Tag: observations


  • Learned Helplessness

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    Learned Helplessness

    Veronica Tumanova wrote about this recently in her first essay since the pandemic, and as usual, she is spot on. She makes the case that more women leading is good for everyone: for the followers who gain agency, for the economy of tango schools and festivals, and crucially, for the male leaders who will now…

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  • The gift of the wrong partner
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    The gift of the wrong partner

    In a world that counts everything through performance… likes… followers… output… Tango pushes us to develop something else. Something that doesn’t really fit into metrics. Presence. So if presence doesn’t “pay”… why develop it at all? What is the value of it?

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  • Your pleasure is not the goal
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    Your pleasure is not the goal

    If the goal of my dance is my enjoyment, what does this make the other person? Are they reduced to a variable in my pleasure… a means to my end?

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  • The false promise of self-improvement
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    The false promise of self-improvement

    Become the best version of yourself. Invest in yourself. You are your greatest asset. You don’t need anyone else to be whole. You have probably seen or heard these, or similar, motivational messages encouraging self-improvement. From physical to psychological and social aspects of life, there is no shortage of content pushing us to upgrade ourselves.

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  • It’s not the steps you teach
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    It’s not the steps you teach

    A few weeks ago, Dimitris wrote a post about tango teachers complaining that “the level of Tango is declining.” His point was simple: maybe teachers judge the level based on the events they attend. Events that are often poorly curated and therefore not representative of the wider tango community.

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