SLO Tango -- rotating & all that jazz

[Willow RunningHawk]

Queridos compañeros/compañeras:
Laura asked me to put in my $.02, so here goes:
I liked Jeff's email (copied below for those of you who haven't seen
it) it's a nice list of good sense vis-a-vis tango.

Some people get so worked up about the classes and to rotate or not to
rotate, it makes me think that they're just letting off steam that is
being generated elsewhere.  I think our tango community is fabulous!
Let people do what they like, if they want to be exclusive, well,
that's their perogative, who cares?  (Apparently this does bother some
people quite a lot... but you can't please everyone no matter how hard
you try.)  Most of our more experienced dancers DO make an effort to
dance with the less experienced and less familiar partners, and I love
you all for that!

There has been talk of a tango town meeting, but that makes me quite
uncomfortable.  Meetings are for work-related stuff, please!!  l don't
want the outside world to contaminate my precious tango bubble.  Tango
is what I do to escape from all that!
I say we stay focused on what we love about tango... the dance, the
music, the atmosphere, the warmth of our tango community... I love you
all!

besos, Willow

**Hi all,

This is Jeff from the Salsa world and  I wanted to share my opinions
about rotating.  I believe that in any group lesson, except those
involving dangerous lifts and tricks, rotating should be strongly
strongly encouraged.  I'd go one step further by arguing that advanced
Tango dancers should rotate with the same sex, so that they learn the
follow and lead.  Tango originated this way, did it not?

Here's why rotation should be obligitory:

1. It's more inclusive.  All those single dancers out there will want
to take the class that let's them participate, obviously.

2. You'll learn how to dance with many types of leads/follows.  Do you
really want to be a great dancer with your parter but no one else?

3. Work out bad habits more quickly.  If you learn with only one
partner, he/she may not be able to catch everything you are doing
wrong.

4. Stronger bond between participants.  You will make your Tango
community stronger by rotating.  It sounds cheesy but it's true.

5. Better way to gage the different levels of dancing.  You'll have a
better understanding of what makes a good dancer and what makes a bad
dancer by learning with the good and the bad.

6. Chance to take a mini-vacation from partner.  Do you really want to
dance the whole time with your partner, anyway?

So that's about it.  It's an interesting debate but I think rotation
wins hands down.  Good luck and I hope you figure out what is best for
you and your Tango community.  -Jeff.**