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| Another picture from Alejandro Gée's Studio - more info and pictures here: http://tangoalejandrogee.com/ |
Understanding the Approach of Tango as a Therapeutic Technique
"Tango is
successful therapeutically because it provides connection, openness, awareness
(awareness, is number one aspect) - connection with another in a contained
environment." - Alejandro.
When I sat down with Alejandro my last night in Buenos
Aires, I had so many questions about how to approach tango students who either
consciously approach learning tango as a form of therapy, or who, in the course
of the class, treat learning tango as therapy unconsciously. For example, on
several occasions I've seen a couple start a tango class only to engage in
belittling or antagonistic behavior forcing the teacher to become (for the
duration of the class anyway) a relationship counselor. (Or at the very least, a
referee.) Issues come up whether we want them to or not when we make demands of
our bodies to learn new things. Especially when we have to learn these new things
with another person in our space.
“The personalities and where the relationship is at that
moment, including conflicts, power struggles, etc., start coming up in the
tango class, as soon as the communication between the two participants becomes
necessary. This is the case of couples, but in the individual cases their lives
are out too, since the dance requires expression, connection, and communication
with another human being.”
I don't have the background or the training to actually do
therapy, in a tango class or anywhere else. However I have seen tango classes
(and business communication classes that I used to teach) derailed by
individuals and couples who need more care and attention than a typical tango
class might offer. There are ways to retain these students, and to minimize
their anxiety and frustration simply by adjusting teaching methods, body
language and even the progression of topics. I was surprised at how familiar
those methods are to what I had learned as a business and communications trainer.
For example, know when to slow the pace. Ask more questions.
Watch for physical cues - the body can give a lot of information long before
the conscious mind is ready to disclose. It's important to pay attention to
that. Information about what a student needs from you is usually presented in
very indirect ways. Go with what's presented and try not to make assumptions.
From Alejandro, "There are things you consider - how
far to go with the embrace, the feeling of the body. There are time constraints.
Go very slowly, constantly test how much you can give and how much that they
can take. It's constantly changing, minute to minute. When something presents
itself [like a discomfort] there is always a reason.
"When clients, and people generally, get uncomfortable
they change topics to escape. If you want to help, take them to that moment.
There are things you can see; the embrace is close but not too close. Guide the
person to be there, present - guide them to find their own tango from inside to
outside. “
"Self-awareness connects you with yourself - physical
body and unconscious mind through the body. You start expressing what's
happening in the unconscious mind. They [your mind and body] are processing all
the time. You might not know why you feel better - but if you take the time,
you learn. . . . Communication with another person - you have to wait. You both
have to present in different ways. That's an opportunity."
As far as teaching tango generally, I had more questions.
Me: "When do
you recommend that your students start going to milongas?"
Alejandro:
"Right away, but not to dance. To learn by being there -learning the
culture and the dance. Especially the most traditional milongas to learn the
most authentic experience right away. It's best to start with the hardest
milongas. Dancing [at the milongas] is a different story. That requires losing
the fear."
“First watching and breathing the milonga. then, losing the
fear which involves risking. at this point the student goes into the dance
floor. the teacher, preferably, should coach this initiation by giving
indications of what to do and giving support, even going to the dance floor
with them the first time. taking it easy and doing the minimum is important the
first time. the point is first just to experience the floor without distracting
others and without losing the embrace, the connection, and respecting
navigation (as much as the level of the beginner allows it). the rest comes
with time.”
Me: "Do you
send your students home with 'homework' - things to work on outside of classes
with you?"
Alejandro:
"Always. Homework is like a bag of tools - aspects of culture, technique,
psychology:
- Technique exercises.
- Going to watch milongas
- experiencing the social aspect, the tango culture.
"The psychological aspect of take-home tango work -
conscious awareness, in the right moment. Take it and apply it to your life.
Pay attention to how you walk. Know yourself is the way to really learning
tango. If a person is afraid to embrace, for example, explore that. You have to
acknowledge it. For the physical aspect, I suggest pilates and/or yoga - it
depends on each person. Whatever you can use. Whatever tool is useful to you.
"Other homework of course is the music. Listening to
different orchestras. Identifying songs, singers, orchestras. Thinking of how
you would dance, and how your dance would be different, for each music. The
music is instrumental in understanding the dance. The context of the time - its
relevance. "
Me: "What is
most important to observe in the milongas? Which milongas do recommend to your
students?"
Alejandro:
"The codigos are important. Especially observing the traditional milongas
where men and women sit separately. There are cliques -people who know each
other. Women make the milonga. If you want better milongas, you need to protect
that [the codigos]. They make the milongas feel safer. Take the time to go
through the ritual - the dance is softer. [For example] it is an invasion [for
a man] to just approach a woman at her table. You also learn about another
culture which is a very positive thing."
“The ‘codes’ are based on respect for the other people in
the place, to the culture of tango and to its music, not as a strict, neurotic,
and inflexible method (that some people understand as ‘codes’).
"Society teaches us to have control. Here (Buenos
Aires) it is chaotic. Last minute. You need to be open [to changes]. Learn as
much of the culture and context as you can - as a matter of respect. They (the
dancers/milongueros in Buenos Aires) don't adapt to you. It's important to
develop respect for the culture.
“Learning how people live here and how tango describes the
daily lives of Argentineans, whether they dance it or not. very important
aspect for foreigners, to translate into the dance and understand that tango is
a whole culture not just a dance (it's dressing up, shaving, smelling nice,
embracing everybody when we meet, sitting around, gossiping, watching and not
even dancing sometimes, learning from each other, meeting friends, respecting
our codes, etc.).”
Conclusion
My favorite bit of information from Alejandro, and so
completely true -"An important thing to understand is that you are dancing
as soon as you enter the milonga." My strongest experience of this was at
El Arranque milonga. For some reason at that milonga more than any other, as
soon as you enter, all eyes are on you. And when you're invited to dance and
make your way down the long aisle to the dance floor - you are already being
observed and judged. I started to think of that aisle as the
"catwalk". Every time a woman (not so much with the men, I noticed) walked down
that aisle, heads turned to watch her. In the milongas, you are always engaged
in the dance - whether you're on the pista or not.
Alejandro added, “And the dance starts even at home…..when you are getting
ready, taking a shower, dressing up, putting perfume…that is already
experiencing the milonga and tango.”
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