The Tango-L mailing list archive

Digest from 3 Jan 2000 to 4 Jan 2000

Reply-To: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango          <TANGO-L  @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
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Date:     Tue, 4 Jan 2000 03:00:09 -0500
Sender: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango          <TANGO-L  @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
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Subject:  TANGO-L Digest - 3 Jan 2000 to 4 Jan 2000 (#2000-3)
There are 2 messages totalling 72 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. photos of BsAs milongas
  2. Party Manners




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Date:    Fri, 31 Dec 1999 13:00:15 EST
From:    Cherie Magnus <MACFroggy  @AOL.COM>
Subject: photos of BsAs milongas

Happy New Year to everyone out there in TangoLand!
May it be full of as many trips to Tango Heaven as you can take!

I need your help: I'm writing an article for a local paper here in Los
Angeles on my many trips to BsAs to dance tango, and they need some photos
(snapshots OK) of people dancing at milongas there. Does anyone have one or
two good ones they would let me use? I'd surely appreciate it. I would need
them in a week to ten days. Please e-mail me at MACFroggy  @aol.com, and I'll
send you my snail mail address.

Thanks so much.

Cherie
Los Angeles





Date:    Sun, 2 Jan 2000 19:24:09 -0500
From:    Lynn Underwood <monaloca  @MSN.COM>
Subject: Re: Party Manners

Thank you Cherie for your right-on-target comments about the role of a
milonga
host/hostess. I've had the same experience in cities where I was a stranger.
And then there are the big-city milongas where there is no real host at all,
just a behind-the-scenes organizer. In BA, I like the smaller milongas where
"Juan invita" or "Carlos y Ariadne inviten" -- and they actually greet you
at the door! They act more interested in assuring your enjoyment than in
taking your money! What a concept!

But as long as we are at it, how about the responsibilities of the "faithful
supporters" you wrote about, "who come every week". Their behavior can help
make the difference between a warm and friendly party and an ice palace.
Anyone who's there every week knows who's new and who could best partner the
unknown newcomer. They can help the busy host assure that the newcomer gets
gently showcased -- more important than introductions at a milonga. And they
can discreetly intervene before the local Gancho King gets his hands on an
unsuspecting novice.

Unfortunately, the idea of a milonga being a party seems to be lost on some.
At a party, most people -- at least those with any social skills at all --
are committed to helping make sure everyone has a good time. It's something
you have to work at. You don't spend the evening chatting up the one person
you find most interesting; you "work the room", you extend yourself. Some
conversations are more rewarding than others, but by sharing the
responsibility, everyone benefits: the rewards are spread around, nobody
gets stuck with a dud, nobody gets left out.

People are initially attracted to tango by the music and the dance, but the
decision to take up tango is, de facto, a decision to join a community. A
warm and welcoming community will attract warm and sociable people. One that
is cold and unfriendly will become a refuge for social misfits and takers.
Some of them may be skillful dancers, but few will be people you care to be
around.

I hope your message is heard and made a theme in the tango community. If the
mores you describe continue to be accepted as the norm, we will all
suffer -- and tango will never be more than an exotic little niche for the
obsessed.

Happy new year,
Lynn Underwood (NYC)





End of TANGO-L Digest - 3 Jan 2000 to 4 Jan 2000 (#2000-3)
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