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**Lynn** · 20th-January-2006, 11:51 PM

OK - report on my first lesson (well, strictly speaking my first AT lesson was actually back in Oct 04 - but there were only two classes then it stopped).

Class was 8:00-9:30 then 9:30 - 10pm was practice time. More women than men (of course!) but not as bad as salsa. Some women danced as lead so there was no standing out in the rotation.

In the class she mentioned musicality, technique, syncopation and talked a lot about lead and follow - a bit different to a first night at MJ (and there were a few people in the class who had no previous dance experience).

We did walking, then partnered up and more walking. Then 4 count basic (correct term? side, side, walk, walk) then 4 step basic (walk walk -men crossing feet, then side) then added a back step for the men to make it a 6 count move. She also talked a bit about lanes. Each time she added something on she went over all the moves and got us to practice them, encouraging the lead to keep changing between the different steps to make sure the woman was following. If she saw a lot of students doing something wrong she gave a 'don't do this, do this' illustration to us all as a class - if she saw a couple struggling she went over and helped them.

For the practice time - she told us it was part of the class so we should all stay and take part, told us the ettiquette of how to ask (men only doing the asking - though I guess the woman can look at a guy and indicate she would like to be asked!) - explained it should be at least 2 dances, preferably 4, and the man should walk the lady back to her seat (no-one actually did that bit!)

Highlights of the evening were when getting a bit tangled up with one guy - she came over to us and danced with us both to see where the problem was and said to me 'Perfect - very good!' - that was encouraging

(though she did say it in a slightly surprised tone of voice!

). And in the practica, with a more experienced tango dancer who was a good lead - I just closed my eyes and followed - lovely!

I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to next week.

20th-January-2006, 11:51 PM	#78 (permalink)
Lynn Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Belfast Posts: 7,701 Rep Power: 5 Reputation Total: 2469	Re: Learning Tango OK - report on my first lesson (well, strictly speaking my first AT lesson was actually back in Oct 04 - but there were only two classes then it stopped). Class was 8:00-9:30 then 9:30 - 10pm was practice time. More women than men (of course!) but not as bad as salsa. Some women danced as lead so there was no standing out in the rotation. In the class she mentioned musicality, technique, syncopation and talked a lot about lead and follow - a bit different to a first night at MJ (and there were a few people in the class who had no previous dance experience). We did walking, then partnered up and more walking. Then 4 count basic (correct term? side, side, walk, walk) then 4 step basic (walk walk -men crossing feet, then side) then added a back step for the men to make it a 6 count move. She also talked a bit about lanes. Each time she added something on she went over all the moves and got us to practice them, encouraging the lead to keep changing between the different steps to make sure the woman was following. If she saw a lot of students doing something wrong she gave a 'don't do this, do this' illustration to us all as a class - if she saw a couple struggling she went over and helped them. For the practice time - she told us it was part of the class so we should all stay and take part, told us the ettiquette of how to ask (men only doing the asking - though I guess the woman can look at a guy and indicate she would like to be asked!) - explained it should be at least 2 dances, preferably 4, and the man should walk the lady back to her seat (no-one actually did that bit!) Highlights of the evening were when getting a bit tangled up with one guy - she came over to us and danced with us both to see where the problem was and said to me 'Perfect - very good!' - that was encouraging (though she did say it in a slightly surprised tone of voice! ). And in the practica, with a more experienced tango dancer who was a good lead - I just closed my eyes and followed - lovely! I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to next week. Last edited by Lynn : 20th-January-2006 at 11:54 PM.