Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Over the past several weeks, we’ve been talking about how people actually learn to dance social Tango. My own list of potential avenues includes the following:

Practicas

Milongas

Classes

Focused workshops

Private lessons

The social club/my friend’s sister

Natural ability

Consciousness

Today, I’d like to discuss the way many people learned Tango in Argentina during the early part of the twentieth century. In those years, the learning process was quite a different experience from what it has eventually become. Unlike today — when men and women generally learn together in classes of various kinds — most men learned to dance through their social clubs — while the majority of women either learned through their immediate family or by attending dances, and learning “on the spot.”

Typically, a young man who wanted to learn Tango was required by his social club to begin by serving an apprenticeship as a follower. By playing this role under the supervision of experienced leaders, he would gradually learn the techniques of partner interaction — what you’ve often heard me refer to as the lead/follow mechanism. When his “teachers” felt he was ready, he would be given the opportunity to prove himself as a leader within the context of the social club. Only after going through this fairly rigorous process would he “graduate” to where he was finally ready to interact with women at the milonga.

Because of rigid cultural proscriptions during that same period of time, women generally learned to dance in an entirely different way.  First, a woman might be introduced to one or two  “suitable” young men at a milonga under very strict supervision by her relatives. If she were permitted to actually dance with such partners, she would do so under the Argus-eyed scrutiny of her “protectors” in order to ensure that no possible breach of acceptable behavior could possibly take place.

In theory, at least, a young woman in these circumstances had little or no idea how to dance Tango, and therefore had to be gently led step-by-step by her partner through the intricacies of the dance. If the interaction between the leader and follower turned out to be successful, the young man could consider his time very well spent in the care of his mentors at the social club. The young woman who had served as his partner, on the other hand, could credit her own ability as a follower in placing her absolute faith in the skill of her leader. (Where she achieved this remarkable ability was at the time not necessarily a subject for discussion. Some women apparently had it, some didn’t.)

I believe there are far better ways for women to learn Tango than the one I just described. (We’ll begin to talk about these next week). On the other hand, I can think of no better way for a man (leader) to learn Tango than by first serving an apprenticeship as a follower under the expert guidance of his more experienced peers. This intense “hands-on” approach begins with the development of good lead/follow skills, continues with building a strong foundation of essential repertoire, and culminates with bringing all this to the milonga --only when the student is deemed ready for prime time by his teachers.

Next week, we’ll continue to discuss more alternative approaches within contemporary society for effectively learning social Tango both as leaders and as followers.

If you like the idea of keeping American social dance alive -- not competitive or performance dancing, but real social dance the way it was traditionally done -- we invite you to join us this us every Monday evening at 8:30 p.m. for a fun-filled social dance fix.

Class One

Concentrating on authentic American Foxtrot, Triple Swing and Salsa

Mondays, 8:30 p.m.

Studios 353

New York City

The longest-running and friendliest practica in NYC! Come join our happy group of social tango dancers, whose sole purpose is to enjoy dancing and to practice what they’re learning. Everyone dances! Essential Tango Therapy! Pat and I will be on hand to answer any questions you may have, and help you with material you’re working on. Plus you get a new “must-have” move each week! No partner required, all levels. Dardo Galletto Studios, 151 West 46^th Street, 11^th floor, (bet. 6^th & 7^th Aves) www.franchesleigh.com

If you’d like a private lesson, you can visit our website at www.franchesleigh.com, call Fran directly at 212-662-7692, or email him at franchesleigh@mac.com Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/franchesleighllc

The following folks helped set up, break down and clean up before and after the milonga. Without them, there would be no Firehou se Tango.

• The Knights Hall's wonderful neighbor, Angelito, will now be doing most of  the heavy lifting (liiterally and figuratively) both before and after our milonga.  Three cheers for Angelito!