Eligibility and Club Rules

Who's invited?
We are welcoming of anybody who is friendly, polite, respectful, smells nice, and is fun to dance, talk and socialize with. We will not tolerate any unsocial, aggressive or disrespectful behavior, in addition to any discrimination of any kind. As a Yale student club, we recruit and welcome students (of any school) and any Yale people (including non-students) and we have been very lucky to build a community with wonderful people from countless backgrounds and cultures on 6 continents, and a fabulous warm and friendly athmosphere. 

Yale community
To further the growth of our community while ensuring a friendly dance environment for our members, we welcome Yale students and affiliates (faculty, staff, alumni) and their significant others or dates.  

Students and postdocs at other institutions receive the same benefits as Yale-affiliated ones, including access to the tango bootcamp for beginners and student membership rates. Come dance with us!

Dancers not affiliated with Yale
Even though we are a student club, we are happy to welcome dancers from the local community who are not affiliated with Yale, according to the following procedures. 

In order for a person who is neither a student nor affiliated with Yale to be eligible for membership, this person must be an experienced dancer, that is, he/she must know enough of the basics of Argentine tango to be able to practice steps and dance independently without requiring one-on-one assistance from our instructors.  Instruction is available in multiple places in the New Haven area. The reason we have this requirement is that our unpaid volunteers have their hands full with our student beginners and their own practicing. 

After attending 3 practicas with no obligation, a dancer wishing to join the Tango Club MUST get a sponsorship IN PERSON from a current Yale Tango Club member and MUST get that membership cleared by the Club President.  When these  memberships are up for renewal each year, this will also require renewal of sponsorship and endorsement.  In the unlikely event that motivated objections are brought to the attention of the president or board of the Tango Club, the board may decide, by consensus, to overrule the sponsorship and decline to (re)invite the dancer in question.

Dancers visiting New Haven
Dancers from other communities who are visiting New Haven are warmly welcomed to our practica as our guests. Free admission!

Manners
Attendance at our events constitutes a commitment to observe gentlemanly or ladylike manners and respectful interactions with other dancers. For the safety and comfort of all our dancers, any failure to comply with this may result in the termination of membership privileges.
Please check out our Tango Manners; this guide has lots of useful information.

Instruction
Although anyone can attend the practica (those who are not students or Yale affiliates may attend 3 times before obtaining membership), all beginners interested in becoming involved with the Tango Club are expected to take classes. The Sunday night practica is not a place to come for lessons, it is a place to practice.  

Since the Tango Club is committed to making sure instruction is available to students and postdocs throughout the year, they may join if they take classes either at the gym or at the Tango Club.  Since we don't have the time and resources to offer instruction to the general public, others must learn the basic steps before they become eligible for membership. 

There are several learning opportunities in New Haven, permitting the basic steps to be mastered in just a few hours, and at a very affordable price, or for free: 

Tuesday night lessons at the Yale gym during the semester (open to all) 
Sunday afternoon  2-4pm instruction from Judy Phelps in Milford (open to all) 
Yale Tango Club drop-in classes, Tango Bootcamp for Beginners, offered to students and postdocs and their significant others by the Tango Club.

Special workshops with visiting celebrity teachers, for advanced beginners, intermediate and advanced dancers, offered regularly by the Yale Tango Club.
 

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