Next Term Commences - Monday, 21st September
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Since 1998
Creating a better Perth Tango Community
The Perth Tango Community is unique in that its local Tango Club has access to a physical hall, giving the club unprecedented influence over the local community, which has both positive and negative outcomes.
Adding to this the vagarities of a continually changing committee, with variable and often misguided ambitions, stemming from a lack of long term vision and involvement in the Perth Tango Community and teaching space.
As a teacher of 30 years (Full time and as a trained dancer prior to starting my teaching career), I has observed the difficulties and damage instigated by various committees and individuals who have used the club to further their personal agendas including sometimes an ambition to do deliberate damage to the local schools on occassion. Many of those people who instigated bad decisions are long gone form the community, but the results we are left with, often with students who have lost respect for local teachers not for lack of training, but because of undue influence by propagandists within the club.
So, with the interest of the Perth Tango Community at heart and having reached a level of frustration sitting on the side lines for too many years, I have decided to promote an agenda for the Perth Tango Club that is respectful and inclusive of both its members and those who have toiled in the community for decades training and investing in their eduction to better teach dancers in Perth
For too long the Perth Tango Club has been a forum to denigrate and undermine the local professionals, and despite many attempts with various committees to address this failing, some progress was made recently only to have trust completely destroyed by the current committee.
A CLEAR AGENDA
My proposal is to have a clear agenda for once this current committee is removed and to finally move this amazing Perth resource to become positive influence on the community in all aspects not just for a few.
Policies to be mandated
Maintain the Perth Tango Club in it's original purpose as a "Social Tango Club"
Work with local professional teachers to provide a constructive forum to teach Argentine Tango.
To fairly compensate teachers for their efforts, thereby not undercutting their regular classes, but instead rewarding those who have trained and make a living from an art that they have spent years studying and developing.
To clearly define the term "professional" teacher, acknowledging those who are actively contributing to building the community. Using the same standards applied in other dance industries, thereby elimination those who are using the club to build a following without baring the financial and repuational risk of running classes in a free market.
Maintaining the current class price structure, for members but having clearly defined outcomes for 'introduction" classes before being moved on to take classes at a professionals school.
The Methodolies (not the specific techniques) taught prepare students to effectively enter regular schools. Preparing students for the expectations of proper dance school training. It has been my observation over the last 20 years that the instructional paradigm that has been given at the Tango Club often leaves students frustrated when joining a proper dance school as often even after 2 or 3 years at the Tango Club cannot perform basic drills.
Visiting teachers and will be referred to local professionals to host them providing access to the Tango Club at competitive rates. This will alleviate work on the committee as well as motivating and rewarding local teachers to be involved and to follow up on the teaching of visiting teachers. Since the inception of the Tango club it has become un-profitable for local schools to host visiting teachers and therefore unlike in the past there is little to no follow on the teaching of visitors, which is what happened in the past.
The Perth Tango Club will actively seek to involve local teachers in running introduction classes at the Tango Club providing a variation of influences and a more rounded outcome.
The PERTH TANGO CLUB will actively embrace all styles of Tango (although as 3 year professional I disagree that there are multiple styles Tango, I understand that for many there is temptation to use this language when the they fail to fully understand the evolution of the dance), acknowledging that the dance is and will continue to evolve and grow as it both the music and the dance has evolved signifinctly over the last few decades.
To actively discourage negative language and behaviour of the PTC members towards particular schools or styles creating a friendly inclusive environment.
Actively engage with the local dance community leaders to review policy changes in order that all policies moving forward do no negatively impact the commercial viability of dance schools and other Tango related activities.