhaps unrelated, but men in the US are not very likely to take
private lessons, in comparison with women who are much more willing
to pay for and dedicate themselves to private lessons. Are men just
cheap? Or do they simply refuse to ask for directions?


On the other hand, Immigrants from Eastern Europe or Russia seem to
be much more driven to succeed by applying themselves through hard
work. I notice everywhere I go in the US that we have greater
proportion of Eastern European tango dancers than you would expect
based on population.


Sergio isn't completely correct, as I have in fact seen "dancers of
little talent" in Argentina... and I'm not talking about foreigners
clogging up certain milongas.


You can also see the cultural clash when Argentines come to teach N.
Americans. They frequently have no idea how to translate Tango to
this culture. Sergio's suggestion partly explains this. Also, if they
are very talented, as their stage credentials demonstrate, learning
came so easy for them, that it is hard to understand the difficulties
of mere mortals.



On Oct 24, 2005, at 11:04 PM, Sergio Vandekier wrote:

> Lucia says:  "Some people are born athletes. Some are not. Some are
> born
> dancers, some are
> not. These are natural traits, gifts, and one may not achieve the
> hoped for
> resultats, regardless of the effort put in."
>
> I can assure you that Lucia's view is shared by a great number of
> Argentines.
>
> When it comes to any artistic activity you are classified very
> early in life
> as having aptitude and then you are  encouraged to study and perfect
> yourself or not having it and then you are discouraged and guided
> to do
> something else.
>
>  People think that you are born with a genetical structure that
> will allow
> you to exhibit certain skills but you may, on the other hand,
> congenitally
> lack conditions to succeed in certain endeavors.
> ...
>
> I hope that this helps to understand, best regards, Sergio.

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