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Argentine tango blog
/ with Interaction Design interludes / by Oleh Kovalchuke |
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May 2006
May. 10, 2006 - Personality types, learning styles, and user feedback
Another long time teacher perspective. This time from Bill in Seattle, skiing instructor:
I can relate only to teaching skiing (16 years) and will only comment about teaching and learning styles. I have been learning Tango for about two plus years.
First, a good teacher knows their students, which includes their backgrounds, other interests etc. (this takes time and can't be done in one class, too much time) Second, a good teacher adapts their teaching methods to the their client base and the learning styles of that base. Three, a good teacher can teach privates to a group (size of group will definitely affect the how).
This comes over time. It took me 5 years of teaching to understand these principles. Much was by trial and error. It was not that I taught poorly IMHO during those first years, but I was not getting through to the maximum. Largely because I would have a plan for a particular class and I would stick to it. I was teaching the plan, I was not totally understanding the student and the student's needs.
The breakthrough occurred when during my first class of one year [I teach 2 hour classes, once a week for eight weeks and they are the same group], I gave 7 or 8 different explanations for the same skill set I was trying to instill in my class. I did not tell them anything other than I was going to feed them a lot of information and it was unlikely they would remember it all of it nor was it important that they remembered it all. What was important was that at the end of class I asked each what ONE point they remembered. Their answer gave me their learning style, that gave me the insight I needed to feed information to them that from which they would be able to process and progress. Over the years, I have learned there are at least three different learning styles in each class. So I adapt my lesson plan to those styles and to the individuals.
The nice thing is that some are visual learners, some are technically oriented and if you are successful with the techies, their improvement will help the visual learner's. I think others have presented the learning styles were nicely so I won't rehash them.
The major difference with Tango lessons from skiing is, you have couples with different learning styles that learn together and you have a larger group to deal with. So it is best to assume that you will have all learning styles and you should look for the couple of dominant styles in the group.May. 9, 2006 - Instructional video
A visiting student of mine has asked me for recommendation of instructional videos a while ago. She was specifically interested in close embrace milonguero style. I did not watch or use any instructional videos, but Barbara Garvey did. Here is what she recommends:
Some time back I asked list members to recommend good videos for beginning tango. I was actually referring to salon-style tango, and I mentioned that we had seen practically all of those published, but not Christy Cote and George Garcia's. Since then (although we still haven't seen their Beginning-Intermediate AT Volume I tape) we have seen and used their videos I and II for Close Embrace, and they are terrific. Very well-organized, detailed and clear. Al and I recommend them highly. We have seen many other Close Embrace videos but Christy and George's are, in our opinion, by far the best for beginners because they are so easy to use and follow. Additionally we find Daniel Lapadula's, Gavito's and Tete's tapes very valuable for their individual interpretations, for those who are already fluent in this style.
May. 8, 2006 - What is the best way to explain Interaction Design to Marketing?
To paraphrase Drucker: from a business point of view Interaction Design has the same objectives as Marketing - it makes Selling superfluous.
May. 8, 2006 - Tango posture, body core, abdominal muscles, lower back pain, and vacuum exercise
Fascinating perspective from Jeff Gaynor, a tango newbie who trains athletes (martial arts, been doing that 27 years):
Transverse abdominal muscles are the ones right below the navel (guys contract these all the time when a pretty girl goes by :o>). A simple and good exercise is a "vacuum": contract and hold these muscles for up to 30 seconds. Actually these muscles are much more important than most people think:
1. They are the only muscles in the front of the body that attach to the back. As such, they are vital for posture.
2. Every time you move a limb, these muscles contract first in order to solidify your core (core muscles are NOT just your abs, but everything from your nipples to you knees, including your hamstrings). If you are not using your transverse abs right in sports, the muscles in your limbs will refuse to contract fully because they know they lack leverage. This is why strength training is often a bad idea for athletes -- they get strong biceps or whatever and bafflingly still can't generate force once they are away from a weight machine.
[Public service announcement: If you have back trouble and have problems standing upright, try some vacuums -- any position you are comfortable in works, sitting, prone etc.. You'll stretch the lower back into its normal position and be able to move much more easily. Forget about trying to touch your toes or leaning backwards as a stretch. Also, one bit of standard wisdom is that people with back trouble should do situps. Not a bad idea, but vacuums are now recognized as the right exercise.]
[comment on "perky butt" posture]: A kink in the spine effectively disconnects you from your lower body. The ramifications are that you have to muscle it with your upper body since you cannot use your legs plus you can get a nasty backache.
May. 8, 2006 - Tango and hair style
Not only tango is dance of passion, at it's best tango is also the dance of those, who are confident enough to be not afraid to be vulnerable.
The way you make your hair conveys a message (otherwise women would spent much less time in hair salons).
Hair up in a bun - control, character, internal strength, queen - tango. Hair up exposes and intensifies neckline, extends the rest of the posture. The posture contrasts, and underscores vulnerable, raw, passionate embrace.
Hair down - free spirit, emotional disarray - works for country dancing.
Also hair up does not get into my eyes.May. 8, 2006 - Tango in silent movies from twenties
From Ming Mar at Tango-L:
If you've never seen the 1921 silent film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Los cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis) with Rudolf Valentino, you can get a free copy from http://es.arcoiris.tv/.
Arcoiris is a source of free videos, and es.arcoiris.tv contains the Spanish language videos. You'll find videos about tango and Buenos Aires there. Unfortunately, in many of these videos, the audio and the video are not synchronized.
To get the video, type "jinetes" in the search box and click "buscar." Then, download the video in the format you prefer.
The original English version (i.e.: with English inter-titles) was 134 minutes long and the original Spanish version (with Spanish inter-titles) was 150 minutes long. The Arcoiris version is only 113 minutes long. It's a cut version of the English version with Spanish subtitles.
Tango appears twice. Eight minutes into the video, we see Julio (Valentino's character) dancing the tango in a tavern in La Boca. Then, 34 minutes into the video, we see a few seconds of tango in Julio's tango tea in pre-war Paris.
I was cooking breakfast pancakes and listening to the luminous segment on Bullshit from To the Best of Our Knowledge archives; an interview with Harry Frankfurt, the author of 'On Bullshit'. Such a refreshing perspective on current state of the media, and some human relationships. Plain cool.
Closing comments from the program:
How would our culture change without BS in it?
It would be a lot quiter... Hm. I don't know how it would be different, appart from the fact that a lot of people would find it difficult to say anything.
May. 4, 2006 - Tango, the Art History of Love
Interesting interview with Robert Ferris Thompson, the author of 'Tango, the Art History of Love' at To the Best of Our Knowledge radio program. Last year 147,000 people showed up at tango festival in Finland. For comparison about 5,000 dancers go to milongas in Buenos Aires. Listen to the program.
May. 3, 2006 - Brainstorming - get physical
A month ago I wrote that lowly Post-It notes might be better tool for brainstorming than mind mapping software, since the notes "seem to be more collaborative ... because people get a chance to physically move around, play with their hands while pasting notes on white board."
I was browsing through 'The Art Of Innovation' by Tom Kelley (someone recommended this book to IxD list) and in the chapter on 7 brainstorming secrets I have found Secret 5. The Space Remembers on the power of spatial memory, and Secret 7. Get Physical on using sketching and other visual and physical tools. They do not use Post-It notes at IDEO preferring giant wall paper to jot down the ideas. Otherwise the notion of benefits of physical involvement is validated (IDEO designed more than 4000 products by year 2000, brainstorming is standard tool in the company).
May. 2, 2006 - The Infinite Mind online - time perception
The Infinite Mind is radio program with focus on human mind, psychology, cognition etc. There are several archives on the web. One of them is here. The Infinite Mind covered time perception in several of it's progams: Time, Hypomania, Writer's Block, Body Clocks.
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