I've not seen those hours locally. What' I've seen is events in the city that start at 9 or 10 pm. I'm near Chicago..
What Is Tango Doing Right/Wrong: Recruiting and Retaining
- Thread starter JournalInTime
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And there you have the nub of that issue in NYC, and they all collaborated to make it worse.
I'm guessing that sentence lost a 'not'. Exactly. You don't like at least one of the presumed rules of the game, so you choose not to play. Fair enough. But those 'rules' (codigos) are far from consistent, or even written down as the house rules, and, as you've pointed out, the culture has evolved or we'd still be meeting in brothels and drinking dens. We're left with a dance. Some want to cling on to their retro view of the culture with all manner of justifications; others aren't even aware of it.
So we find the 'sensuality' has some appeal, but the people are discouraging and disagreeable to, let's say, 'western' expectations. I'd say it's already lost.
It operates on a 24/7 basis depending where you are.
Practicas, if you find them, usually operate in the evenings after some group lesson. Milongas tend to be evenings on weekdays, but anytime after work hours on Friday and anytime over a weekend.
My favourite, as a retiree, was to get to a milonga 2200-2300 with the event itself running to, maybe, 0300. I recall a similar excellent flamenco event in Seville which only started around 2330 when everywhere else closed so performers could get there. That's only possible in a metropolis with night buses.
Also attended some good al fresco milongas in Greece after 2300 when it's cooled down a bit.
Saturday or Sunday afternoons can also be pretty good.
It is like negative reviews on Amazon or TripAdvisor. You are likely to take time to write a negative review. You are hardly likely to write any review when your experience is non-negative.
Well I'll often 5* things if I had a good experience, and clearly a lot of other people do, it only takes a few seconds to reward a good product/service, and not necessary to leave a long review.
brujo
Well-Known Member
Oh that’s so weird. Every milonga or event in Oregon I know starts before 8pm. Milongas & Practicas - www.portlandtango.com .
I also write positive reviews. In fact, I write more positive ones than negative ones.
Why? First, I rarely get really truly deficient things. I can usually return some "meh" ones. But when something is very pleasing, I write a review and describe why it is deserved.
I did get something truly substandard and could not return it, I would give it the lowest number of stars and explain why. That just hasn't happened so far.
itwillhappen
Forum Master
Usually, these are memories of a tango class, or at least not of a high-key milonga.. And following women might quickly get the impression that they can dance quite well. And if not ... the long period of time might somewhat obscure the memory.
Exactly, and there’s tons of negative reviews of tango from beginners compared to the other social dances
Since we were talking about culture of dances, I came across this fb post recently from a famous tanguera
Facebook
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english version:
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translated:
So this is somewhat the crux of what I was talking about when I was saying tango is tied with the culture itself so to truly learn it and get good at it one must also understand the culture as well, and I just don’t see that with ballroom (unless the culture is just competition like I said), although I do see it in lindyhop and sometimes in the latin dances depending on the environment.
www.facebook.com
english version:
www.facebook.com
At what cost the adaptation?A reflection on the authenticity of tango in a globalized worldI've been asking myself this question for a while now:Wouldn't it be more enriching if those who wish to learn tango approached their culture as it is, rather than culture adapting to the consumer?Not criticizing, I'm questioning.Because honestly, I don't get it.In many cases, the differences between those who teach or lead spaces are not just technical, but cultural, deep, even existential.And when everything is adapted to be "understandable" abroad — or to people outside the country of tango of origin —, often the sense, the soul is lost.This happens outside Argentina, but also, albeit to a smaller extent, inside it.The same goes for food: we adapt it to the local taste...And where is the authenticity?How much is lost in that negotiation?Maybe that's why tango "works" among foreigners. I observe entire communities organized by people from other countries, summoning other foreigners. A new language is created.And often I myself don't understand what's happening, how they organize themselves or even how they dance... Because I don't understand their culture.The topic is that they are using tango to express themselves.I'm in a complicated situation:Want to understand globalization, support integration..but I don't want to lose the culture or the traditions that define us.I understand and share that tango is a heritage of mankind, because it came from a mixture of cultures.But the “kitchen” was in Buenos Aires —I wouldn’t even say Argentina—.And someone who wasn't born there tells you, precisely why I was fascinated to discover certain deeply portent aspects that are subtly in tango.It's like wanting to learn Flamenco without knowing Gypsy philosophy and its rituals.Or practice ayurvedic medicine without any interest in the Hindu worldview.Tango has ingredients in its dance and music that are very specific to Buenos Aires.It's not about imitating, it's about understanding, studying, feeling.And therefore my final question:At what point does evolution disconnect from tradition?Who gives us the right — or permission — to modify something as particular as tango, before we have truly understood it?With respect and love for this dance,an open thought.So this is somewhat the crux of what I was talking about when I was saying tango is tied with the culture itself so to truly learn it and get good at it one must also understand the culture as well, and I just don’t see that with ballroom (unless the culture is just competition like I said), although I do see it in lindyhop and sometimes in the latin dances depending on the environment.
opendoor
Forum Master
Wouldn't it be more enriching if those who wish to learn tango approached their culture as it is, rather than culture adapting to the consumer?In principle, Fernanda is right, but there's a major problem she hasn't considered: what she proposes as authentic already is an artifact. On the one hand, the Porteños neglected and forgot their own social tango culture, so that their self-image, subsequently reconstructed in the 1960s till 1980s, is artificial. Second, the first generation of tango teachers (Fernanda belongs to the second generation) themselves changed tango by defining what is authentic and what isn't. In this respect, I just laugh at such superfluous contributions, which brim with ignorance.
And my problem is: in the BR forums I demand a greater awareness of the tradition. And in the AT forum I have to accuse the so-called traditionalists of their historical amnesia.
itwillhappen
Forum Master
Sounds like a hardliner.
Yeah I agree, along with the fact that I heard a lot of modern day tango technique/movement was developed from dancers in europe and brought back to BA, so it’s already mixed.
But the point still remains that the dance itself is tied around the culture.
No one truly understands it, especially not the teachers, and the evolution is far from complete
opendoor
Forum Master
Isn't that trivial? In Lindy Hop, you learn the big band, the technical terms, and the names of the major ballrooms and variety shows. In Salsa, you learn many rhythms, the instruments, and the codes at social clubs. And finally, at the BR dance school, you learn the etiquette for moving appropriately at a ball in Vienna. The golf club is also tied around the golf culture.
So what?