Leaving Monday Nite Classes at the Viscount

May was my  last month of teaching regular Monday evening group classes at the Viscount Studios.  As it turned out, I actually had just half of the month before I was called back to Maine for family reasons . So my withdrawal from the Viscount has been unexpectedly lurching. I am so relieved that Carrie was already in place as my co-teacher for this transition month!

Although I instigated my departure, I have mixed emotions about it.

On one hand, I have been teaching big group classes for a long time, starting  back in the late 90's with Clay.  So it will feel strange not to be doing that on a weekly basis.

And I have loved working at the Viscount, first under Jeff and Janine's ownership, then with Kevin, Sarah, and the extended family of Viscount teachers.  They are a very special assortment of talented individuals and I feel lucky to have been part of the teaching team.

Which brings me to my co-teachers -- Bill Alsup and Chris Perkins. Bill and I have taught together for longer than I can remember –since Clay left Portland, I guess.  We've grown up as teachers together, played off each other's strengths and weaknesses -- maturing (?) into our  current relationships with each other and with the compelling dance of Argentine tango.

Bill's immersion in another absorbing activity (bicycling), plus the ongoing Sunday practicas, plus an actual full-time day job, had him needing an occasional break from Monday teaching. So Chris, thank goodness, filled in, contributing to me and to our students more variations in the seemingly endless palette of tango flavors, energies and styles.  I owe so much to the dancers with whom I teach as they teach me so much!

I also appreciate the women who've assisted me thru the years – most recently and most often, Cynthia Stillwell. It's a mostly under-praised role, but it's important to me, when teaching solo, to have a helper who can demonstrate good technique, lead me occasionally, dance with students in either role, and be an extra set of sensors for what's happening in the classroom.

All the students who have passed through the Studio B doors have been a challenge and a gift – motivating me to find ever better ways to help them discover and unfold their own tango selves, and providing me with a perpetual prod for my own journey.

So I am sad to go.

On the other hand, I do want more flexibility in my schedule for tango tramping and personal travel.

 And my own home studio is ready  now.  I've been using it for private lessons  since June 07, and I am eager to create new ways  to stay active as a tango teacher -- pursuing a vision of smaller classes and mini-specials (workshops) -- sometimes solo, sometimes with a co-teacher.  I don't have details about this yet, but I am very excited, and will be letting anyone interested know about it thru flyers, email and www. portlandtango.com.  Or feel free to check this blog, or contact me at 503 222-4691 or meganpingree@comcast.net  to ask what I'm up to.

Meanwhile, I feel really good about passing the VDS baton to Carrie.  May the Viscount  classes continue to be an irresistible Argentine tango pathway for a very long time to come!