Tango Diaries

[JournalInTime]

Maybe they don't impress you much, but other attendees do seem to like them since numbers go.

I know few tango dancers who care about performances. Most fall into the "Pay more to get into an event where I get to dance less? Bah!" school of thought. However . . .

. . . the people collecting money at the door don't care if you're coming to watch or to dance. More people attend when Big Names are putting on a show. Of course, since those extra spectators don't dance, this is contingent upon a real performance – not a one- or two-piece demo, but at least one tango, one vals, and one milonga, plus one to three encore pieces, with enough mugging and thanking before, between, and after to fill 30 minutes or so, and ideally a chance to meet and take photos with the stars.

None of which brings anybody into tango.

After 12 years of dancing probably too much, I know our local spectators-not-dancers crowd to see. They are mostly the same gang every time: friends of tango dancers and of organizers, a few dance fans coming to see a dance TV show live (more or less), a smattering of journalists, a couple of local residents who drop in to watch, etc. None of whom ever turn up on the dance floor – they are perpetual watchers who never get bitten by the dance bug. So, shows do nothing to grow the tango scene, only to grow the bank accounts of organizers.

The effects on the tango scene are: (1) more money for organizers means more studios stay open and host more milongas, prácticas, lessons, etc., and (2) more dancers who would come out to dance anyway trying to emulate the stars' movements while remaining oblivious to the fact that those stars are infinitely more skilled (having started as teenagers and danced for decades as a full-time career), have the entire floor to themselves, and are almost certainly showing off part or all of a choreography they have refined for years. I think that #1 is great and that #2 is terrible, but I am undecided regarding which one I care about more.

 

[JournalInTime]

Live music is the biggest draw by far – but it's expensive, so ...

I love it because it draws mainly dancers and benefits those dancers. Demo? I pay more to dance less to the same old music. Orquesta? I pay more to dance just as much to better music, and lots of dancers who aren't good at reacting rapidly to variations on familiar tunes or improvising to original compositions stay off the floor and just listen, so I have more space to dance in.

 

[JournalInTime]

themed nights, live music, community members showcasing their side projects like photography/fashion, occasional games... if you have to have a dance show make it one with an actual narrative or interactivity

The important thing is for ordinary attendees not to enjoy less dancing than at a regular milonga. It doesn't matter whether that's accomplished by making the event longer by the amount of time consumed by the non-dancing segments, by making the non-dancing segments optional (e.g., by having two rooms between which people can circulate freely, one for the milonga and the other for whatever), or by having the special elements be in parallel to the dancing (e.g., live music, a demo on stage while the milonga goes on down below, or art or photos on the walls around the dancers). Too many organizers fail to realize that for a lot of tango dancers, dancing tango is the be-all, end-all, and that any extras serve only to add ambiance while dancing.

I've suffered through more than a few events where the length was that of a usual milonga, but an organizer who was a poor public speaker stuttered through presenting some non-tango element, taking far too long to do so. Then I had to watch Argentine folk dance (which holds zero interest for me . . . the only Argentine thing I'm in love with is tango), or seminude interpretive paint splattering, or some pianist play a non-tango tune we weren't supposed to dance to. A total waste of money, and the worst of it is that organizers often conceal that the extras will replace dancing time.

I'll make an exception when the extras are for a good cause – say, we each pay $10 extra and that goes to a charity, which gets some of our time during the evening. But in 12 years of going out 3-5 times a week, I've seen that twice, ever.

 

[JournalInTime]

So let's say someone dances at 2 milongas a week and also takes a class ($30ish), thats $80/week, or a $360/month. Toss in a private ($120) and that's $480/month. Not to mention costs if you get drinks at these events, along with the price of commuting ($2.90 subway), and any special workshops/milongas that month.

My typical week, when there are no special events going on and I'm taking "break nights" due to not being young:

• Three milongas, my usual ones adding up to exactly $42 (the weird price being because I'm a member and save $3).
• One práctica, at $10.
• One private coaching session, at $98 (the weird price being because I get a package discount).
• Public transit rides, taxi rides, and/or car-share fees averaging $45 or thereabouts (almost certainly low, but I'm trying not to pad the figures).

Call it $195/week. On weeks when I fit in an extra milonga and/or need more taxis because my chosen events are far away – I figure at least one week per month is like that – that can go up to $250 easily.

To this add whatever shoes, shoe-care products, trousers, dry-cleaning trousers, etc. cost, spread over time. I don't know . . . maybe the equivalent of $10/week? I'm not a clothes horse, but I refuse to dance in T-shirt and jeans, and partners have told me that they accepted my invitation because ". . . you looked clean and well-dressed."

So, $195/week to $260/week, depending on what you choose to count. That's in Canadian dollars, and about $145-190/week in U.S. dollars, or €125-165/week.

That's for a relatively underpaid writer who doesn't own a car. I know people who spend many times what I do because they are wealthier and can get around more easily, afford to be clothes horses, go to lots of festivals, etc.

Of course, I don't totally avoid festivals, balls, galas, live music, etc. and drop money on those every year. Just no plane tickets.

 

[Rabbit]

seminude interpretive paint splattering,

I think you won the "weirdest random activity showcased at a milonga" prize there.

 

[Brummbaer]

themed nights, live music, community members showcasing their side projects like photography/fashion, occasional games... if you have to have a dance show make it one with an actual narrative or interactivity

You've obviously missed those milongas with the racks of locally produced fashion clothes (his&hers) - new and pre-used, tango photography and artwork, shoes, or even themed evenings like spring, summer, 'red', 'Great Gatsby', masked, 'beach', and other fancy dress.

 

[JournalInTime]

You've obviously missed those milongas with the racks of locally produced fashion clothes (his&hers) - new and pre-used, tango photography and artwork, shoes, or even themed evenings like spring, summer, 'red', 'Great Gatsby', masked, 'beach', and other fancy dress.

Sounds like your organizers have more going on than ours, outside of not-regular-at-all balls two to four times a year. Lovely, also, that all of that is alongside dance, since I imagine that the clothing, art, etc. is off to one side, and the themes are decorations and dressing up, not breaks for solstice rituals or whatever. When our organizers decide to do anything at all, they appear to enjoy using milonga attendees as their captive audience for non-tango stuff like chacarera and zamba presentations, or somebody's musician friend playing non-tango music.

 

[Brummbaer]

Live music is the biggest draw by far – but it's expensive, so ...

Yeah. Tango Calor have been touring. Aided by some arts funding to play in library and other similar spaces - unfortunately several venues are carpeted, limited space, a limited number of dancers, and not really suitable for dance. They did make a stopoff at some nearby milonga en route and played gratis - but most milongas couldn't afford them without additional funding. Sometimes, what live music makes it north, is funded for 'arts' listening. Used to enjoy live music for dancing occasionally in London.

I'd certainly pay extra for occasional live music.

Sad really about the costs of putting on a gig. A live tango orchestra playing in a Swiss castle, with social dancers, were what introduced us to social AT.

 

[Brummbaer]

Sounds like your organizers have more going on than ours

We get to more than one local milonga around the country! I'd guess something extra might be a yearly exception rather than a regular event.

Also inclined to avoid 'wellness' or solstice rituals.

 

[JournalInTime]

Also inclined to avoid 'wellness' or solstice rituals.

To be brutally honest, if I smell even the faintest whiff of astrology, chanting, fortune-telling, mysticism, New Age, or anything like that, in any event of any kind that isn't supposed to be all about those things (e.g., I'm fine with people singing Christian carols at a Noël celebration, or dancing naked around a wicker figure for a pagan solstice event . . . but not at a wine tasting, milonga, opera, etc.), I distance myself from the event. Not because I'm a religious conservative who believes it's all the work of the Devil, but because (1) I'm a "what it says on the tin" person who dislikes bait and switch, and (2) I'm an atheist and Cartesian thinker with a long background in the sciences, and I cannot prevent spontaneous eye-rolling or mumbling that some may find offensive.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

Jeez, that's adding insult to injury! Less dancing time and higher cost.

Exactly my sentiments. However, a lot of folks seem to like the performances.

 

[Paja]

When our organizers decide to do anything at all, they appear to enjoy using milonga attendees as their captive audience for non-tango stuff like chacarera and zamba presentations, or somebody's musician friend playing non-tango music.

I totally agree, I am not interested in Tango Argentino, not Argentinian folk dances. I do not understand intention to teach Chacarera on Tango workshops dancers who can hardly dance Tango.

 

[opendoor]

..What's "gray" about such?

"gray" because it is the transition area from full-time professional and independent entrepreneurship to the hobby or volunteer segment.

 

[opendoor]

..I'm an atheist and Cartesian thinker..

How does this fit together? Descartes was driven by a strong religious thirst for knowledge. Although he was traumatized by his Thomistic upbringing under the Jesuits, he did not turn away from Christianity. What I have read of him is characterized by deep religiosity. His work on the pituitary gland, in particular, is religiously motivated: he was searching for the gateway of the supernatural into the physical nature of man. Otherwise, would he have crawled across the battlefields of the Thirty Years' War, dissecting the slain one after the other?

 

[itwillhappen]

Dear Diary,
tango used to be inexpensive for me, then became quite expensive, and now it's not cheap but really good.

So, at first, 10 years ago, I could take as many group lessons as I wanted at our tango club for a flat rate of less than €80 per month. (An elegantly hidden subsidy for leaders, by the way.) Local practilongas were at €4, milongas €6, plus €3 for a drink.

Then came the coronavirus pandemic, and then the driving to distant milongas (€10-15, €4-5 for a drink, 150-300km*€0.30, sometimes an overnight stay for two milongas. Okay, mostly in a carpool. Sometimes also a workshop.

Together with my girlfriend, things are now much better and cheaper, and the journeys to good milongas are also shorter. Private couples lessons cost us €60 together, accessible by bike.

Currently, however, I'm on a campervan tour for three weekend events in Germany and Belgium (€500, 1500km*€0.60). Okay, that's a vacation trip; my girlfriend is also joining me for two events and a week of hiking in France.