itwillhappen
Forum Master
Well, does it make a difference whether you make yourself known to the organizer because you want to get access as a DJ or a dancer?
Encuentros - pros and cons
- Thread starter ardix
- Start date
I don’t DJ. I am sure without access to the organizers, a DJ won’t get the gigs. It makes a whole lot more difference for anyone wanting to DJ.
pianistamediano
Forum Master
Yep.
I have a loathing of networking.
I want to be offered gigs solely on the basis of my merits and schedule availability; I'd rather not DJ if I were unmusical and lacking in any sense of balance and contrast, which the majority of current DJs are very much so, because they get in on the basis of simply knowing people and knowing the difference between D'Arienzo and EDM.
(One could argue that if the majority of dancers at a milonga are happy to dance to anything, the quality of DJing doesn't really matter. But if that were the case, why not just play ten tandas of D'Arienzo and Tanturi in a row? Aural fatigue, monotony, mental fatigue due to overwhelming complexity... The average dancer might not be able to accurately and precisely describe the reasons, but they sure as hell can tell if they're getting exhausted or bored or tired for some reason.)
Same reason why I prepare myself for disappointment whenever a visiting professional is invited to DJ at a milonga - very few are actually good, because they usually do not spend the amount of time and effort actual DJs have put into preparation and actual DJing, because it is put into teaching, touring, performing and practising their dance.
I well remember the last time I was at one - the idiot played mostly music more suited for performances and bombastic displays. I'd have liked to dance one or two tandas - maybe three, depending on which followers are there - of that sort, but the whole night???
Of the exceptions, I will say that I have enjoyed Hernán Brusa's sets so far.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
We've had some good visiting DJs lately in addition to the local crop.
pianistamediano
Forum Master
Apologies, I should have been more specific! When I say professional I meant professional teachers/maestros/performers, not DJs. There are no doubt dancers who do both, like the person I mentioned, and then there also exist people who do both well, but my issue lies with people who are primarily engaged with the former.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
We have one teacher who is also one of our best local DJs. He DJs out of town from time to time as well. Well, more than one, actually, but another seems to have retired after Covid.
TTanguero
Forum Master
He's an excellent DJ for sure!Of the exceptions, I will say that I have enjoyed Hernán Brusa's sets so far.
itwillhappen
Forum Master
At least here in Northern Europe we flatly reject any organizer telling us where we should sit, how or who we should invite, how we should dance. An encuentro can circumvent such restrictions.
I'm currently reading in a German tango magazine about an encuentro in which everyone is supposed to dance with everyone else and in particular women are encouraged to energeticly invite so that everyone can dance equally often. IMHO something like this will only work with a known group (here 60 people). If strangers could come in because they liked the special location or happened to be in the area, it would be much more difficult.
Well, everyone as they want. I signed up for the last gender-balanced encuentro I knew of with a traditional distribution of roles (men lead, women follow, that's it). There are good dancers, there is good food and drink, that's also a path for good atmosphere...
I'm currently reading in a German tango magazine about an encuentro in which everyone is supposed to dance with everyone else and in particular women are encouraged to energeticly invite so that everyone can dance equally often. IMHO something like this will only work with a known group (here 60 people). If strangers could come in because they liked the special location or happened to be in the area, it would be much more difficult.
Well, everyone as they want. I signed up for the last gender-balanced encuentro I knew of with a traditional distribution of roles (men lead, women follow, that's it). There are good dancers, there is good food and drink, that's also a path for good atmosphere...
OthinkingDesign
Active Member
New Years Eve, I started at a Salsa/Bachata/Kizomba/Zouk party, general experience is a younger crowd, higher energy and a tendency for dancers to stay past midnight for dancing. There was two floors running simultaneously with Kizomba/Zouk on one floor and Salsa/Bachata running on another floor. I was sadly disappointed to find the DJs played a lot of experimental songs (probably trying to hold onto the best songs for later) and didn't dance as much as I would've liked.
About 1.30am I moved to Tango and could hear a good tanda Donato Milonga while I was walking up, the hall was surprisingly filled and lots of great dancers were still at the milonga. I took my time to walk around the hall greeting everyone with a "Happy New Year" before putting on my shoes. DJ continued to play excellent tandas of recognisable favourites, with clean audio. Tanda construction was logical and had thought behind it all. I danced quite a bit, until my feet were sore and tiredness settled in. I also ate as much cheese and crackers as I could for my late night hunger pains.
Feedback from other people had been the music was amazing and I had some good dances. Honestly, I was probably too tired to capitalise on the music.
About 1.30am I moved to Tango and could hear a good tanda Donato Milonga while I was walking up, the hall was surprisingly filled and lots of great dancers were still at the milonga. I took my time to walk around the hall greeting everyone with a "Happy New Year" before putting on my shoes. DJ continued to play excellent tandas of recognisable favourites, with clean audio. Tanda construction was logical and had thought behind it all. I danced quite a bit, until my feet were sore and tiredness settled in. I also ate as much cheese and crackers as I could for my late night hunger pains.
Feedback from other people had been the music was amazing and I had some good dances. Honestly, I was probably too tired to capitalise on the music.
pianistamediano
Forum Master
This is why tango is the infinitely superior dance.
OthinkingDesign
Active Member
Different, not superior. The fault was in the DJs, the Zouk/Kizomba DJ was swapped out about 11pm and the music vastly improved, I ended up dancing 80% of the time in the Kizomba room. I can understand a DJ's frustrations about always playing the same damned songs, it would be nice to push dancer's tastebuds a little and expand those horizons. A major ticket event IS NOT THE TIME TO DO THAT.This is why tango is the infinitely superior dance.
I find things in other dances, that I don't get in Tango. Kizomba however sucks, I only dance Kizomba because sitting/standing is worse
EDIT: Damnit, posted in the wrong thread, it was supposed to be in the Tango Diaries section.
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itwillhappen
Forum Master
It is also a matter of physical constitution. At a weekend event, a tanguera told me that she would probably not take part any more because the ratio of great tandas to mediocre tandas, the time spent standing and her foot pain gets worse.
Well, I took her aside and advised her to sign up for an encuentro with me because the ratio for her there will be fundamentally different, and she will also meet more people she knows there than she would expect. That's what happened, and we signed up for the next encuentro. In the medium term, she will simply trade the effort of each single tanda for the effort beforehand to convince a sufficiently good tanguero to sign up with her - where else would the tangueros there come from.
Well, I took her aside and advised her to sign up for an encuentro with me because the ratio for her there will be fundamentally different, and she will also meet more people she knows there than she would expect. That's what happened, and we signed up for the next encuentro. In the medium term, she will simply trade the effort of each single tanda for the effort beforehand to convince a sufficiently good tanguero to sign up with her - where else would the tangueros there come from.
itwillhappen
Forum Master
Here I see an encuentro with remarkable registration modalities:
However, the "cosi and intimate event" (300+ participants) does not seem to be fully booked even after 10 weeks.
So if I wanted to take part, I would have no concerns asking whether a leader might drop out by chance. As sure as in a voodoo ritual, a leader would drop out by chance...
This of course makes processing the registrations for the event organizer much easier, and there are no complaints from women on the waiting list.In our experience, we receive a big number of registrations, really much more that we can manage
and accept, due to a capacity issue, and because we are looking for something cosi and intimate.
We hope you are one of those who will be there!!
In order to maintain gender balance, registration is mandatory with dance partner.
“Que viva el tango”
REGISTRATION START BEGINNING Friday. 19.04.2024 00:00 o´clock
Register | BerlinEncuentroMilonguero
berlinencuentromilonguero.com
However, the "cosi and intimate event" (300+ participants) does not seem to be fully booked even after 10 weeks.
So if I wanted to take part, I would have no concerns asking whether a leader might drop out by chance. As sure as in a voodoo ritual, a leader would drop out by chance...
opendoor
Forum Master
As I'm a little bit handicapped: couldn't we enroll as an Ménage à Troi (two leaders and a follower)?
Miradamiranda
Well-Known Member
I like the casual wording of this event:
I enrolled as a solo follower and got an email back offering a discounted price if I found a partner to enroll with, but that my spot was still secured nevertheless. (I found someone who was there last year also.)
Incentives work much better than strict rules and arrogant selective attitudes.
(The event is in August in Teplice, if any of you want to meet up with me there. I loved it. It’s cheap, it’s cheap to get there (my train ticket cost €17 one way), accommodation is cheap, it’s beautiful, the DJs are world class, the space is fabulous, and the dance level is high. Several of my top most favorite partners go every year. And it’s friendly.)
I enrolled as a solo follower and got an email back offering a discounted price if I found a partner to enroll with, but that my spot was still secured nevertheless. (I found someone who was there last year also.)
Incentives work much better than strict rules and arrogant selective attitudes.
(The event is in August in Teplice, if any of you want to meet up with me there. I loved it. It’s cheap, it’s cheap to get there (my train ticket cost €17 one way), accommodation is cheap, it’s beautiful, the DJs are world class, the space is fabulous, and the dance level is high. Several of my top most favorite partners go every year. And it’s friendly.)