Tango Learning

What are the methods of learning?
I have listed the main four below.

Regular classes
Evening class 1.5 hrs with some practice time

Workshops (day/weekends)
About 2/3 classes around 3/4 hrs per day. Often focus on one idea or technique allowing more depth than a regular class.

Festivals (extended workshops)
Last several days. Similar amount of tuition per day as the workshops. Events have large milongas well into the early hours each day. Attract people from much further and many nationalities.

Private Lessons
One on one tuition for 1 hour

The first three are all useful but the relative importance of each changes with time. I probably have about 60 hours tuition a year. Today it is nearly all from the middle two. This means months can go by with little tuition. In the first two years it was virtually wholly regular classes.

The last private lessons are the most expensive (per hour) but can be the most rewarding. Those I would not recommend in the first few months while you find your feet. After that I suggest taking one every quarter or two to three quickly twice a year. They take some time to assimilate, but they help prevent complacency.

I try to get a handful of private lessons each year. My belief is that these maintain your focus and alerts you to areas of trouble. It is very easy to convince yourself you know more than you do and that you are doing things correctly. Ideally one does not want to grow bad habits so they are harder to overcome.

In the past I have had private lessons generally with the same teacher. This year was different and that on its own was quite illuminating. To see different viewpoints of how to do the basic movements. Each brings their own point of focus.

TJ