Building a tango community

[pygmalion]

I live in Orlando, where a few people do Argentine tango, very few relative to the ballroom or swing populations. Several years ago, a couple local teachers took on the mission to popularize Argentine tango in the Orlando area -- and it's working, slowly. But I know of several other thriving non-Buenos Aires tango communities. Question: How does one build such a community? And what do the successful communities have in common?

[Sagitta]

There is a successful and thriving tango community in Ithaca, NY, where I reside. Don't know much about it though as I've not done Argentine tango. Through second hand knowledge, though I do know that one thing that has helped has been the weekly informal practice sessions at the university. These are popular, and the people who conduct them are helpful/friendly. To promote AT these practice sessions were moved to the grad student center, and at times when people can't make the regular session an additional one is held on another day the week. All this has definitely helped.

[Sagitta]

Now that I'm an AT dancer I must say that what I said about AT before is true. Now that I do AT I am talking about it. I'm sure that before the year is out I will have got quite a few people into AT. Just yesterday night, at a zydeco workshop, I talked to someone about it and he asked me to send him the info so that he could start taking the class. :) If the dancers within the comunity show their passion it definitely helps grow the community. :)

[DancePoet]

There is this one couple that comes in to the social dances I attend on Fridays that does the Argentine Tango. He is an instructor and she is a student. Next time I dance with her I'm going to ask her about her lessons. I'm also going to ask some of my ballroom dancing friends if they would take lessons if we find an instructor. Then more of us could use the ArT at the social dances!

Not sure there is really an idea there for you Pygmalion, but maybe getting a local studio to sponsor a class or series of classes would help grow the community?

[Sagitta]

Great to see another dfer getting into AT DancePoet!

To build any dance community it definitely helps to have passion and share that passion with others. I see the growth of salsa, AT and rueda. I see where my efforts are bearing fruit, as they are now for AT. In terms of advertizing I don't see enough effort being made to make people aware of the dance.

[MadamSamba]

Jenn, I think dancers aren't a snobbish bunch and are open to other forms of dance. If you've never danced a dance before and see someone doing it nicely, you're likely to have your interest piqued. Similarly, if you see it danced really badly the first time, you'll probably run the other way!

Experimenting is a great hook, as is an interest in the opposite sex! How many dancers have "dabbled" in an alien form of dance just to catch the eye of a potential paramour? :lol:

Of course, word of mouth always helps. Personally, if I see someone dancing a gorgeous dance, one of those breathtaking "oh-my-God,-I-wanna-dance-like-that" dances, bets are I'll be taking lessons within a week! :)

[Cats]

I lived in Los Angeles where I danced Salsa for a few years but didn't learn Tango until I got to Philly. It seems in both cities we have had a situation where most people migrated from other dances. In Philadelphia ballroom is big and that's where many of our converts come from.

On a recent visit to Los Angeles I saw some of my Salsa friends in a Milonga when I went back there last winter. Actually it seemed that about half of the room came from the Swing community and the other half from the Salsa community.

My advice is to do exhibitions at Swing and Ballroom events. Then you probably will get some students out of it.

>^..^<

[DancePoet]

There is this one couple that comes in to the social dances I attend on Fridays that does the Argentine Tango. He is an instructor and she is a student. Next time I dance with her I'm going to ask her about her lessons. I'm also going to ask some of my ballroom dancing friends if they would take lessons if we find an instructor. Then more of us could use the ArT at the social dances!

Not sure there is really an idea there for you Pygmalion, but maybe getting a local studio to sponsor a class or series of classes would help grow the community?
Well ... I dug this thread up because there is a group of ATers in my area that are beginning a state wide association! Apparently there has been one before, but it hasn't been kept up recently. So their is a group of around a dozen of us that are starting the process of incorporating, and creating a organizational structure. We hope to encourage the education, promotion, and enjoyment of AT in our region.

We started with an hour long meeting where we created a mission statement and reviewed goals. We have someone working on the incorporation for non-profit status, putting together a constitution, starting an informational website, and we already have a Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary/Treasurer for our organizing committee.

My studio has started offering basic AT classes, with my friend mentioned above, and this has increased the number of ATers at our studio now instead of the 3 or 4 couples that were the only ones who knew how to dance this style previously. Meanwhile, I've taken over a dozen lessons now and I've been to some practice/dances, too. And I've already experienced four different instructors, along with tantalizing forays into vals and milongas, too. :D

So, does anyone have any helpful hints on what makes a successful AT community? Obviously hosting dances would be important, but what about other ideas or things to avoid, too?

[angelbaby]

Our tango community is building because of the hard work and dedication by the ppl who started it, and the growing efforts of those who now want it to continue. The ppl who started it simply worked really hard at it. They communicated really well re everything that was happening (usually via email). They are very supportive and encouraging. They play salsa etc music in the breaks so ppl are not just expected to dance tango (esp good for ppl just starting at tango but more proficient in other dances). They also maintain excellent links with all the other tango events and ppl in our local area and surrounds.

In our community the tango ppl get on much better, and work together much more cooperatively, than the salsa ppl. Eg. tango events are all planned so they complement each other so you have tango events on all the time, whereas the salsa ppl do not communicate as well (here anyway) and there tends to be no dances one w/e and then a clash of 2 or 3 the following w/e. I know this is not the same for everywhere.

The tango ppl are very well organised with a well developed yearly calendar of events and a variety of tango music. Their enthusiasm, friendliness and passion for tango (without any judgement for other dances) and their open acceptance have all contributed to a very healthy tango community in a really very small town.

[DancePoet]

What types of events to they put together?

Do they have a website we could take a look at?

[angelbaby]

http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Jardin/9362/

not the current website but gives some idea. will send latest link when i retrieve it.

[angelbaby]

At first class for this yr. they had for sale for $5 a beautifully printed calendar for all tango events - ie classes, milongas, visiting teachers, practicas, special milongas (black & white, golden years of tango, valentines ball, mad hatters, cloak & dagger, myth & fantasy etc) with all contact details and info etc. Makes it so easy to see what is on where and when and plan for as much tango as you can fit in.