The Tango-L mailing list archive
Digest from 25 Apr 2000
to 26 Apr 2000
Reply-To: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
To: Recipients of TANGO-L digests <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 03:00:25 -0400
Sender: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
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Subject: TANGO-L Digest - 25 Apr 2000 to 26 Apr 2000 (#2000-113)
There are 2 messages totalling 126 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Watering seeds
2. Objetos Perdidos
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 22:25:25 -0600
From: Tom Stermitz <stermitz @CSN.NET>
Subject: Re: Watering seeds
> Robinne wrote:
>
> >There are two reasons the Exchange phenomenon is appealing to me.
> >The first is that Exchanges are pointedly NOT based around workshops
> >or classes. ... What I remember from attending 1997 Columbus Tango
> >Week is ... how great it was to meet and dance with people from other
> >cities, many of whom I still see here and there. ... The second
> >reason Exchanges appeal to me is the spirit which drives them.
> ...So my thought is to plant a seed that the North
> >American tango community could adapt the "exchange" concept.
Steve Wrote:
> ...Here in North America, a bunch
> of people from Tango-L could agree to descend upon a North American
> city that has large milongas on a near nightly basis in a large and
> well-developed, such as Denver, Miami, Montreal, New York, San
> Francisco or Seattle . To get started, all that would be necessary is
> a date and a proposed city.
>
> Either way, Robinne has a great proposal. One of the true excitements
> of a tango week is meeting and dancing with people from all over. For
> experienced dancers the gains made in group classes are often subtle.
> Traveling and dancing tango on an individual basis is also fun, but
> not quite the same experience as the intensity of milongas with people
> from all over. When Stanford had two tango weeks, Tango by the Bay
> (which was held on the intervening weekend) was quite an event to
> attend.
Thanks to Steve for putting Colorado in such exalted company. He
neglected to mention Portland, another city that I know has a very
active and very friendly tango scene.
Frankly, I wish we had received the benefit of more visitors earlier
in our growth, back when our community consisted of the same 20
hard-working people showing up every week. At that time we really
needed some fresh blood and some better dancers to show us what we
didn't know. Now we have grown and matured to the point where we can
give as well as we can receive.
When I travel for tango the main draw is to get in lots of good
dancing, rather than lots of workshops. What I hear in Steve's and
Robinne's comments about Tango Weeks is that the excitement comes
more from meeting good dancers and old friends than from the
workshops themselves. A tango exchange should help you find that
pleasure without having to spend $500 (or $900!) plus lodging and
travel.
Given the size of the US, the cost of a tango exchange still ain't
pocket change. Maybe you can get in a full weekend of tango for
$300-500.
- Airfare $200 - 300
- Double occupancy lodging $20-50 per night
- Milongas another $40
- 4 master classes for $70-90).
Watch for the deep discount Internet airfares that get released on
Wednesdays. Most leave on Saturday, but a couple airlines let you go
on Friday.
That price is still a little steep; perhaps the primary assurance
needed by a visitor is that the dancing (or romantic opportunities!?)
will be worth the effort and cost. As Steve points out it helps to
start with an active local community.
In Denver we have been doing Double or Triple Milonga Weekends about
once per month with enough extra activities for any of them to be
attractive to a visitor. Once a quarter things are even more exciting
like our upcoming Triple Milonga Wekend of May 19 - 21. (see Tango-A
or http://www.tango.org/dance ). These have functioned naturally as
regional "mini" Tango Exchange Weekends, attracting friends from Salt
Lake and Santa Fe, not to leave out Ft Collins, Colorado Springs and
Aspen.
We usually get 120 on Fridays and 60 on the extra Saturday. If a
Tango Exchange were to bring in 20 good dancers, the energy of those
parties would surely double!
I like the mythical image painted of the neighborhoods of Buenos
Aires in the 1940s. Each had its own style of tango and if lads from
the next neighborhood came to visit it was to steal women or steal
tango steps.
Let me reassure any potential visitors that Denver has some of the
most beautiful and great milongueras anywhere in the country. Let me
warn any visiting tango ladies that our milongueros are among the
most daring and handsome; a large number of them prefer the close
embrace.
I can promise that visiting lads won't receive a pummeling, however
they will have to dance well to steal the hearts of our women,
Tom Stermitz
stermitz @ragtime.org
http://www.ragtime.org/ragtime
http://www.tango.org/dance
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 00:49:32 +0200
From: Jean-Pierre Jacquet <jpjfilms @CYBERCABLE.FR>
Subject: Objetos Perdidos
As an alternate to pedestrian discussions on the pros and cons of Lindy
Hops, allow me to advise enquiring minds out there that at the recent
Rencontres du Cinima d'Amirique Latine (in Toulouse, March 20-28, pardon
my belated posting) , one of the feature was "Tango Y Cine Argentino
Clasico". In the silent movie days, more than half the production was
tango related. The first talking picture of Argentina was "Tango", 1933.
For an interesting analysis, turn to a reprint of an article by Silvia
Schwarzbvck.
Some of the material is available at the URL http://arcalt.fr
Jean-Pierre Jacquet
End of TANGO-L Digest - 25 Apr 2000 to 26 Apr 2000 (#2000-113)
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