Get well soon. My mother caught Covid in hospital in August and tested positive for 14days. She was very bored stuck in her room all that time but luckily had no long-term effects. She was one of the “barely a cold” ones.
At the end of the pandemic, maybe a new start?
- Thread starter itwillhappen
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itwillhappen
Forum Master
Maybe I see it all too negatively.
I only register that I am starting to avoid the risk of semi-empty and hypothermic, physically or mentally, milongas. Others avoid tango two weeks before important events, be it work appointments or a flight to Buenos Aires. And not without reason, after the last three tango weekends I always had a cold.
JournalInTime
Forum Master
The curse of cold climates! Once it gets chilly and everybody is crammed indoors with the windows shut, noses running due to coming in from outdoor cold to a warm room, respiratory viruses start to circulate. COVID-19 has made people forget about adenovirus, coronaviruses other than SARS-CoV-2, influenza, parainfluenza, rhinovirus, RSV, . . . My area is a hot spot for influenza and RSV, which are slamming local hospitals and doctors more than COVID-19 is right now. We just had our first major snow, so people will stay indoors and it's going to get worse.
Tango is where I always catch this stuff. I love to dance and I'm not going to stop, but I've learned to be realistic about the fact that serially hugging strangers for 10-12 minutes at a time in a stuffy little room full of dozens of other mysterious huggers is a great way to catch something. It was much worse when I was a barman, because then I was also handling their used glasses. I wonder how many other barmen are as good as I was about sterilizing glassware . . .
On the other hand, dancing masked all the time has proven troublesome for me. I get overheated at the best of times, and with a mask, I get so hot that I feel dizzy. I don't subscribe to conspiracy theories about CO2 or inadequate O2 due to masks, but I have 50+ years experience wearing cloth over my face against cold and ice, and I know that an extra layer on your face makes it much harder to shed heat.
JournalInTime
Forum Master
I'm laughing and crying. One girl really did snot on me once.
For me it’s humidity. Dancing in a mask (or brisk walking) triggers my asthma probably due to the buildup of humidity behind the mask. I can comfortably wear a mask most of the day as long as I don’t have to move much.
Best way to prevent colds is to wash hands often and thoroughly using soap. I use hand sanitizer before and after dancing and wash my hands during any downtime. I usually bring my own supplies. I also refuse to dance with anyone displaying symptoms.
itwillhappen
Forum Master
I was just at a milonga where the organizer wore a mask to protect himself standing behind the counter while everyone else danced without.
So everyone has some reason why they don't dance as much as they did three years ago? And back then the tango was already past its prime? How is this supposed to work?
So everyone has some reason why they don't dance as much as they did three years ago? And back then the tango was already past its prime? How is this supposed to work?
The previous generation of dancers isn't capable of reversing the downwards trajectory (if they were they'd have done it already), but the next generation can be.
Not certain it's 'less', just re-arranged the times, opportunities, and what we do when.
New recruits. It never ceases to amaze me that frequently there seems little planning for succession. I'm pleased that there seemed to be some plan about when the founder of the tango school moved on some years ago a succession had been arranged. That seems to be the exception. I've seen 'schools' close and new ones open, but little order. Basically the ashes rather than a flame to be kindled.
Just trying to keep the flame burning.
We were once beginners and have now moved on, but still learning. New beginners are needed.
JournalInTime
Forum Master
Tango seems to come in fits and starts caused in no small part by what's popular in the media. Periodically, tango shows up in some film, TV talent show, or traveling spectacle. This sparks popular interest. A bunch of people learn tango as a result.
Time passes.
Those people improve as they take lessons, attend workshops, practice, and dance. Through the inevitable course of getting older or changing interests, these stalwarts become fewer and fewer in number. Those who remain grow skilled . . . and often snobby, because they don't want to share the floor with people who get in their way and/or disturb their preferred aesthetic.
Eventually, someone counts heads and raises concerns about the death of tango. However, they rarely do anything about it. Instead, some totally new media phenomenon rekindles the flame. If the style presented as "Argentine tango" is very different from the one that's dying off, there's a clash of old vs. new, usually with cries of "It's the end of tango as we know it!"
Yet tango has survived for more than a century, most of that without the aid of mass media to popularize it. It seem unlikely to die out. It'll just change its look. Most people talking about the end of tango are talking about the end of tango as they know it.
Around here, we have lots of new tango fans who've dropped the "man/leader, woman/follower" tradition, introduced fusion elements (especially with blues dance), created more free and outdoor events, and so on. Tango is still growing. It just isn't the practice of male-female couples dressing up for evening milongas that's growing.
What's bizarre is mostly that tango fans are more aggressive about their traditions than fans of other dance styles. My mother is thrilled that what she calls "rock 'n' roll dance" is back. It's called "swing" (she claims nobody ever called it that), the people dancing it don't dress like she did back in the day, and there are new moves. There aren't many 1950s- and 1960s-style dance halls with live music any more. But the dance is a legitimate descendent and she's just happy to see it.
Whereas tango people get themselves twisted in knots when they see change.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
Yeah, new blood is needed from time to time, or maybe just a continuous drip.
itwillhappen
Forum Master
That's okay with me. My preferred tango location offers all possible directions with many collaborations. New directions may new people drive forward, I'll wait and see in peace, it comes as it comes anyway. In the end it all depends on whether you can dance or not. And today evening I'll dress as every week for the milonga.
I was in a small, provincial, southern German town a few years ago. Walking around we noticed posters for an Argentine Tango music event (not dancing) on many lamposts and billboards. Unfortunately we weren't staying long enough. Contrast that with the hidden-away Facebook offerings of some groups (and didn't see anything significant from a UK post-pandemic promotion). It depends on where you live and the population. AT will be a minority interest, but if you've got a sizeable population and they're aware of events, then you're likely to get some regular interest. More difficult when it's in some obscure village hall with aging attendees and organiser. But you've still got to get the information out there and raise awareness and stir interest.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
The local community here (of course, I'm in a very large city) uses Facebook for most announcements because it's convenient. Several local organizers have pages that announce events that are not even local, so we get to see what's out there. And there's a separate Web page (not associated with Facebook) that lists *all* local events, including milongas, prácticas, and workshops, plus locations, etc. It's extremely useful and the first page visitors search to find out what's going on. Of course, it helps to know which events are popular and which are not. All that to say that local organizers do a pretty good job of promoting events, even those in other cities across the country. For example, there was a weeklong event in Hawaii recently and there's going to be another tango festival or marathon or something in Texas soon.