One of the reasons I started writing my essays in 2013 was the realisation that I was never going to be able to transmit all the knowledge that I had amassed throughout the years about body and movement to my student in tango class format. When I teach, I want people to dance, not just listen to me talk. Yet there are numerous topics that can greatly improve everybody’s learning and understanding of tango, body and social dynamics that I thought people should know about!
Writing about body, brain and tango psychology was my attempt to transmit this knowledge outside of a class setting. Very soon, when inviting me to teach, the organisers started asking if I could also give a lecture based on what I liked to write about.
This is how a tango performer and teacher became also a tango lecturer!
Lecture Topics
So far I have given lectures about the following topics:
- How our body learns movement and how to make this process more effective;
- How practicing is different from learning and theory, and how you can combine the three parts to have a wholesome working model for your skill development;
- How the social dynamics in tango have developed throughout history, what are the main social challenges for tango dancers and how to deal with them;
- How genders and roles are represented in tango, from history to the current day;
- What it means to be a woman in tango, past and present, challenges and best practices;
- Why we become so fanatical about tango, the source of our motivation to continue learning and dancing or, on the contrary, why do we give up on learning and developing.
Sometimes organisers request a new particular topic that I have never lectured about before and I am very happy to do so. Creating a new lecture pushes me to enlarge my research into tango, body and brain.
Lecture Feedback
The following feedback was received from the participants after my lecture “Lady in Red: being a woman in Argentine Tango” at the Tango Queens Congress in Saarbruecken in January 2020.
Survey question “Which session was your favourite and why?”
Veronica’s talk. She was knowledgeable, prepared and entertaining.
Lady in Red. Veronica got round to so many aspects with well thought through aspects and funny comments
Veronica‘s presentation – because of the above mentioned reasons. Her presentation was so very informative, honest and enjoyable. It was great that she gave tips how to improve the „situation“.
Veronica’s “Lady in Red” with standing ovation. Excellent speaker, witty and brilliant!
Veronica’s lecture: It contained many truths, interesting thoughts, and was entertaining.
The lady in red. I’m usually not that historically interested, but Veronika managed to show the evolution of Tango in such a delightful, interesting and amusing way that I could have listened to her for 2 hours more!
Veronica Toumanova 