How do you judge the success of a tango dance class? By how much fun the people say they've had right afterwards? By how much money the teachers take? Or by how many new dancers transition into social dancers? Of the numbers who start trying to learn to dance in a class, precious few become social dancers, fewer still good social dancers. Contrarily, those who start new in the milongas and who have a good time tend to come back to the real thing. Why wouldn't they? I have found they become good social dancers and fast.
There's something to be learned here:
From the swing crowd:
“We learned two moves,” says Greg, another of the group, “and then the teacher said, ‘OK, you’re ready for a night of dancing.’”
And were they? “It’s easy to feel anxious at first,” says Dave, “but as soon as you’re dancing that really fades.” That rings true. Out on the dancefloor, some dancers are clearly experts and others just as clearly newbies, but there’s an upbeat, open ambience that makes room for them all."
I've danced swing a little and I found all that to be true. Just as in dancing tango when you dance with experienced social dancers with whom you really want to dance everything becomes so much easier.
