Tango Pilgrim over at his new blog posted an link to someone else’s article that I’ve seen before and always wanted to comment on. You can find that by clicking here. I love what Javier Rodrguez says about ingredients for your personal perfect martini. It fits with me tremendously.
People ask me, “So are you going to take XYZ’s workshop? What about ABC? And LMNOP is coming to town, aren’t you taking all of them?”, and I also get, “Hey, let’s go take (insert local teacher)’s class, they have interesting technique for followers!”
Basta! No…I am not going to take all of those classes. I like XYZ and won’t miss it, but the others I do not want to attend. And while Seattle has some fantastic teachers, I don’t want to study with them, partially because after Eva and Patricio…well, I think I got spoiled. 
Anyway, I get funny looks, I get “Well you should always take classes and improve your technique!”
Ay yi yi. Okay, look. YES it is good to take lessons, seek to be your best, etc.
But… these people obviously don’t have an idea of how long I’ve been at this and how happy I am right now…
Why am I not obsessed with taking every damn class under the sun with as many teachers as I can find and “improving” my “follower’s technique”? The answer is simple.
I have found myself in Tango. I have finally found who I am, where I am, what I want to be. I have found the perfect way to stir the ingredients of my own personal martini. I love the way I dance, because it feels like me. I’m myself in the dance. I’m myself.
Why would I want to try learn another woman’s style when after (almost) five years, I have found MY own personal style?
I do like to take lessons and I know my weak points and with the right guidance I try to work on them, but the thought of taking lessons from various people whose dancing doesn’t do anything for me, whose philosophies don’t coincide with mine, just for the sake of taking more lessons from more people, makes me cringe at the money I would spend on something that is useless for me. It would be like putting tabasco sauce in my martini. Ew. Sure there is always something to be learned from just about everyone, but why the hell should I have to? I don’t want ketchup or tabasco sauce in my martini!
I AM HAPPY with where I am in Tango. I am at the point where I feel JOY when I dance! I go to milongas and connect with very nice leaders and I come away with a smile on my face, feeling content because I got to be myself and he got to be himself and somehow we met in the middle and made something really nice.
I never, ever walk away from a milonga thinking “Hey that was a great volcada, maybe I should work on it in a lesson”…No no no! Instead I leave the milonga thinking, “I had such a wonderful time and these people are a joy to dance with.” Steps? pffffft! I’m a sucker for fabulous footwork, but still - give me a good chesty embrace and I’m happy.
Get it? I have found my happy place, I have found my martini, and I want to sip it and savor it right now. Some day I might decide that I don’t like a particular ingredient, and I may decide to try something new just to see how it is. That can be a joyful experience too. But for now, I dance TINA’s Tango and nobody else’s. I appreciate all that I have learned at this point.
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12 users responded in this post
I whole-heartedly agree! I am not perfect, but perfection is not what I am seeking, what I am seeking is a form that represents me, and that I can be happy, be my-self, be comfortable with. I can take classes with some, but not every one fits the bill.
How can new tango students find a way to learn without accumulating a bunch of unrelated stuff? It was so difficult for me because I did not have a clue as to what I was seeking, I just knew I had to find it. Lately it makes more sense, as things get tossed out, and the good stuff gets developed, but it took a long time to know about good ingredients.
Students ought to be wary of taking every workshop and going to every festival, less they have too many ingredients for a nice dry martini!
P.S. Tina, you were born with some good ingredients.
My golden rule - which can be applied to everything really - is less is more. Less steps, more connection.
Hear, hear!!
After 10+ years, I’m pretty sure I’ve found MY tango too. And the reason I know this is because of how many people want me to teach them
Caroline - you forgot the third part:
Less steps, more connection, and yet more shoes!
hehehe
Elizabeth - I think that when people are first beginning, it’s natural and okay to try lessons from a few teachers at least until they find something that fits them well. But once you find that “fit”, the best thing is to go with it.
You and your sweety seem to have found a great path, by the way.
Everyone else - thank you for your comments
I suck at replying to comments. LOL!!
Tina, I think you were really lucky to have the time with Eva and Patricio. I think I may have found a way to progress now, between a teacher here, and some select private sessions to come. We just slog along.
I wonder. Gustavo Naveira was my idol. Then, after seven years, I was exposed to Ricardo Vidort and his teaching partner Myriam Pincen and I underwent a conversion experience. Now I’m starting to re-integrate old habits.
This feels like ME but maybe lightning will strike again. I like being electrified.
Yes: more stirring and less shaking.
Sadly, Vidort is dead.
Abrazos. Pedro.
Yes, after a certain amount of time learning, it is time to let go of being a student…and become your own master.
Of course such wisdom had to come from someone like Javier. No wonder why he is such a fantastic dancer…
Agreed! I like where I’m at in my dancing now too and don’t feel the need to frenetically keep up with all the teachers that come through town.
Also, maybe you feel this way too, I’ve found that as I progress in tango, I don’t necessarily want to do those steps in a classroom setting with strangers. Feels too…impersonal? I’ve got a few folks that I let myself go with but I don’t really want to be wrapping my leg all up on someone who a) I don’t know and b) seems a little too excited about the amount of contact he’s getting.
That’s just me though.
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