Tango Impossible – Rojo y Negro Club. The Beginners.

Posted by Unordinary Customer on October 14, 2011 · 5 Comments 

It appeared that my impressions from this place are so strong that one post is absolutely not enough to lay out all my indignation. I started with the “brief” prelude in my previous entry and will continue the narration below.

Of course I was rather annoyed by the necessity to wait till September. But, I was so eager to learn that I tried to look at the positive side. I assumed that such a strict booking system foresees a good organisation of the lesson, providing the equal amount of men and women who would be able to partner up successfully. Rubbish!

It wasn’t planned at all. Lesson was not starting on time, there were more ladies than gentleman, and a lot of people who already had some classes before. Our group of begginers was a satanic mixture of everyone and everything.

The lesson started with the discussion. Bianca, the lady I was communicating with via email, and apparently the only teacher in this club, asked every person to comment on what he/she has learned during the last lesson. There were approximately 20 people, and each of them was sharing the experience, with the subsequent comments from the teacher. It lasted no less than 20 minutes.

In the course of her self-congratulatory monologue she noted that tango, as one of the Latin dances, foresees special shoes on hills.

-“You can dance in your trainers, but it will not be tango,” she said.

I couldn’t agree more, and of course I brought my dancing shoes with me. But, I was a little puzzled why doesn’t the teacher follow her own rule. She was wearing soome kind of soft winter boots, that looked very suitable for skiing. Her overall look didn’t remind me of tango either. She was in sport pants and a hippy-like top.  Then she said that a lot of other teachers have incorrect approaches, but “You are very lucky to be in good hands.” With this happy note of self-advertising she finally finished talking, though not for long.

She swicthed on the music and asked us to try simple walking. We started walking awkwardly, stumbling upon each other, while she was sitting and chatting with a tall guy with long hair, who didn’t take part in the lesson and, judging from their looks and gestures, was most likely her boyfriend.

After a couple of songs she turned off the music and gathered another “circle of trust” to discuss what we have learned during walking.. It lasted another 20 minutes or so.

Then she split us in couples. Since there were more women than men some ladies had to dance together and take the lead. We tried walking in pairs for a while, and then the lesson was over.

In the end Bianca announced that everybody (even the fresh beginners with zero knowledge in tango) was welcome to join the Improvers class and learn some techniques. I asked how much did it cost, and found out that it was another 10 pounds per lesson. I couldn’t even use the remaining classes in my voucher. This time I decided to skip. However, I was curious enough to try it in a couple of weeks.

To be continued..

Filed under Groupon, Leisure · Tagged with Bianca, dancing, entertainment, hobby, keeping fit, leisure, review, rojo y negro, sports, tango