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Post Event Survey

Private: for the teaching team only Montréal intensive · After-event feedback

Lines & Edges: what the dancers said

Six dancers answered the post-intensive form between Oct 20 and Oct 23. Answers are translated into English and shortened, with a few turns of phrase kept. Names are included, so please keep this page and its link within the team.

6 responses
1 written in French
Submitted Oct 20 – 23
2 test entries left out

The short version

6 of 6would recommend it to a friend

9.8 / 10average rating: five 10s and one 9

The teacher rotation is what people value most. Four of six mention the feedback from many teachers or the chance to dance with different people. One dancer enjoyed getting the same note in different words, and even the occasional opposing note.
The mood landed. Warm, friendly, enthusiastic and fun came up from four dancers, including "all seemed to like to be there. It showed."
The one repeated request is about rotations. More time with each teacher before switching, and more even time across teachers. Three dancers said it clearly. A fourth wrote a sentence about rotations that was cut off.
Pacing pulled two ways. One dancer wanted more time on day 2 as the exercises got complex. Another wanted less review on day 2 to fit more content. A third wanted less talking and more dancing.
Teachers named. One dancer hardly worked with Pancho and Adrien. Another singled out Jean Sebatien, Caroline and Mireille.

Worth planning for

My reading of the answers, not something anyone asked for directly.

Rotation length and fairness. Absences changed who each dancer met, and starting with a random teacher after the break meant some teachers got more dance time. A set rotation order after the break, and a short minimum per teacher on day 2, would address both.
Talking versus dancing. The requests to cut talking, cut review, and lengthen the exercises all point to the same thing: some dancers want more practice time in each stop. "Better to show than to tell."
A take-home page. One dancer suggested a plain-language one-page summary of the main figures, written by one of the best communicators on the team, for practice afterward.
Shared meals. The room was too noisy to talk across the table, both this year and last. Five dancers ate Sunday night at a Greek place around the corner (she wrote "Petros?") and loved the calm and the food.
A contact list after registration. Suggested for carpools and shared housing. Worth deciding how to ask permission first.
A third day. One dancer wished it were three days.

In numbers

Themes are my grouping of the open answers. One person can appear in more than one.

What they liked most

Feedback from many teachers4

Warm, friendly atmosphere and community4

Basics and new material together3

Dancing with many different partners2

What they would change

More time per teacher, smoother rotations4

Less talking or review, more practice2

Meals and logistics2

A take-home summary1

A third day1

One of the four on rotations is Sandra's, whose answer stops mid-sentence ("Maybe the rotations could").

Individual answers

In the order they came in, with the date each was submitted.

Sarah

Oct 209 / 10

Favorite part: The continuous feedback. Really enjoyed it.
The teacher team: Loved your guidance and the team. The only thing: because of changes in attendance each day, she missed working with some of the teachers and hardly worked with Pancho and Adrien. "Not a big deal," she guesses it is part of the process.
To a friend: A confirmation of what you need to work on, in a fun and positive environment.
For Tomás: Loved it, thanks for everything.

Michael

Oct 2010 / 10

Favorite part: The large pool of people giving comments in a very good communication style. Loved the enthusiasm: "All seemed to like to be there. It showed."
The teacher team: Maybe a bit more time with each teacher. Not a major point. Would love to be back doing it right now.
To a friend: Quotes Derek Jeter on the need to keep working on the basics so you can move on to new experiences. The weekend did that for them, and opened up enthusiasm to explore new figures and areas in tango.
For Tomás: If feasible, some take-aways from the weekend: one of the teachers who communicates best could write a plain-language one-page summary, or prompts, of the main figures covered, to refresh during practice. Thanks for your dedication and good humor.

Francine

Oct 2110 / 10answered in French

Favorite part: Learning planeos and lápices, which were fairly new to her. The basics review was very useful too.
The teacher team: All the teachers are great and precise in their corrections. They saw right about what she needed to improve, and felt warm and truly interested in helping.
To a friend: A technical tango intensive where you learn and get professionally corrected by skilled, passionate teachers, in a warm and fun atmosphere.
For Tomás: Maybe less review on the second day, to leave room for more content. You are a wonderful team and she loved the training. Thank you so much.

Rachel

Oct 2110 / 10

Favorite part: Dancing with friendly, helpful pros for two days (she wished it were three), and the sense of community that you create quickly.
The teacher team: Sometimes there was too much talking in the corrections, when you had everyone stop and go with each teacher, which left too little time to practice. "Better to show than to tell!"
To a friend: Left blank.
For Tomás: Not about the teaching: the shared meals were too noisy, both last year and this year, to hear the person next to her, and impossible to talk across the table. She so wanted conversation. On Sunday night five of them ate at the Greek place around the corner (she wrote "Petros?") and loved both the food and the calm. She asks whether you might switch to it.

Lise

Oct 2210 / 10

Favorite part: Working with so many teachers was a reminder that we train to dance with lots of different people. There is no objective "perfect" to strive for. The goal is to feel and hear what each partner says through the embrace, what they need and how they hear the music, and to tune your dance to it.; It also reminded her that tango is dialectic: as soon as you master a skill, you may need to unlearn it and master its opposite. She got "lots of thesis and antithesis" and will be synthesizing for a long time.
The teacher team: Every teacher was wonderful. Day 1 pacing felt perfect. On day 2, as the exercises got more complex, she would have liked more time with each teacher before moving on. Because the group started with a random new teacher after the break, some teachers got more dances than others.; Sometimes teachers give the same feedback in different words, which is super helpful. Sometimes comments build on each other. Once in a while they oppose each other, which gave her the chance and the challenge of synthesizing and broadening her range.
To a friend: An immersive deep dive where you explore and fine tune specific skills. Trying the same thing with two or three teachers deepens your understanding of the mechanics and nuances at the core of tango. It feels disorienting and generative.
For Tomás: The workshop was beautifully conceived. The pacing was thoughtful and the attention to detail showed, "even down to that tea kettle." The teachers were insightful, warm and clear. She did not want to single anyone out, then did: Jean Sebatien pushed her out of her comfort zone, Caroline helped her break habits, and Mireille is "dreamy."; An idea for future years: share a contact list after registration so students can organize carpools, shared housing and so on.

Sandra

Oct 2310 / 10

Favorite part: The warm welcome and the camaraderie among students and teachers. It lowers the tension and makes learning to dance more enjoyable.
The teacher team: Appreciated dancing with different teachers and the variety of tips to bring into her dance. It encourages more flexibility and accommodation to different leads. It helped to dance, share impressions, and try again with each teacher.; Her answer ends mid-sentence ("Maybe the rotations could"), so the rest of her suggestion about rotations did not come through.
To a friend: A perfect blend of learning new movements and practicing them with a variety of teachers.