At the end of the pandemic, maybe a new start?

I've now been to a couple of post-Covid milongas (mostly at one location but another opened up last week, both are my regular haunts on the tango circuit). From the look of things, aside from the safety protocols in place, they are largely the same. The crowd is mostly the same but I think we may have lost some people. The reasons for this are varied, however. A couple of older gentlemen (one quite elderly) have passed away, maybe more than a couple, I don't really know. Also, I suspect that not everyone in the local community is vaccinated and cannot attend these events, so they are absent. Some folks are still away. Others? Who knows. I do know that some dancers are still staying away out of a sense of caution; they just don't feel comfortable coming back yet. How many of them there are, I don't know. It's also possible that some people moved on, perhaps newer dancers or those less involved or committed to tango. It's going to take a few months for things to shake out and a clearer picture to form. So right now, things are sort of like they were, only a bit different. Also, fewer visitors, of course.
 
Thanks to COVID quarantines, the Tango Distance's dancing has been with only my dear wife (DW) the Tango Closeness (TC) at outdoor music events. This has been great fun! Once the band complimented us and said they had never had someone dance to a song that fast before. It is fun to dance to Rock and Roll! We have been doing a mix of Tango, Blues, and Swing dancing, and received many compliments. I think it was safe to say we are top 10% for that crowd!

The Tango Distance just did his 1st lesson in over a year. My my how things have changed! Here is a list of the goods and bads:
  • I think I have retained my musicality (that is something you can practice by listening to music, even without dancing).
  • This class traditionally has had around 15 to 25 people in it. Many of the people were on their 8th to 12th iteration of the class, and all but maybe one or two would have taken it at least twice. Now it has a new instructor. The leads consisted of the instructor, a very experienced man I know well, and me. There were excess ladies, and all of them were obviously new to Tango. It looks like one COVID consequence is it has driven out the regulars.
  • The class pre-COVID had pretty good gender balance. Now it is rather unbalanced. The instructor was very glad to have another leader show up! Maybe this is a COVID consequence, but I think it is likely just dance business as usual.
  • The lesson was pretty tough. I hung in there, but struggled a bit. I seemed to have three issues:
    • My balance I don't think was as good as pre-COVID
    • I stepped on feet several times! Yikes! In that sense this was my worst class ever! While these are newbie ladies, I think the problem was I did not have a good feel for where their feet were. This is likely a combination of me being rusty, and a bit of their newness leading to less connection/communication.
    • It was an open embrace class. One lady I kept bumping into, a second a little bit, and at least there was one lady who I never bumped. I asked the instructor for help on it. He very tactfully said it was happening with just her, but also diagnosed something I was doing that exacerbated it. I only bring this up because I think it was a relevant factor for the issue: There was a steep gradient for size (but not in height), there might have been a factor of 3 ratio for weight. You can guess which end of the size spectrum was bumped more. Before, all but one of the ladies were thin, and the one lady was just a little overweight. Maybe there has been some COVID weight gain? Maybe the TD doesn't have much experience leading big beautiful women? I have found that Tango women tend to be thin.
  • Before, the class would typically have 7 to 12 or so very experienced leads. It looks like it now has had only 2. I think another factor might have been this is few enough people the ladies have hard coded to their styles. Before there was enough variety they learned more generic following.
  • Interestingly, one lady would take steps before a lead, and switch weight without a lead. Another needed huge leader input to step. Yet another would collect every step. I think I have evolved to be a softer and softer lead; pre-COVID our area has been pretty stagnant and most people are getting pretty good and everyone has danced with everyone many times. I think I need to relearn "shouting" the lead when needed.
  • YAF (Yet Another Factor) is I was new to the followers. Before I had danced many times with each of the ladies.
  • In retrospect, I wish I had warmed up with some beginner classes.
This fits with the conversation on who you dance with / how generous you should be. I was definitely humbled! I thought I was good at leading newbies! Hopefully it'll come back after wire brushing off more rust!
 
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I've been taking privates and fixed-partner classes, but last night was the first 'normal' group class, and first real milonga since lockdown.

In the class, all but one of the women were complete beginners, with one or two lessons only, and leading them was an interesting challenge! One danced salsa and other things; with her, I had to exaggerate my lead a fair bit, but when I did it was surprising how well it worked.

The milonga was fantastic fun! The only low point was floorcraft. With people either not having danced at all for 14 months, or only in couples and small underground milongas, I feared that floorcraft skills may have been forgotten, and that was indeed the case. There were two leaders in particular leading multiple big giros without checking whether there was room for them, and in one tanda I stepped onto the floor and then one of them joined in front of me and the other behind! o_O

That aside, it was soooooooooo good to be back in a real milonga, and danced almost every tanda.
 
TTanguero said:
That aside, it was soooooooooo good to be back in a real milonga, and danced almost every tanda.
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At this point I'd take collisions, mashed feet, and tandas with partners rooted like concrete just to have a few hours of dance at an actual milonga!

I just got my second shot last Friday (July 16). Officially, I can get back on the floor next Friday (July 30).

Right now, the only events allowed here are pre-registered ones with assigned tables, limited slots, no partner changes, and mandatory parking at tables when not on the floor, so it won't quite be like old times. On the other hand, they're mostly outdoors in pretty places – and the requirement that couples stay two metres apart pretty much solves the "rusty floorcraft" problem. I really don't care about the downsides, and can't wait to get back out there!
 
I feel that - after the virtual milongas - I am slowly getting tired of the open air milongas. A beautiful room with a good floor has its advantages, not to mention the sanitary facilities. We are already regularly testing the private infrastructure just in case that there is a new lockdown in autumn.
 
itwillhappen said:
I feel that - after the virtual milongas - I am slowly getting tired of the open air milongas. A beautiful room with a good floor has its advantages, not to mention the sanitary facilities. We are already regularly testing the private infrastructure just in case that there is a new lockdown in autumn.
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One way that's being addressed in some places is to make sure that anyone who enters an indoor milonga can provide proof of vaccination. Some have temperature checks at the door as well. I'm wondering if that makes them more secure than outdoor milongas, which generally do not check one's vaccination status.
 
In the UK, as of September it will be legally required for all nightclub owners (in which category I’m sure milongas will fall*) to require the NHS Covid Pass for entry. The pass requires one of (a) dual vaccinations, (b) negative test within 48 hours or (c) evidence of antibodies from an infection within six months.

*Nightclubs and other ‘high risk settings’
 
TTanguero said:
In the UK, as of September it will be legally required for all nightclub owners (in which category I’m sure milongas will fall*) to require the NHS Covid Pass for entry. The pass requires one of (a) dual vaccinations, (b) negative test within 48 hours or (c) evidence of antibodies from an infection within six months.

*Nightclubs and other ‘high risk settings’
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I think any announcement that goes more than two weeks into the future is completely worthless. :cool:
Especially when the "English experiment" reaches its limits, the "tested" are out in a flash, the events themselves not much later.
 
itwillhappen said:
I think any announcement that goes more than two weeks into the future is completely worthless. :cool:
Especially when the "English experiment" reaches its limits, the "tested" are out in a flash.
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Doing checks, which could easily be faked, in September after the 3rd wave has already peaked, is also completely worthless.
 
David_D said:
Weird. Wouldn't someone with an active infection also show antibodies?
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For that aspect of the pass, you'd need an antibody test which would not be conducted while you are infectious. It's really just there as a backup – most people would get the pass from double-vaccine.
 
TTanguero said:
For that aspect of the pass, you'd need an antibody test which would not be conducted while you are infectious.
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Hopefully. Unless the person got the test when they were asymptomatic or just thought they had allergies. I would want an antibody test that was at least a couple weeks old, personally.
 
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