LEARN/DANCE

Teacher Training with Aja Fenn

The 14 hour Foundational level Teacher Training is based on a clear and effective teaching pedagogy refined and improved upon over two decades of conducting on-going tango classes of all levels. The next training is projected to take place in early 2025.

Aja will share with you some of her most intimate and pivotal discoveries about the art of teaching tango, while providing the space and support necessary for you to find your own unique teaching style. This program will advance your tango dancing, acquaint you with the many layers of tango, build your confidence and help you find your voice.

If you have a passion for tango and want to share it, or you simply love learning and want to improve as a dancer, teacher training offers such possibilities.

The curriculum includes:

  • Advanced study of tango fundamentals, anatomy and the essential skill areas

  • Aja’s syllabus for beginners and why she does it that way

  • How to design and deliver engaging and effective beginner classes

  • Teaching diagnostics and compassionate correction giving

  • The study of different learning styles: how to reach most learners, most of the time

  • Confidence-building through practice teaching time with REAL beginners!

Hear what graduates are saying:

“I really, really loved this course! There was an amazing amount of tremendously useful content, thoughtfully presented and somehow all delivered with Aja’s beautiful warmth and uncanny ability to find and tap into each of our unique strengths as dancers and potential future teachers" (C. Pax)

Aja Fenn has thought deeply about how to get people started down the path of learning and has developed a comprehensive approach to presenting that material to people interested in helping others learn the craft of tango. She was very generous with all of her "yeites".  The program met my objectives of becoming a better dancer and practice partner, while exploring the possibilities of sharing my experiences with other students. (T.Berry)

Length of training and time commitment: The program is fourteen hours in length (conducted over five sessions). Participants must commit to all five sessions (which includes arriving a few minutes early to get situated, and staying for the entire session).

Qualifications: Participants must be intermediate level or above in their primary role in improvised social Argentine Tango, and advanced beginner level or above in their secondary role - including the ability to successfully (but not necessarily perfectly) lead/follow the “caminata” (tango walk), “crusada” (the cross) and ochos. Teaching experience is a bonus but not required.

Application Process: To be considered for the training, applicants may write a brief proposal (no more than one paragraph) explaining why they want to participate in the teacher training and how long they have been dancing to aja@fabricatango.com.

Frequently asked questions:

THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT STYLES OF TANGO, WHAT STYLE WILL THE TEACHER TRAINING BE BASED UPON?

At Fabrica Tango we believe that tango is like a language, spoken with as many different accents and dialects as there are dancers. For this reason, we do not categorize our style by any broad stylistic name. All our classes prepare students for the reality of diversity on the dance floor by imparting (what we have observed to be) some of the most “universal” concepts and techniques in tango’s current stage of evolution. We believe this approach prepares dancers to enjoy and adapt to different styles. If this answer isn’t satisfactory for you, this Teacher Training could be said to be working with “club style” tango which has been described as the style currently danced the most in the milongas of Buenos Aires. This style is a sort of “mish mash” of different styles. It combines many of the rhythmic characteristics and figures of “milonguero” style but with the more upright posture and independent axis of “tango salon” and an embrace that may loosen slightly during turns and pivots to allow the follower to rotate more freely.

WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO BE A TEACHER?

This training is ideal for those who want to delve deeper into the study of Argentine tango to improve their own dancing and to deepen their connection to the tango community. It's also for people who want to have a transformational experience through the growth that a challenge like this will inevitably foster.

I’M NOT SURE IF I’M ADVANCED ENOUGH. WHAT LEVEL OF DANCING IS EXPECTED OF ME?

Mastery of complex figures is not required, but you do need to have enough experience on the social dance floor to give you a reference point for common challenges that arise. The most important thing is your commitment to deepen and expand your own perspective and ways of thinking about tango dancing and learning. Lastly, keep in mind that it is not a typical dance workshop - we are not working on our dancing as much as practicing how we speak and think about our dancing, and how we organize learning for ourselves and others. The training work will be a combination of movement, short writing exercises, discussion and practice time. It's a lot of information in a short amount of time and is designed to give you tools to take home and work with on your own.

THERE’S ONE WEEK IN THE PROGRAM THAT I WON’T BE ABLE TO ATTEND, CAN I STILL APPLY?

Unfortunately not. The curriculum is sequential, therefore, participants must commit to attending all five sessions in the program (emergencies excepted).