Because I run a milonga once a month and get involved in other tango events I am often asked if I teach tango. The answer is no. I have been dancing tango socially for around 10 years and feel that I still have a long way to go because I don't devote a huge amount of time to practise and because I started fairly late in life. But that is not the reason I don't teach - I don't teach tango for a number of reasons but I should I be tempted I would not do so unless I had qualifications as a dance teacher.
There are many who visit Buenos Aires for a few weeks, or months, take lessons during their stay and return to Australia and open up a tango school. And there are a few who don't even do that before they feel they are good enough to teach tango. This is possible because there are no recognised credentials so it is a free for all. Winning competitions and awards, even practising every day, does not make a dance teacher. Of course there are those who are natural teachers and have a gift for imparting their knowledge to others. But there is more to teaching than being good at something. My children all learnt to dance (ballet etc.) from teachers who had spent years training as dance teachers and who understood anatomy, physiology and first aid - and I believe that those who teach dance to adults need the same accredited knowledge base. I have done some tango lessons with teachers who have had this classical training as teachers and would always choose this form of teaching. These teachers had lesson plans, they understood the body and how it worked and they were able to assess a dancer's ability and work with it.
Ausdance - the Australian Dance Council runs a course '
the Ausdance skill set for teaching dance' which includes understanding educational frameworks and settings, learning about teaching methods and styles and how to write lesson plans... as well as some knowledge about the human body and first aid and more.
I would like to see tango teachers getting some real qualifications such as this - in the meantime I will seek out the teachers who have skills as dance teachers, as well as skills as tango dancers.
