Those who’ve been following my blog from the early days will be aware that I have, on occasion, born some resemblance to a kid in a candy store when it comes to tango.

While I’d very much calmed down even before my enforced absence, my most recent private demonstrated that there are occasions on which the over-excited toddler can re-emerge …

It all started innocently enough. I’d very much enjoyed the Tango from the Inside Out workshop, and decided to book a private with Valentina and Juan to work on the technique for the walking turn we’d done. Specifically, reliably getting my shoulder out of the follower’s way without dropping it or somehow ending up hunching the other one. One hour, one technique issue, one type of movement – all perfectly reasonable.

The first deviation from the plan was because they’d talked about the role the leader’s left hand could play in the lead, and I wanted to supplement a 30-second demo during the workshop with a slightly longer one in which I asked Juan to lead me with and without it. But that was going to be five minutes, tops.

Only … that element turned out to be quite integral to the walking turn technique. Indeed, using my left arm to provide a sense of momentum during the turn proved to be the most effective way to avoid any risk of contracting the left side of my embrace.

So then we were working on two technique issues, but related ones, and still within a single movement. A little more ambitious, but not unreasonable.

The tapered follow, and the skilled mimic

If you’re a leader who’s been lucky enough to dance with a professional follower in a milonga, you’ll be familiar with the telepathy they exhibit. You barely have to think of your intent, and they follow it perfectly.

In a private, however, they need to be able to switch off this ability, and instead be able to follow exactly what was led. Only in that way can a leader understand what their body is actually inviting.

However … if you don’t want to cause your student to sob hysterically before quitting tango forever, you need the most impressive of all following skills: the ability to gradually taper from one to the other. The closer the leader gets to the desired technique, the stricter the teacher gets in her following. (I’ve described before how Mabel Rivero does this.)

Valentina was also amazing at this, initially helping me work on the overall shape of the movement before getting increasingly demanding in what was expected of my lead.

Juan had the complementary skill. Of course, he could demonstrate perfect technique, but he could also demonstrate what I had just done instead, and then demonstrate what I should be doing. They make an amazing team.

Give me this, and this, and this …

There are privates where I manage to limit myself to one goal, knowing there will be other lessons for other things.

But given that Juan and Valentina were only passing through town, and this was my one chance for a lesson with them, I got greedy.

As soon as I was making some progress with the walking turn, I could immediately see how the same technique points would apply to an entirely different type of pivot. For example, a medio-giro. One involved walking, the other was me simply pivoting while the follower walked around me; one was clockwise, the other anti-clockwise – but I could see how much potential there was for improvement if I could apply the same technique principles to that.

So I started leading it. Valentina and Juan went with the flow, and started working with me on applying the technique principles to that movement.

I made a little progress with that, but already my mind was getting way ahead of my body. Because I could see how implementing one of the elements of this movement could give me a whole new way to think about the cross. I wanted to try that.

I’m fairly sure I led the worst cross I have anytime in the past five years. My brain was melting from attempting to integrate this new understanding into a different type of movement, and from trying to simultaneously work on about three points at once. But Juana and Valentina bravely started diving into this also.

Plus, of course, they had feedback on my walk. For me, this is always one of the most exciting and terrifying aspects of a private with new teachers. On the one hand, I love walking and it’s utterly fascinating just how much there is to explore here. On the other, my walk is probably my single strongest tango skill, so getting a new perspective on it can feel like I’m starting again from first principles – and different first principles at that.

But, again, it was too good an opportunity to pass up, so I wanted to explore that too.

It was hands-down the messiest private I’ve ever had. Instead of making some sensible amount of progress with one aspect of my dance, I dipped into half a dozen different things.

But I do think there may have been method to my madness. If they’d been around for a few weeks, and I could have had a couple more lessons with them, then I could have taken a more measured approach.

As it was, I had them for one hour, so it kind of made sense to get as much guidance as I could, and then work later on the implementation. I asked Juan for a video recap at the end, and went straight to a coffee shop afterwards to furiously scribble a bunch of notes to myself.

So, one hour’s worth of incredibly valuable input – tick. Now I just need about six months to actually integrate it into my dance …

If you get a chance to have a private with them, take it!