Tango Teacher & DJ Reviews

Best Teacher Stories

2010-06-12T22:45:00.000-05:00

Share your stories of great teachers who went "above and beyond the call of duty". Great cupcakes, a ride to the airport, dogsitting your dog, whatever. Tell us who you like the best and why.

Oh, and really great teaching/dancing ability, too.

Blog Notes

2009-06-14T08:30:00.000-05:00

I've created this blog after reading a thread on Tango-L about public constructive feedback and critiques on Tango Teachers.

And, by all means, please leave detailed accounts of positive experiences - we want to know who the best teachers are, and the best of the best.

Please keep your comments brief, Blogger only allows 4000 characters. Leave two comments in a row if you need to, I suppose.

Please keep your comments positive, constructive, and healthy. If you're pissed off about something, sleep on it and come back tomorrow. Any vitriol or otherwise really nasty negative comments will be deleted. Try your best to use positive, constructive language even for negative feedback.

Give me some time to get this thing up and running, with all the teacher's (worldwide) names. I'll need to figure out how to alphabetize and provide links in the margin so you can quickly find your teachers and leave a comment.

I'll include Traditional, Nuevo, Fantasia - anything Argentine Tango - but no ballroom teachers.

Starting out with International/Festival level teachers...will gradually add local/city teachers around the world...or should that be a different blog...?

The next post will be for people to leave the names of teachers they would like to see included in the blog. Just leave a comment and I'll get them in there.

The post after that will be for your "worst teacher stories ever".

I have disabled Anonymous commenting and invoked comment moderation, to avoid any abuse.

Comments/Feedback on this blog? Leave 'em here.

Gracias!

P.S. I could use some help with this...let me know and I'll make you and admin...

P.P.S. Same guidelines here as on Tango-L...

For the record, negative reviews (including naming of the persons or
events in question) are explicitly permitted on Tango-L, subject to
requirements to prevent abuse (which requirements seem to have been
followed in this case).

See this rule at
http://tango-l.com/tango-L-rules.htm#RELEVANCE-NegativeReviews

A paraphrased excerpt is:

Negative reviews of a particular teacher or event are permitted as a
potential service to the Tango community, even if individuals are named.
However, to prevent abuse of this exception as a way for people to
campaign negatively against people they don't like, or their
competitors, these reviews must meet ALL the following criteria:

- Name and tango community of poster must be identified to prevent
anonymous postings (e.g., someone hiding behind a pseudonym);

- Must have had direct and personal experience with the teacher/event in
question (i.e., not hearsay or second-hand opinions);

- Specific and objective details should be included (just saying
"terrible teachers," for example, is not enough).

When these are followed, as was the case here, it is indeed a service to
the community. This does not preclude others from putting forth
counter-examples or differences of opinions, nor does it *require* that
the persons in question be named if the poster wishes to avoid doing so
out of a sense of delicacy (though it does permit naming as well).

Tango-L and Tango-A administrator
tango-l-owner@mit.edu

Important Notes on Teachers

2009-06-14T08:29:00.000-05:00

This is directly primarily to those of you who may be new to tango - just starting to take classes or workshops or attend your first festival.

One person may think a teacher is the best teacher in the world, and the person standing next to them may think the teacher is the worst.

Some people respond better to a very structured, organized, repetitive teaching style with a lot of explanation and talking about the material being covered.

Some people may respond (learn) better to a more relaxed teaching style involving more actual dancing, with individual/couple correction, and less talk.

Some people like a very stern demeanor (cracking the whip) in their teachers, some may like the friendly, easy-go-lucky approach.

My partner may see the lead/teacher as very confident and direct, whereas he may come across as an arrogant prick to me.

I know a follower who can only "learn" from a teacher who is basically mean and critical to her.

Teaching and learning are two different things. I learned a great deal in high school, but with little or no help from my teachers.

So, you have to try out different teachers, ask questions of others in class, do some research on the internet, and then trust your gut as to whether or not a teacher is "good" for you. If you are learning and retaining information from class to class and you feel like you are slowly but steadily improving, you've probably found a good one. If not, you might want to try a class series with a different teacher, or three or four. You will find the right teacher for you.

Also, class sizes will make a huge difference. When it's a festival class, attendance can be 80-100 plus folks. You won't get much, if any, personal attention. Class sizes over 15-20 begin to suffer on individual teacher attention. It's good to raise your hand and ask questions or ask for help. Dance close to the teachers as best you can, so they're right there if you're having trouble.

Don't forget about private lessons. They are $50-80 bucks an hour (more for Tango Gods, and usually one teacher to two dancers) but well worth the individual attention. Don't fret if you ask them to teach you a counterclockwise reverse volcada and they choose to focus on your walk or other fundamentals. They know best. Trust me.

Best of luck to you...

Leave teacher names to be added to the blog

2009-06-14T08:15:00.000-05:00

Leave teacher names here and I'll try to get them uploaded asap.

Thanks.

Worst Teacher Stories

2009-06-14T08:10:00.000-05:00

Leave your worst teacher stories, experiences, etc. here - things to watch out for, etc. Name names, or not.

Thanks.

Best Teachers :: You can't go wrong

2009-06-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

Recommendations/testimonials here for your vote for "Best Teachers"...and why...

Fernando Galera y Vilma Vega

2009-06-14T07:09:00.000-05:00

Buenos Aires

Ruben Aybar y Cherie Magnus

2009-06-14T07:08:00.007-05:00

Milonguero Style

Daniel Lapadula

2009-06-14T07:08:00.006-05:00

David Sasha Tonn

2009-06-14T07:08:00.004-05:00

Junior Cervila

2009-06-14T07:08:00.003-05:00

Kara Wenham and Yanick Wyler

2009-06-14T07:08:00.002-05:00

Robin Thomas and Kyla Joy Mares

2009-06-14T07:08:00.001-05:00

New York City

Carolina del Rivero

2009-06-14T07:08:00.000-05:00

Formerly partnered with Fabian Salas. Now sometimes with Donato Juarez. ??

Alicia Pons

2009-06-14T07:07:00.001-05:00

Susanna Miller

2009-06-14T07:06:00.000-05:00

Owner of "El Beso" in Buenos Aires.

Close embrace/milonguero style...

Eric Jeurissen

2009-06-14T07:05:00.001-05:00

Nijmegen, Netherlands :: El Corte

Los Dinzels

2009-06-14T07:04:00.001-05:00

Pablo Veron

2009-06-14T07:02:00.002-05:00

Armando Orzuza

2009-06-14T07:01:00.002-05:00

Daniela Arcuri

2009-06-14T07:01:00.001-05:00

Rick and Lynda Wilson

2009-06-14T01:16:00.006-05:00

Atlanta, GA,USA :: www.tangosalon.com

Clint Rauscher

2009-06-14T01:16:00.005-05:00

Atlanta, GA, USA

www.tangoevolution.com

Monica Caivano y Gustavo Simplis

2009-06-14T01:15:00.002-05:00

Austin, TX, USA

Laura Pelligrino

2009-06-14T01:14:00.001-05:00

Austin, TX, USA

www.tangointexas.com

Mikas Kalinauskas y Antje Stange Kalinauskas

2009-06-14T01:12:00.001-05:00

Houston, TX, USA

Angel Montero y April Parker [ATL]

2009-06-14T01:11:00.004-05:00

www.atlantatango.com

Angel also sometimes teaches with Barbara Durr.

Angel and April are the primary organizers of the Atlanta Tango Festival.

Barbara Durr

2009-06-14T01:10:00.003-05:00

Atlanta, GA, USA

www.atlantatango.com

Not 100% sure, but think Barbara founded www.AtlantaTango.com, and was one of the early pioneers of tango in Atlanta.

Somer Surgit y Agape Pappas

2009-06-14T00:54:00.001-05:00

Chicago, IL, USA

Ruben Harymbat y Enriqueta Kleinman

2009-06-14T00:53:00.007-05:00

Buenos Aires

100% USTA CERTIFIED MILONGUERO

Tomás Howlin

2009-06-14T00:53:00.005-05:00

Montreal?

Rebecca Shulman

2009-06-14T00:52:00.002-05:00

New York, NY, USA

Raul Cabral

2009-06-14T00:52:00.001-05:00

Buenos Aires

Orlando Paiva, Jr. y Laura Tate

2009-06-14T00:51:00.001-05:00

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Chas Gale y Gaia Banovich

2009-06-14T00:50:00.003-05:00

Denver, CO, USA :: The Tango House

Rachel Greenberg

2009-06-14T00:50:00.002-05:00

Brian Dunn and Deb Sclar

2009-06-14T00:49:00.004-05:00

Boulder, CO, USA

Nick Jones

2009-06-14T00:49:00.001-05:00

Denver, CO, USA

Miriam Larici y Leonardo Barrionuevo

2009-06-14T00:48:00.001-05:00

Buenos Aires?

Luna Palacios

2009-06-14T00:46:00.001-05:00

Buenos Aires

Luis Bianchi y Daniela Pucci

2009-06-14T00:45:00.002-05:00

New York, NY, USA

Juan Manuel Nieto

2009-06-14T00:44:00.001-05:00

Spain

Jorge Nel y Melina

2009-06-14T00:43:00.001-05:00

Miami, FL, USA

Detlef Engel y Melina Sedo

2009-06-14T00:42:00.004-05:00

Germany

Jennifer Olson

2009-06-14T00:42:00.003-05:00

Portland, OR, USA

Eduardo Saucedo

2009-06-14T00:41:00.003-05:00

Buenos Aires

Hsueh-tze Lee

2009-06-14T00:41:00.002-05:00

Boston, MA, USA

Norberto "El Pulpo" Esbrez

2009-06-14T00:40:00.001-05:00

Buenos Aires

Luiza Paes

2009-06-14T00:39:00.002-05:00

Negracha y Diego Lanau

2009-06-14T00:39:00.001-05:00

Christy Cote

2009-06-14T00:35:00.004-05:00

San Francisco, CA, USA

Daniel Trenner

2009-06-14T00:35:00.002-05:00

Northampton, MA, USA

Anne-Sophie Ville y Josh

2009-06-14T00:34:00.003-05:00

Cacho Dante

2009-06-14T00:34:00.001-05:00

Brigitta Winkler

2009-06-14T00:33:00.002-05:00

Germany

Carlos y Tova Moreno

2009-06-14T00:32:00.002-05:00

http://www.morenotango.com/

Frauds :: False Tango Prophets :: Charlatans :: Payasos

2009-06-14T00:24:00.001-05:00

Warnings about people who really have no business teaching (or dancing) tango...

Moti Moses Buchboot

2009-06-13T23:57:00.004-05:00

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Jaimes Friedgen

2009-06-13T23:57:00.003-05:00

Seattle, WA, USA

http://the8thstyle.com/

One of the best teachers I've learned from, and general all around nice guy.

Korey Ireland

2009-06-13T23:55:00.003-05:00

Kansas City, KS, USA

Stefan Fabry y Mitra Martin

2009-06-13T23:55:00.002-05:00

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Mariano Bielak y Paula Gurini

2009-06-13T23:54:00.001-05:00

Diego Blanco y Ana Padron

2009-06-13T23:52:00.000-05:00

Forest Hills, NY, USA

Felipe Martinez

2009-06-13T23:51:00.000-05:00

Spain

Gustavo Benzecry Sabá y María Olivera

2009-06-13T23:50:00.004-05:00

Oscar y Mary Ann Casas

2009-06-13T23:50:00.003-05:00

http://www.tangoargentino.ca/

Homer y Cristina Ladas

2009-06-13T23:49:00.002-05:00

San Francisco, CA, USA

Juan Camerlingo y Diana Del Valle

2009-06-13T23:48:00.003-05:00

Bruno Tombari y Mariangeles Caamayo

2009-06-13T23:48:00.001-05:00

Pablo Inza y Eugenia Parrilla

2009-06-13T23:47:00.000-05:00

Donato Juarez

2009-06-13T23:46:00.001-05:00

Cecilia Gonzalez

2009-06-13T23:45:00.004-05:00

Los Hermanos Macana

2009-06-13T23:45:00.003-05:00

Mariano 'Chicho' Frumboli

2009-06-13T23:45:00.001-05:00

Florencia Taccetti

2009-06-13T23:44:00.001-05:00

(BsAs/Minneapolis)

Federico Naveira y Inés Muzzopappa

2009-06-13T23:43:00.002-05:00

Pablo Pugliese y Noel Strazza

2009-06-13T23:43:00.001-05:00

Nito y Elba Garcia

2009-06-13T23:42:00.005-05:00

Guillermo Merlo y Fernanda Ghi

2009-06-13T23:42:00.003-05:00

Fabian Salas y Maria Paz Giorgi

2009-06-13T23:42:00.001-05:00

Diego Di Falco and Carolina Zokalski

2009-06-13T23:41:00.002-05:00

Tom Stermitz & Melinda Quiat

2009-06-13T23:40:00.001-05:00

Denver, Colorado, USA

Robert Hauk

2009-06-13T23:39:00.002-05:00

Portland, Oregon, USA

Yelena Sinelnikova & Avik Basu

2009-06-13T23:39:00.001-05:00

Christopher Nassopoulos & Caroline Peattie

2009-06-13T23:38:00.001-05:00

San Francisco

Murat and Michelle Erdemsel

2009-06-13T23:37:00.004-05:00

Ney Melo and Jennifer Bratt

2009-06-13T23:37:00.003-05:00

Julio Marino and Mirabai Deranja

2009-06-13T23:37:00.001-05:00

Carlos Barrionuevo y Mayte Valdes

2009-06-13T23:36:00.005-05:00

Alex Krebs

2009-06-13T23:36:00.003-05:00

Patricia Hilliges and Matteo Panero

2009-06-13T23:36:00.001-05:00

Oliver Kolker and Silvina Valz

2009-06-13T23:35:00.000-05:00

Gustavo Naveira y Giselle Anne

2009-06-13T23:33:00.001-05:00

Julio Balmaceda y Corina de la Rosa

2009-06-13T23:32:00.002-05:00

Pedro & Sophia Alvarez

2009-06-13T23:32:00.001-05:00

Eva Garlez & Pablo Rodriguez

2009-06-13T23:31:00.004-05:00

David Palo & Tamara Bisceglia

2009-06-13T23:31:00.003-05:00

Fabio Robles & Ana Andre

2009-06-13T23:31:00.001-05:00

Fabrizio Forti & Celi Arias

2009-06-13T23:30:00.001-05:00

Daniel Nacucchio and Christina Sosa

2009-06-13T23:29:00.001-05:00