Tango Levels: The 22 Techniques of Tango A proposed framework to support growth and learning by Mitra Martin "Chaos can't sustain itself. It's too easy, and it's too unsatisfying." ­ Jon Stewart 1. Introduction 2. Tango’s Techniques 3. How Is My Technique? 4. How to Improve: Technique and Movement 5. Tango Process 6. A Note to Teachers 7. Next Steps 8. Assessment Tool 1. Introduction This text exists to provide help to dancers who want to know what they need to do in order to improve their skills in Tango, and teachers who want ideas on how to help their students. In the process of endeavoring to establish a Tango school we have noticed many students of Tango being confused about what to focus on, and as a result losing motivation. In the absence of clear, objective, trustworthy frameworks for growth provided by experienced dancers, learners will often invent their own, which can be misleading or incoherent, and lead to wasted energy. When we (somewhat hesitantly) instituted our first objective test of skills, the “200 level exam,” it was interesting to notice how productive, engaged, and curious learners became in the process of preparing for the exam. They would attend classes and take lessons more often, ask more thoughtful questions, ask people to practice with them, engage more deeply with teacher’s feedback. Defining, maintaining and defending class levels has been a conundrum for teachers. Most students are not able to accurately self­assess, so they go to the wrong classes. Classes cannot be taught at an “Advanced” level if they are filled up with dancers who are beginners. Over the long term, the result of this is that level labels have become meaningless, and used merely as jokes or marketing. Another side effect is that truly “Advanced” dancers may come to classes less, or may only attend classes with a partner and will not participate in the group learning experience. We have found that instituting our “200 level exam,” and the frameworks it was built upon (the 12 Techniques rubric, and the 8 Contexts) gave us an objective, rational way to set the bar for who is allowed in a class. By applying it consistently, we are able to ensure that class levels are meaningful, and that students who attend a 200 level class will be with other students who they can work with productively. However, this is not always popular. Sometimes, beginning dancers disagree with our definition of levels, do not wish to engage with it, and feel frustrated that they may not attend a 200 level class despite having put so many hours (or years) into Tango. Instead of participating in the leveling process at our school, they take intermediate or advanced classes elsewhere. This has certainly represented a loss of business for the school. It is hard especially for dancers who stay in a local community to have accurate perspective on their Tango. They may lead very satisfying lives in Tango and be popular. They may dance socially with many teachers and professionals. But these things mean little if, for instance, they are living in a world where everyone around them has a low level of skill; or where there is an ongoing extreme role or gender imbalance; or there are so many teachers who need work, and who find that dancing with students leads to more work. When teachers n eed students in order to make enough money to pay rent and buy groceries, teachers may be motivated to give students what they ask for instead of what they need. Adult learners have a strong need for autonomy, and will self­direct their learning in the absence of frameworks they can trust, in desperate attempts to improve and gain access to circles they want to be part of. An adult intermediate dancer who cannot spiral; whose embrace is uncomfortable; whose attention is scattered; who is not available for invitations that sync to the most obvious musical structures ­ may insist in a private lesson on “learning as many embellishments as possible” ­ since she sees proof that advanced dancers do embellishments. It seems like the most direct path. She has little patience to hear that embellishments come from core tone connection in the embrace, nor to learn all the subtle body skills that make embellishments work. Ultimately she will spend $100 on something that is nearly useless to her Tango, and engaging in this kind of learning over the long term will be expensive, may become demotivating, and will not be likely to increase skill at all. My hope is that, armed with a descriptive framework, this student and others like her will find more productive ways to direct their learning resources. It is clear that many dancers and teachers confuse level of mastery in Tango with amount of instruction. However, it is easy to understand that someone may have participated in, say, 5 hours of instruction and still not have integrated the material in a way that is comfortable for a partner. Everyone learns at a different pace which is based on all kinds of different factors. It is not “unfair” to exclude people from classes1, and it happens all the time. Often those instructional formats that are exclusive are not marketed publicly or are created outside of the economy of tango (closed or invitation­only house practicas among friends). This creates efficient learning for high level 1 It is actually normal to exclude people from classes they are not yet prepared for and almost every educational organization does this. dancers. It would just be much better if lower level dancers had a more easy way to comprehend what they are missing. At first we were afraid that testing people on their Tango would somehow destroy the beauty and mystery of the dance. In fact what we have found is that it provides a milestone that helps learners organize their efforts, and motivates those who engage with the testing process to explore the mysteries of Tango more deeply. The mystery of Tango is inexhaustible and cannot be destroyed. However, it’s easy to understand why there has been no clear level framework in Tango: because developing one takes a lot of time which is not compensated in any way. Moreover, testing students is costly, requiring administrative work, contact time with the teacher, and rent. We hope that by providing this framework it will become more economical for meaningful leveling to happen in Tango, so that there may be meaningful growth. 2. Tango’s Techniques One of the first problems in creating a useable framework for growth is to distinguish between movements and techniques. Many advanced Tango dancers exhibit impressive movements, like boleos, ganchos or colgadas. So, many new dancers think that focusing on acquiring those movements is equal to becoming advanced. But dancing impressive movements has only vague correlation, in Tango, with being advanced. Beginning dancers often do impressive­looking movements, creating great discomfort for their partners. They often do even very basic movements in ways that create discomfort for their partners. And extremely advanced dancers often use only basic movements in ways that create transcendence for themselves and their partner. The difference is technique. It can be hard to talk about technique because it’s subtle. And, we are accustomed to lumping everything that’s subtle (i.e., anything that’s not an externally visible movement) under the catch­all word “technique.” Also, “technique” is generally used to reference things that can be done or worked on individually in the dancer’s own body. Hence “technique classes,” where dancers do solo exercises in front of a mirror to practice awareness and coordination of their own body. I think that technique in Tango is multifaceted, and includes more things than just how you coordinate your own body. I believe that one major chunk of “technique” in Tango is actually interpersonal and not individual. It is an aspect of technique that can be hard to talk about, not only because it is subtle but also because it can feel accusatory, e.g., “You’re rushing me, you’re controlling me, you’re not listening to me.” But it is an important aspect of technique that has an enormous effect on the amount of enjoyment both dancers might find. I think there are twenty­two techniques, that fall into four main categories. Here they are: The 22 Techniques of Tango 1. Alignment These techniques relate to somatics, the individual’s use of their own body. 2. Extension A journey of increasing awareness of the different 3. The Pivot Before the Step parts of the body and how they relate to one another. 4. Spiral 5. Flow 6. The Whole Foot 7. Leader’s Invitation These important techniques relate to interaction, to how the dancers attend to and respond to one 8. Follower’s Power another’s movement contributions. Like somatic techniques, they can be described and cultivated. 9. Following vs Guessing This is a process of learning to improvise, to 10. Follow the Follower notice more and more about the other person’s 11. Choose Confidence mind and movement. 12. Floorcraft 13. Purity of Focus 14. Proximity These techniques relate to the couple’s u nity: how the dancers physically communicate 15. Tone information through embracing. 16. Frontality This is a journey of increasing subtlety and sensitivity in how the couple physically relates to 17. Matching each other through two bodies embracing. 18. Quality of Touch 19. Stillness 20. Rhythms These techniques are related to m usicality: how the dancers engage with the music. 21.