Get Beginners DJing Fast

I believe that encouraging beginning dancers to DJ creates many benefits for the beginner and for the community as a whole.

Learning to DJ is not an end in itself, but a project that will help any dancer who’s serious about tango develop their relationship with the music.

Here are some things a person does when learning to DJ:

• They research tango music and DJing online

• They invest in tango music, supporting musicians and publishers

• They talk more with intermediate and advanced dancers

• They learn about different orchestras, eras, vocalists, and genres

• They increase their ability to distinguish between different types of music

• They get curious, ask questions, and are open to feedback

• They find ways to express their personality through fun cortinas and alternative songs

Here are some of the benefits of DJing:

• When you are the DJ, you are less self-focused. The nature of the role gets you to focus on facilitating other people’s enjoyment, which is part of the essence of tango. This is very healthy for beginners.

• Even someone who only DJs a little bit will feel more a part of the tango scene. Orchestra names won’t be as alien to them, they will catch references that teachers make in classes, and they will have more conversations starters with intermediate and advanced dancers. And they’ll understand tango memes!

• DJing helps you learn more about what kinds of music you like and what you like less, which can fuel curiosity and passion. It helps you notice more about the music, which develops your musicality.

• Being a DJ is a fun and honorable role that brings real value to the community. It helps newcomers raise their status in the eyes of other community members, and show they are serious about tango. Signaling this can lead to easier friendships and partnerships.

• Every community needs more competent DJs. Student DJing helps grow this pool.

At Oxygen Tango, I love that every DJ gets to have their own badass DJ nickname (or two) (if they want) that captures their personality and the affection the community has for them. What an amazing way for an aspiring beginning tango dancer to immediately be part of the in-crowd!

I think that within their first year of dancing it is wise to encourage new dancers to step into the DJ role. Some can even learn in their first couple of months, if they are motivated and have helpful peers!

How to do it:

• Talk up DJing in beginner classes and on social media. Thank DJs at practicas and milongas. Make sure everyone knows how special the DJ is.

• In 1:1 conversations or lessons, remind motivated dancers that DJing will have a positive effect on their dancing and community experience. Tell them that there are lots of great resources online for people who seriously want to DJ. Homer Ladas has shared so many!

• Create Spotify playlists for your community to help them quickly find the good stuff.

• Ask a couple of your house DJs if they would be willing to help a budding DJ get up to speed by answering questions and reviewing their playlists.

I’m incredibly proud of the many wonderful dancer-DJs who started their DJing journey at Oxygen, including Amy Zhou, Vincent Wong, Dong Sung An, Derek Tang, Shane Crosby, Alexandra Mason, Jane Liu, Kristen McCown, Gary Love, Paul Mejasich, Magan Wiles, and many many others! I love to dance to their music and my heart swells with all they bring to the community.

Mitra Martin has been exploring tango since 1998. She is the co-founder of Oxygen Tango.

The First Milonga Field Trip for Beginners

My very first experience with Argentine Tango was going to a milonga. I was completely enchanted by the beautiful, festive setting which, in one night, made me completely determined to learn to dance.

After experimenting a bit, I’ve concluded it’s great for beginners to go to a real milonga early in their Tango life. In courses I’ve facilitated, we take beginners to a milonga in their first few weeks. They love seeing the “real world” and experiencing the setting that their classes are preparing them for.

Here are some tips on how you can help your new community members make their first milonga a beautiful, fun, interesting, and most importantly stress-free experience.

Tips for taking beginners to their first milonga

1) Plan a group outing. Even if you don’t have a program or course, try to organize a tiny group of beginners - even just two or three! This helps beginners feel less alone and have a chance to bond with others at their level through this rite of passage.

2) Choose a restaurant milonga. If your community has one, it’s great to take your beginners to a milonga that takes place in a bar or restaurant, so they can enjoy and bond over drinks and snacks. This is less awkward than a milonga where everyone is sitting on chairs side-by-side.

3) Let your intermediate dancers know. If you have a tango buddy program, be sure to let buddies know about the outing and invite them. In fact, why not let your whole community know? It creates such great vibes when you make a great showing at a fellow organizer’s milonga, and it’s great for beginners to meet more friendly community members outside of class.

4) Let the organizer know you’re coming. It’s a great idea to inform the host that you’ll be coming with a few beginners. Their warm welcome can make a huge difference for a nervous new community members. Some wonderful organizers even offer first-timers discounts, and they may be able to help your group find/reserve a table.

5) THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DANCE. This is probably the most surprising tip! But after experimenting with beginner milonga field trips for awhile, we discovered that the imagined (or real) pressure to dance, and dance successfully, was really stressful for beginners at their first milonga and a real drain on the evening. This expectation is actually quite unrealistic for dancers who fancy themselves as leaders. Telling everyone they are not ALLOWED to dance at their first milonga removes ALL that stress. (And of course, you yourself can leave early, reminding them they are STILL not allowed to dance — the ones who are really ready will most likely just do it anyway ;)

6) Give them things to “research.” I’ve found it very helpful to give people specific things to research at their first milonga, so they feel they have something to do and they know how to direct their attention. A milonga is a very dense context with a ton of cultural information. You can give them research assignments:

• Research the music. Give them tasks that will help them notice patterns like TTMTTV or cortinas.

• Observing the dancers. Give them specific things to look for in leaders, followers, or the ronda in general — either qualities, moods, or specific movements.

• Observing non-dancers. Have them see if they can figure out how people ask for/invite/decline dancers and discover cabeceo for themselves.

• Meeting people and asking them things. You can give them questions to ask the DJ, host, and other guests that help them learn about the history of local tango.

7) Tell stories. This is a great time to share your favorite, happiest, and most embarrassing milonga stories. It helps them relate to you and get insight on what they might expect.

I hear that in the Golden Age, a new dancer’s “first milonga” was a really important rite-of-passage, and that those who cared about and sponsored him made a real effort to help him have a great experience. Times are different now, but that level of loving care and welcome will always carry meaning, and will play a critical role in building a great community.

Mitra Martin has been exploring tango since 1998. She is the co-founder of Oxygen Tango.

Mini Lessons for Your Tango Community

When I started using 15-minute mini lessons in my tango community, it changed things up quite a bit. Over the years I’ve noticed lots of benefits of this format, as well as things to watch out for if you try it.

How a mini lesson works:
The learner meets you weekly at practica for a 15-minute one-on-one tango lesson.

How learners benefit from mini lessons:

• For a lot of people, a whole hour of private instruction is overwhelming. I’ve found that most people have plenty to work on after just 15 minutes one-on-one — usually enough to keep them busy for a week or more.

• Having a scheduled lesson at a practica helps build community: it gets your learner out to practica, where they build friendships and practice with partners, which doesn’t happen with lessons at a private studio.

• Learners can practice new material or techniques they got from you immediately after the lesson with other dance partners, which helps them deepen the material.

• Although you’d think it would be sub-optimal, I’ve found it’s actually great to work with newer dancers on the practica dance floor. It helps them get acclimated in this complex setting with music and ambient movement, and learn how to focus while stuff is going on around them.

• It’s great for learners to practice something in the exact same context where they’ll ultimately be using their skills.

• Four 15-minute lessons across four weeks has tons more learning value than a one-off hour-long lesson, because learners have time to reflect on and integrate material.

• Also, let’s be real: many practicas barely break even. Offering mini lessons is a reasonable way to monetize a practica facilitator’s skills that helps build community and spread the wealth.

A few things to keep in mind if you try mini-lessons

• Mini lessons should be one-on-one. I don’t recommend teaching a couple. It is too hard to navigate the pair dynamic in just 15 minutes, and create something that is valuable for both.

• Mini lessons should be by the clock, not by the tanda. This clearly frames the experience as learning not social dancing or taxi dancing. In my view, it’s very important that teachers do not sell tandas. Tandas can only be gifted.

• Mini lessons can be used to coach learners on movement, technique, DJing, or culture/interpersonal skills related to milonguear.

  • I had a community member schedule a mini lesson to get input on what to expect at her first festival and how to have a successful experience.

  • Another community member used a series of mini lessons to learn the basics of DJing. Each week, I gave him an orchestra to study, and in each lesson we listened and discussed the tanda he’d created with headphones.

• Even though a mini lesson is short, it’s a good idea to check in with your person first with a quick “How are you doing today?” “What’s up for you with your Tango these days?” “Any high points, low points, or confused points this week?” can be good places to start.

• I don’t recommend doing one-off mini lessons. I’ve never found these very effective. Also don’t recommend using these when visiting a new city. I suggest a minimum of four mini lessons for the learner to experience the value of the format.

Mini lessons are amazing and I bet you’ll find they play an amazing role in creating full, happy practicas with community members who grow in mad skills.

Mitra Martin has been exploring tango since 1998. She is the co-founder of Oxygen Tango.