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This is a piece of work refined throughout many years and screened by an endless number of questions, from the most naïve to the seemingly most ridiculous.
There must be an answer for every question, and any teacher knows this. Every gap that generates a doubt leaves a class half empty sooner or later.
Teachers should lower themselves to the beginners' level and think about what they really need to learn in order to incorporate future contents. This includes what students need to reach a level of pure improvisation, as well as the necessary fixed outlines that they will always use in every level of Tango.
At a first glance, this study may seem cold and strict. However, dancers who would like to improvise later on will need the most complete foundation possible.
If we consider as a reference point a person with normal assimilation ability, we can deduce that in ten or twelve classes (three months), students can learn the necessary basic contents and movements and have a general idea of the dance.
There is a level of motor intelligence in everyone. That is why some people learn more easily than others. But, if we are talking about tango salón (Tango danced by non-professionals), there is no person on earth that cannot dance it. Therefore, I think failure of learning is due more to the lack of a logical and concrete theory for beginners, the professors’ job, than the lack of dedication and willpower on the students’ part.
The most important aspect is determining which contents include the concepts that students should learn in their early stages. What they really need. What should be first taught. How tolerant teachers should be regarding mistakes and how much they can demand in every class. When teachers can teach a topic such as improvisation, and what the previous phases of this dynamic are. How they can reinforce students’ self-confidence. To what point it is necessary to dissect each topic so that they can be better assimilated. What methodological approaches are appropriate for each learning stage. What teachers should do so that the initial contents do not overwhelm or bore the students. How they keep the students’ attention during the entire class.
I have met many teachers with many different theories: one teacher leading the follower by the forehead, another teacher told the steps by touching the dancer’s back. A third refused any "strange" movement such as a bolea. They were absolutely convinced that their theory was backed up by profound, immovable foundations and by different experiences.
Fortunately, I also found teachers who applied logic, comfort, and the reasons for every movement, which led me to continue studying this before teaching.
Those teachers born under a milonga do not have more authority than those who have made the effort of making contents understandable for students, connecting them and teaching them in the proper order.