Class Levels at Festivals |
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Dear Maleva,
My question relates to the tango festival classes. I have noticed that in general the classes are divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced. Of course, some classes are broken down even more such as advanced beginner, intermediate-advanced, etc. How does one decide what level he/she should take? Is there a some kind of magic formula or reference guide most tango students can hang a tango shoe on? As you know, most students think they are better than they really are. So, they sign up one level higher than they should and they get frustrated. Others sign up at a lower level than their true skill level resulting in being bored. The number of years or months a student has been dancing or taking classes do not seem to help either. The quality and frequency of classes/milongas are too varied to really assess one's true skill level. Any concrete suggestions as to how to gauge one's true skill level especially for signing up for classes at tango festivals? Thank you. No, unfortunately there is no magic formula and yes, it is hard to know what level class to take sometimes, especially because 'intermediate' with one teacher may be much harder than 'intermediate' with another teacher. Finding your level I think is not so much a question of how long you've taken classes, but more how much you've been out dancing at milongas. The people who have been dancing for a year or less, but go out to milongas and practicas all the time are always much much better than people who've taken classes for years but never go out. If you are unsure then intermediate level is usually a pretty safe middle ground, and people of all levels can usually follow the material reasonably well and get something out of it. How long have you been dancing and is your community large? Do you get a chance to go out a lot? Regardless of what level you are however, I often find the most interesting classes with a teacher are actually the beginner/Adv. Beginner level ones. This is where they usually go over in depth the fundamental technique of their style and philosophy behind it. In more advanced classes the material is usually more step-oriented, which is great too if that's what you want to learn. But you may not be able to do the step well if you don't understand the basic technique they are using for their movement in the step, especially if it the teachers dance a different style of tango than what you are used to. |
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