Tango Diaries

[opendoor]

..One of them is tango world champions.

That's the business plan: torture yourself, win the Mundial, travel the world for eight years for privates, and save up for your own studio in Europe or North America.
Earning a living with tango (and other dances) is hard work. I wouldn't want to trade places with them. I also don't criticize, because social tango benefits more from them than they do from us.

 

[Bailango]

It's honestly so common in London to see visiting teachers with the "tango world champions" label that I wonder whether there are weekly championships now to produce so many winners!

Haha same here.

 

[Bailango]

More like finalistas — there's a horde of them!

I don’t bother to look them up. Most do say they were finalists. This particular one said world champion. I assumed at Mundial. Didn’t like them to either but will take them in the face value.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

It's honestly so common in London to see visiting teachers with the "tango world champions" label that I wonder whether there are weekly championships now to produce so many winners!

Not that it influences me in the slightest – being able to perform a choreographed stage sequence well with one partner tells us nothing about their expertise in social dance, and less than nothing about their teaching skills.

They've got to make a living somehow. And that's one way.

 

[Rabbit]

I also don't criticize, because social tango benefits more from them than they do from us.

I don't agree, social tango is based above all on local communities.

 

[opendoor]

I don't agree, social tango is based above all on local communities.

I don't agree, because local communities rely on dancers. And people are primarily made aware of tango through show dancing (TV, stage, cinema).

 

[Rabbit]

I don't agree, because local communities rely on dancers. And people are primarily made aware of tango through show dancing (TV, stage, cinema).

Well the externally facing performances already existed. It doesnt take much to maintain awareness that the dance exists, i think most people entered the scene due to looking for a new activity, being introduced by friends, or crossover from another dance - I've never heard anyone say they started dancing because of the TV shows, a few saw a performance and were inspired.

The mundial - travelling instructor circuit is a different thing that markets itself to people that already dance tango rather than bringing new people into the scene.

 

[opendoor]

Well ..

We won't agree, but that's okay. What you're writing doesn't reflect my experience. Two others have described the significance of show dance images in this and other threads. And that's also how I got into dancing, too. Many dancers who come from salsa also have exactly this iconography in mind, but not the picture of the slow moving ronda. Admitted, the group of dancers who come from the BR is divided: one half follows the iconography of the stage, the others long for the intimacy of the ronda.

 

[TTanguero]

Admitted, the group of dancers who come from the BR is divided: one half follows the iconography of the stage, the others long for the intimacy of the ronda.

I'm sure there is a split anywhere – though I don't think I personally know anyone who has come to tango by seeing performances or shows, it's always been through social dancer friends.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

I don't agree, because local communities rely on dancers. And people are primarily made aware of tango through show dancing (TV, stage, cinema).

I don't think that's true any longer. I certainly wasn't made aware of it that way.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

It doesnt take much to maintain awareness that the dance exists,

You'd be surprised. Most people have no awareness of it other than it being the name of a dance once practiced somewhere. Or a clichéd musical trope.

 

[Bailango]

Many dancers who come from salsa also have exactly this iconography in mind, but not the picture of the slow moving ronda. Admitted, the group of dancers who come from the BR is divided: one half follows the iconography of the stage, the others long for the intimacy of the ronda.

Some times I feel like we live in alternate universe. We have significantly large communities of salsa, swing, and tango dancers. Very few people who came to tango came from salsa or BR. For most of them Tango is their first dance.

 

[Bailango]

You'd be surprised. Most people have no awareness of it other than it being the name of a dance once practiced somewhere. Or a clichéd musical trope.

That’s true of salsa too.

We don’t realise that compared how niche activity tango dancing is.

I have met a number of Argentinians and none of them dance tango. When I meet someone from Argentina, I don’t expect them to know tango dancing. The same with someone from PR or DR when it comes to salsa or bachata. Though social dances like salsa and bachata are danced at family gatherings and in the backyards unlike tango. So people from PR and DR are more aware of salsa or bachata steps, than Argentines are of tango steps.

 

[Bailango]

I don't agree, because local communities rely on dancers. And people are primarily made aware of tango through show dancing (TV, stage, cinema).

Yes, that is how people get aware of dancing. However for those that do actually take up dancing or show up for the first tango class, hardly do so because they saw it on tv or cinema.

There is not much opportunity for people to watch tango on a stage since opportunities are so few. When there is a chance, people might go to watch a stage show because someone dragged them to it.

 

[Bailango]

I'm sure there is a split anywhere – though I don't think I personally know anyone who has come to tango by seeing performances or shows, it's always been through social dancer friends.

Same here. And we have a very dynamic scene in that we get a lot of new people and 70% to 80% of the regulars completely change every 4-5 years. That here you will run into a lot of new people.