Hi Jj,
An Argentine Tango syllabus is not out of the question. As luck would have it, the next film shoot we have planned will focus on nightclub and social dances, including West Coast Swing, Hustle, Salsa and Lindy Hop. So it would be a great time to add some Tango as well.
The real question is whether we can put together a syllabus in time for the film shoot, and that in turn depends largely on whether we can locate the right people for the job, which includes both someone to help write the syllabus, and someone to teach on the videos. These two jobs can of course be filled by the same person or couple, but they don't have to be, and they often aren't because they require different skill sets.
The person or people who contribute to the writing of the syllabus have to be extremely practical and very good at organization and putting things into little boxes, because our approach is much more component-oriented than any other syllabus. This is good news for Argentine Tango, since it has such an emphasis on improvisation. But our high standards do make the job more difficult to fill, and in turn makes it that much less likely that we'll have a product in time for the deadline.
Finding a teacher will be equally difficult. Again, we have very high standards and very specific requirements in terms of the way people present information. It's hard enough finding dancers in the ballroom scene that can clearly present straightforward, practical, well-organized information. I fear Argentine Tango teachers may prove equally as difficult as ballroom dancers, or perhaps even moreso, due to the mysticism of Argentine Tango that seems to perpetuate in teaching circles, but I won't know for sure until I start interviewing.
This is not to say that flowery language and personalized vocabulary are strictly forbidden -- sometimes they can add memorability or even a touch of humor or lightness (and everyone to some extent should inject their own personality into their teaching on these videos), but that must be done as a layer on top of solid, simple information, and not in lieu of it. It seems like that should be easy enough to find in a dance teacher, but you'd be surprised how elusive it is, especially in this medium. I've had a number of people I though were excellent teachers in person be *very* mediocre (or worse) on video, because of how much more discipline the presentation requires.
At any rate, you can bet the process will be difficult. And that means that we may or may not make it in time for the next video shoot. In the event we don't get a full syllabus, assuming we at least find good teachers, we can always start small, with a few of the basic components (Salida, Cruzara, Ochos, etc) and build slowly from there.
So bottom line: Yes, we will now begin our search for Argentine Tango syllabus authors and instructors. But I can't make any guarantees yet as to when that material will become available on the website.
Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson
BallroomDancers.com