So the summer camps finished and pretty uneventfully, I might add. The students – some of them – showed up for a very chaotic, disorganized performance on a Friday afternoon at 6pm. Good for rush hour traffic. It was still very exciting to see them pull through with what they had learned over the 6 weeks. I am not sure how they felt about it but I know I was proud of them.
Here’s a picture of Jamaal, my partner/colleague in crime for these camps, discussing a video that they just saw of tango dancers with 1 of the camps (Emery).
I actually like the blurry picture. They look like they are dancing tango!!! This is on the performance afternoon, on the stage, this is 1 of the ‘dance camps’ (Harry Thomas) doing their tango thing. I am on the stage in the wings taking this picture….
I learned a handful of things from this camp experience. And like most things, I know how we could make it better next time.
I like the idea behind teaching Tango to high schoolers. Argentine Tango itself, offers its’ participants many things. We don’t just learn a dance form, get exposed to different “old” music, but also learn patience, how to negotiate, trust and a handful of other useful life tools!