We attended OK Tango's 2013 event (5/10/13-5/12/13) for the Saturday night milonga. Our two hour drive was well worth it. The turnout was good, and we had fun time.
This year the event's main organizers were Walt and Cindy, with other support from the city community. The Tulsa Tango community certainly is bigger than the small community in Oklahoma City and has a few groups of people who take charge. It is a strength. They invited Homer and Cristina Ladas to be the main instructors. The website for the instructors can be found here (http://www.theorganictangoschool.org/). I particularly like their philosophy.
During the milonga I had a short chat with Karenna, who runs the Tango place "Casa Tango" in Tulsa and is one of the central groups of the Tulsa Tango community.
She said,"You never graduate Tango."
I both agree and disagree. In the chat I just mentioned my disagreement, "Some people think they do."
The chat was short. I want to elaborate the comment a bit more.
Tango can be a lifelong journey. Serious Tango dancers know this. Serious students of any other art know it, too. If you see an art as a whole, there are stages. Imagine the stages as a school system, from kindergarten/preschool, elementary school, junior high, high school, college, graduate school, then junior faculty to full Professor, etc. In each stage you'll never stop being a student, and can never "graduate" from the art including Tango. In this sense she is right.
However, there are also many places you can "graduate." There is almost always a higher level, but you can see where you are and can declare you have graduated a previous stage and stay there.
In learning, there is a certain level or stage that can give you a sense of happiness, achievement, or perhaps resignation. There is a certain level that you can comfortably stay, or say "this is good enough." That is where you think or say "graduated," with or without a diploma, which can be just a piece of paper anyway.
You can see this from another viewpoint. People who stick to an art long enough to "not" graduate; they may be the people who cannot find happiness or satisfaction at a lower level. They can endure a state of suspense and endless scholarship without a conclusion.
Do you envy them? Really?
If you see the entire picture this way, the passion for an art looks not unlike a case of insanity.
The passion/insanity is the only way to get you far and forward. After all Karenna is in a teaching position for Tango, and those who feel "graduated" are likely not. Insane, abnormal, genius... all refer to someone who does not conform to ordinary levels.
How do I make the distinction between positive passion and negative insanity? It is where the passion is targeted and the overall outcome (where you are).
If your passion for the art makes you elevate or improve, it is positive passion and the outcome is likely positive. You can attract others if you get past a certain level, and it can turn you into a professional. But if your negative insanity makes you think others should do the same thing, or when what you primarily want is to change others, you are stepping into the dark side of power hogging through the art. Some fanatics are more troublesome than attractive.
People who "never graduate" can go far. Positive passion and tenacity is the key.
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Our cat chewed out my eyeglass frame. *shrug* He is changing our ways of living in many fine points, like where we keep toilet paper roll. On Sunday we went out to make new eyeglasses. They should arrive in 10 days.
