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Digest from 10 Jan 2000 to 11 Jan 2000





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Date:     Tue, 11 Jan 2000 03:00:14 -0500
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Subject:  TANGO-L Digest - 10 Jan 2000 to 11 Jan 2000 (#2000-10)

There are 27 messages totalling 1408 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Tango's Greatest Tragedies 2. Party manners 3. re Party Manners (2) 4. Party Manners 5. Party manners, and.... a Stranger in a Strange Land. 6. Where to find good exercises 7. Big milongas, small milongas 8. [ATOF] Re: Party Manners [Short] 9. Party Manners And Milonga Demands (2) 10. New Year's Tango performance in Buenos Aires (2) 11. Circulating at Milongas 12. risking a "yes" 13. DJs' concerns and the MP3 option (Re: Party Manners) 14. DJs' concerns and the MP3 option (3) 15. Know before you go (fomerly party manners) 16. Party manners. 17. Risking a "Yes" 18. Buenos Aires Expectations (2) 19. A man traveling alone in Argentina 20. Carlos & Alicia videos 21. Carlos and Alicia Video


Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2000 02:23:09 +0000 From: Keith Elshaw <elshaw @INTERLOG.COM> Subject: Tango's Greatest Tragedies Good day one and all around the world; I don't know why I started thinking about this tonight, but it has suddenly become two hours later, and I have dashed off a list of 9 what I call "tragedies" that have hoped to interrupt the Tango flow - sometimes like the rapids impeding the motivated salmon; sometimes more seriously like the struggle for life the chronic victim must face; though there isn't much difference to a strong person/culture. (I'm using the word tragedy loosely. And ... sensitivity and sardonicism may co-exist. Even better when with a sense of humor. According to moi. My list begs the reader to allow that. All words following should be heard as if spoken by a light-hearted person who doesn't claim to know everything, please). After starting this list, I realize it must be longer than I know and would make interesting reading if a more complete one existed. I would really like to know about what I don't know about - in this case, events or ideas that have been influential in the life of Tango. I hope this stimulates contributions. Here is one that I offer from my preliminary arbitrary list: "RCA Records manager (non-Argentinian) purposely sets fire to it's huge archive of Master recordings from three decades of many musicians, including Troilo, Di Sarli, et.al (1950). Effects of never again being able to access the Masters of hundreds of important recordings and masterpieces will last forever. (Fortunately, the above-named artists left the label right away and we have their next recordings in fine shape). A modern day auditory equivalent to one of the three burnings of the parchments at the great library in Alexandria. All recordings (CD's) from that era originally issued on RCA are copies of copies of copies of scratchy records type-thing. Of course, we love the music for all that." Here's one from further down the list: "Gifted Argentine Tango show dancers teach and preach their stage-craft way and forget to replicate fun social dancing ... though that's what it's all about for the average person (1955 - 95). Substantial negative effects recently being largely being overcome by wonderful Porte=F1o dancers or teachers who are making their mark (Naveiro, the Zottos and their partners; the next tier coming like Hern=E1n Obispo, et. al)." And one from higher up the list: "European musicians invent European or International Tango because they must be hard of hearing and rhythmically challenged so couldn't replicate what fellow Europeans loved about Argentine Tango (1912 -present). Enter Ballroom Tango and surely some stiff necks/sore backs. Good for sales of mirrors and dance teachers with questionable depth of sensual feelings/searching intelligence/conviction and communication skills with people outside their native culture." No personal offense intended! Well, this isn't an appropriate place to print my list, so I built a web page for these musings. Anyone interested in perusing them may do so by looking for tragedies at http://www.interlog.com/~elshaw/ttindex.html. Tango and "tragedy." They've benefited from each other. But I'm a happy guy - really! Most of you know why I want to know more. Well, my very Best to you for the New Year. I hope you get even more crazy for Tango this year and can spend all your excessive disposable income in Buenos Aires. Or ... at a Congress people are working hard to make for you in the next few months. Keith Elshaw ToTANGO! http://www.interlog.com/~elshaw/ttindex.html


Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2000 08:35:06 EST From: No Name Available <Want2Dance @AOL.COM> Subject: Re: Party manners Dear List, I've been reading the comments about party manners & would like the help of the list with something we've been thinking about doing. If you have visited as a single dancer to a strange city & found a welcoming community, drop me a line. I am considering putting together a single person's guide to all kinds of partner dancing in different parts of the country (probably starting in the Northeast, Boston, NYC, PA) & would appreciate any leads to places to review first. Any recommendations would be appreciated (private e-mails please). Thanks, Barbara Do You Want2Dance? The Single Dance Partners Network want2dance @aol.com http://www.want2dance.bigstep.com


Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2000 10:19:11 -0800 From: "Renaldo \"Ron\" Leon" <RLeon49r @PACBELL.NET> Subject: Re: re Party Manners Hi Cherie, Perhaps my interpretation of your concerns at Milongas may have been a little bit misinterpreted or misunderstood in my previous response to Melinda Bate's reference to your previous post. Without beating a dead horse, I have come away from this subject with a great deal more sensitivity toward other (mostly female) attendees at the Milongas. I plan to be more conscious of spreading myself around a little more and enjoying the company of *out of towners* (which I previously have always thoroughly enjoyed) along with meeting many more "regulars" at our SF Bay Area milongas.. However, regarding your question of "otherwise why are they in the business of tango?", I cannot understand how very many of "our" Tangueros (especially in the SF Bay Area) can see our host(s) as "profit making", money pocketing, business promoters at a Milonga. With the (to me) very LOW cost to attend a Milonga ($5 to $10) for anywhere from 3-5 hours of dancing, socializing, eating, drinking soda or punch and usually if at all a $1 per alcoholic drink or wine on an honor system. I am a self-employed professional business person for the past 26 years and I can assure you that if I was into the "business" of making a profit or decent standard of living, it sure would not be in the *Milonga* business for profit. It appears that many of our Milongas only make a very small percentage of profit, if any, especially after paying the rent, costs of refresments, food and alcoholic beverages, etc. I know of a very popular milonga in the SF downtown area that charges $5 a person and dances from 10pm to 2 am on Saturday nights in a very nice area of the City. There are always between 45-65 members at their Milonga and to think that they are making a "profit" (?) :-( of any magnitude or pocketing all that money ($225 - $330) amazes me. When I drive home after those Milongas on Saturday night and realize that I have spent a Sat. night in the beautiful downtown San Francisco, 1 block from Union Square, with my A. Tango "community", shared many wonderful abrazos with the beautiful women whom frequent this particular one for a mere $16-$20, "TOTAL which includes bridge toll and all night parking and maybe 2-3 refreshments, it is truly amazing. I feel kind of guilty ;-) kind of like "taking candy from a baby". I personally am very appreciative to all of the host(s), promoter and organizers of Milongas throughout our A. Tango community for keeping the costs for such wonderful entertainment so LOW for such an evening of pleasure and fun. I think we all need to count our blessings that so many of these money hungry hosts and promoters are doing such a great job in making these places for us to enjoy without being driven by profit. I don't know about other areas, except Portland, Or. , Orange County, Ca., SF bay area, and El Cerrito, Ca. & Lafayette, Ca. along with the Peninsula, of SF Bay, but I can tell you that these hosts and promoters should be applauded for all of the work, sacrifice, enjoyment and devotion that they have and still give to "Our Argentine Tango Community". Let's all take a moment and *APPLAUD* all of our Tanguero brothers and sisters whom host, sponsor, coordinate, teach and volunteer to help out. Let's all appreciate a Good Thing when we see it. The glass IS half full!! :-) :-) Now let's all get out there an DANCE!! Thanks for *your* candidness and contribution to our list(s) and to my own personal perspective on things. Respectfully, Renaldo Cherie Magnus wrote: > Hi everyone, > > I'd just like to say to Manuel and others, that I was not referring to any of > the attendees at the out-of-town milongas in my complaints of inhospitality. > > I was simply wishing for hospitality from the host/hostess in introducing me > to others and perhaps even inviting me to dance once. I know it's possible, > because it has happened many times, and has made all the difference to me. > > I'm just calling for a little more from the promoters than the providing of > space and refreshment, music, and the pocketing of money--especially with > out-of-town guests. Sociability, warmth (even if faked), common > courtesy--otherwise why are they in the business of tango? > > Cherie > Los Angeles > > http://www.viveladifference.com


Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 08:23:39 -0800 From: Alberto Paz <tangoman @HOOKED.NET> Subject: Re: Party Manners From: Lynn Underwood <monaloca @MSN.COM> >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. Yes, there are a few "social misfits" diguised as "tango promoters", some even carry a "performer card" when not "Rosemary's baby." The old Italians used to say after having dinner at a restaurant: "If you loved the food and service makey sure to tell everybody, but if there was something you didn't like, make sure to tell the owners. Luckily all the misfits also subscribe to this list and/or the Argentine Tango Open Forum, so the message is there for them to read. The question is, will they recognize themselves and get the message? Happy New Year and best wishes. Alberto


Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2000 11:54:54 -0800 From: Steve Hoffman <DrSteveH @IBM.NET> Subject: Party manners, and.... a Stranger in a Strange Land. Melinda, You wrote (about "party manners", and how newcomers are treated): " When we were in Paris and London last year, almost no one spoke to us. We were clearly outsiders, and no one made any effort to welcome us. As Lynn said, they were happy to take our money, but that was the end of it." Would you like to hear another example of this phenomena? Try being a man, alone, in Buenos Aires. I have been in that country four different times, totalling about 2-1/2 months, twice for tango. I have traveled fairly widely in the country, and speak decent Spanish, and I really enjoy (in general) meeting and conversing with new people. In all that time, probably 75% of all speech I have had, with an Argentine, has been with taxi drivers. Another 15-20% has been with service people, like waiters and such. Trying to meet or get to know an Argentine citizen, whether in tango or not, seems to be the most difficult and unlikely event in the world. They are not bad, mean, or unable - they simply have the least interest in strangers, the least interest in making contact with someone new, that I have ever witnessed in all my travels. (I've been traveling independently for almost 30 years, have been around the world, lived and worked more than three years overseas; been in 40+ countries, etc.) Whereas I am sure there must be plenty of other male visitors to Bs.As. who will profess to having had a much better experience than mine... I must say that, never, in nearly 30 years of traveling, have I spoken less words aloud, or been more alone, for a longer time, as in Argentina. I have literally spent two weeks straight, several different times, with no one to talk to except the occasional waiter, bus driver, hotel clerk, etc. In tango, it's worse. Now, for an American woman traveler, it can be very different, because men overseas have particular interests in meeting American women, as the entire planet knows. That is a different story. But, as for a man traveling alone, there is practically no one in Argentina who has any evident interest in meeting you, neither man nor woman. No one smiles. No one says hello. It is a country where people don't look at or acknowledge each other on the street, on the subway, in caf=E9s, or anywhere. If you ask the= m directions, they are very polite; but, to try to "meet" someone .... I find it nearly impossible. In fact, it has not been possible for me to "break through" the barriers, in any sense of the word, in Argentina. I just recently completed a part-professional, mostly-pleasure, 6-week trip to Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, and ....Argentina. Maybe my planing wasn't perfect, going to three warm and friendly countries prior to arriving in Argentina, but after 6 days in Bs.As., I was having a very marginal experience, again found essentially nil possibility for fun or conversation, or even any modicum of dancing, hated the feeling of being isolated by the culture (after 5 weeks of fun and conviviality), and abruptly cut my trip off, and came home. Overall, my trip was great, except for the last 6 days. It's not like you are mistreated In Argentina. You are simply and totally ignored, when you are a single male, and alone. In spite of the fact that I really *like* the country, the grandeur of Bs.As., the incredible beauty of the land, the stupendous unspoiled wilderness, the culture that is vastly more sophisticated and educated than the rest of Latin America.... I won't go back there again, unless my terms and circumstances are totally different, and I can develop some guaranteed way of meeting, or working with, or talking to, people (for example: a job or an academic activity. (Tango would NOT be one of these ways, as a solo foreign man in tango is NADA as far receiving good vibes or friendliness, or having much opportunity to dance, in my experience). Maybe this one person's experience can shed a little light on why you find some of the social qualities in the tango community of the USA (or London and Paris) to be less than ideal. The USA, Argentina, and Northern Europe are not much different in terms of how newcomers are treated, as compared to the "Latin", or more tropical, or friendly countries, whether these be in the Americas or elsewhere. Steve Hoffman


Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2000 01:32:09 -0500 From: Eugenia Spitkovsky <euginas @EROLS.COM> Subject: Re: Where to find good exercises Dear Daniel, If you and your partner are beginners at dancing Argentine tango, you should try to move to the music together, feel the rhythm, do simple walking, rocking, and basic/ box or cross step. Forget the fancy ganchos, secadas, etc.! Until you learn how to move together, in unison, to the music, your fancy-tango-I-can-tango steps will look ridiculous! But...the most important thing for you to remember is that blaming your partner NEVER makes you look good. Especially if you dance tango! Tanguero is only as good as his woman looks on the dance floor! Keep practicing and take responsibility for yourself and your partner, you'll develop trust in yourself and your partner's trust in you will follow. Best wishes, Eugenia Daniel Machado wrote: > > Hola Tangueros > > My partner and myself are beginers on Tango dancing. I would like to know where > can I find good exercises, to practice on an emplty living room or ball room > (with the partner of course), in order to improve our skills, walking, sacadas, > ganchos and, mainly, to improve our comunication. She sometimes don't feel my > indications (or it's me giving it the wrong way) and is often warried with the > others and the walls looking arround and not concentrating. Besides the > experience are there any exercises in order to improve the "trust"? > Could anyone send me this infos? Internet sites, word documents, whatever else? > > Many thanks > > Daniel


Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2000 12:33:01 EST From: Charles Roques <Crrtango @AOL.COM> Subject: Big milongas, small milongas America Mauhar wrote: >>Perhaps the big tango communities like New York or San Francisco feel secure enough in the size of their milongas to not care if new faces return.>> One shouldn't be too quick to generalize about "big city milongas". I assist and sometimes run milongas here in NYC and it is not at all about being too big or not caring about new faces. For one thing, a milonga with 150 to 200 people is not a casual affair. Nor is it cheap to rent a space here. If nobody comes one can lose a lot of money. A host can have their hands full just trying to manage everything during the milonga. Even so we often mention that there are visitors and welcome them, usually at some point when we make announcements. But we see new faces every week and some of them are locals. It helps if a visitor lets us know when they come in that they are visiting from out of town. We are always glad to see new faces. Re the size of the dance versus hospitality, my experience has been the opposite. I went to several small "living room milongas" a few months ago when I was out of town and nobody anounced that there was a visitor even though at one point announcements were made about classes, events etc. Everyone was very helpful beforehand about information, directions so it was surprising because they knew well in advance I would be there. Large or small milonga, it is courteous to publicly welcome visitors. Besides, you never know who you might be snubbing :-) With the internet, fame or infamy can spread around the world in the blink of an eye. Cheers, Charles


Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2000 14:30:27 -0800 From: "Renaldo \"Ron\" Leon" <RLeon49r @PACBELL.NET> Subject: Re: [ATOF] Re: Party Manners [Short] Ruddy, You words and points were GREAT! And educational too! I look forward to visiting your very successful Milonga this evening and hearing once again that great music that the DJ ;-) always plays for me and the "community". Don't forget "Celos" and "Azebache" while you are at it. ;-) Thanks for being one of the very best "Hosts" in the Tango Bay (SF)! An appreciative milonguero :-) :-) :-) Renaldo


Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2000 11:53:33 -0800 From: Judith Farkas <judith @PARACEL.COM> Subject: Party Manners And Milonga Demands Hello Cherie, I just wanted to respond to your suggestion regarding party manners. You are quite correct that we should in an ideal world, all take the time to introduce ourselves to newcomers. I think though, that you should put yourself in the position of milonga hosts and hostesses. I do have to say that as a milongas hostess that I am so overwhelmed by the many & various demands that one must address in organizing and holding a weekly Friday milonga that I would add a caveat to your suggestion. Since there are so many attendees and only one or two hosts per milonga, it would be probably much simpler for guests to introduce themselves to each other. Allow me to illustrate just a small part of the demands of holding a regular milonga. As you know, Ruddy and I hold a Friday night milonga and here our schedule. Shopping for the food and drinks occurs on Thursday night. Some initial food preparation is also done at that point. Friday AM, the cars are packed with sound equipment, decorations and food. Perishables are unpacked at work and schlepped into work for storage in work refrigerators. At 4 PM, I shower and change into sweats at home. At 5 PM I leave for the milonga site from home and Ruddy leaves from work to arrive before 6 PM to unpack the cars and begin setting up the tables, chairs, sound system, decorations, finish all food preparations, change into dress attire and then begin greeting guests for the beginning and intermediate classes which occur from 7 - 9 PM. Then around 9 PM, the milonga begins and we actually put the food and drinks out on the tables. By around 9:30 PM, I can sit down, have a drink, chat with my friends and perhaps enjoy a dance or two myself. Then somewhere between 10:30 and 11 PM, we have announcements, serve birthday cake and have the birthday dance for those who have birthdays, etc. From 11 PM to 1 AM, when the milonga ends, I am beginning to fade as you might imagine. I get up at 5 AM, so I am justifiably quite tired. Breakdown, clean - up and packing the cars begins at 1 PM or so and goes until about 2:30 AM. By the time we drive home, it is 3:30 AM. Unpacking the cars takes about half an hour, so now it is 4 AM. Geese,...I have been up for about 24 hours now! I am certain that all these details have never occurred to you, though. If you ran a milonga, then you would know all of this. So,...I guess that my point in sharing the information listed above, is this. I will always do my best to introduce people as time and personal energy allow, but people need to take some small bit of initiative themselves! The hosts and hostesses of milongas have a lot on their plates. They do their utmost to make everyone comfortable by providing a nice location, food, drink, sound system and music as well as all the schlepping and covering all expenses incurred to provide a milonga for the tango community at a very reasonable price, but one really needs to make some personal effort whether you are a newcomer or a regular attendee. Introduce yourself if the host and/or hostess are busy! Is that really such an onerous task. You do so in every other walk of life, do you not? Another suggestion is to ask another regular attendee to introduce you to a few people. Frankly, if you feel that this is an important issue, perhaps you should offer your services to your local milongas and take on the volunteer duty of being responsible for introducing all newcomers and dreaming up and conducting mixer games, etc. ( I personally, hate such mixer games, but your local community will definitely share their feelings on this subject with you! ) I mean this in the most constructive fashion, but perhaps you should consider contributing your time, effort and money to the Tango community and stop complaining about those who are already doing so much. To put this into a different perspective though, consider this. Do you expect at a Salsa club to be introduced to other guests by the owner of the club. Do you expect to be greeted personally by the owner of any dance or dinner club, much less introduced to other patrons? No, you do not. We provide the milonga as a labor of love. We do not make a profit. When we hear little complaints like this, particularly from those who do not hold milongas themselves, it makes us wonder why we do so at all. Regards, Judith Judith Farkas Senior Account Manager Paracel 3833 North First Street San Jose, CA 95134 510.583.6175 Phone judith @paracel.com www.paracel.com


Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2000 15:12:06 +1000 From: Gebauer Carolina <Carolina.Gebauer @DNR.QLD.GOV.AU> Subject: New Year's Tango performance in Buenos Aires Dear All, Although I watched some of the Millennium special which showed the New Year's Eve celebrations around the world, I somehow missed the Tango = which was danced as part of the celebrations in Buenos Aires. =20 Did anybody see the performance? If so, do you know the identity of = the famous couple? =20 One last question did anybody manage to video the performance? I would = love to see it. Feliz A=F1o Nuevo y saludos de una tanguera en Australia Carolina


Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2000 22:15:54 EST From: Leonardo Tanguero <TangoLeon @AOL.COM> Subject: Circulating at Milongas In a message dated 1/5/00 12:54:56 AM, tangerauna @EARTHLINK.NET writes: > Cherie and Lynn wrote wonderful messages about the manners we should all > show at a milonga. I have been told that in country dancing in the US, ALL > the men are expected to dance at least once with each woman, so that no one > sits alone all evening. If a man forgets, the other men will remind him of > his obligation. > What a kind and welcoming habit. I think tango is not like that because so > often dancers believe they are "above" dancing with beginners or new > comers - who may actually be accomplished dancers. This message and others following have dealt with the issue of men circulating at milongas to dance with as many women as possible. When I attend milongas in my own barrio (where attendance is only around 25-35), I try to dance at least once with every woman, especially beginners, because I do not want to see any women lose interest in tango because they do not have opportunities to dance and feel accepted. The philosophy behind this is to maintain a feeling of a tango community where all are welcome. I believe this philosophy is necessary for a small tango community to survive. Nevertheless, at local milongas I try to dance about half of the dances with my wife, my original and most important tango partner. I believe part of what is missed in the desire to dance with everyone is that tango argentino is or can be an emotionally intimate dance where a special passion can only be generated when dancing with that special partner. Tango argentino has the potential to generate a passionate connection that is absent in other dances such as waltz, swing, salsa, or country-and-western dancing. As a reflection of this greater connection, I dance in close embrace only with my wife [a highly recommended policy for all tangueros :) ]. From what I have been reading on this list regarding this subject, it sounds to me that much of the circulating (and desire for rules regarding circulating) at milongas is coming from solteros, not married or partnered dancers. I'd like to hear what tango couples with that intimate passionate connection feel about circulating. Leonardo El Leon del Tango TangoLeon @aol.com


Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2000 16:28:41 -0800 From: Annette Bickford <annettebickford @SYMPATICO.CA> Subject: risking a "yes" Re: taking a risk and asking people to dance While I generally agree with Naomi, I recently had a mortifying experience with a "yes". While visiting a milonga in another city. I asked a teacher for a dance after having watched a number of other women do the same. He agreed, but it quickly became evident to me that it was a mistake. In my experience, advanced leaders are usually quite easy to follow; but his manner was terse and his lead distracted, erratic and virtually impossible to read. It seems to me that if one (leader or follower) chooses to accept a dance they would do well to maintain a sense of dignity and respect. A.B.


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 14:39:06 +0100 From: Peter Niebert <Peter.Niebert @IMAG.FR> Subject: DJs' concerns and the MP3 option (Re: Party Manners) One of several remarks on the heavy work of DJing: Ruddy Zelaya writes: > [...] In order to provide you with one hour of good music a > good DJ will spend 4 hours at home listening to/arranging the > songs. [...] While certain activities of DJs take an unavoidable amount of time, life could become easier today with MP3-files and DJ-ing software. (See www.mp3.com for links to such programs). In Grenoble, we currently discuss if we could profit from such a system, running on a laptop. What is it anyhow? I have taken a look at a very nice shareware program called MusicMatch (licensing fee for full version US$30, available for Windows and Macintosh), which provides the following functionality: * automatic extraction of recordings from CDs and compression (with customizable reduction rates, but a factor of 10 is realistic) * automatic downloading of Artist/Album/titles information from CDDB, an online database currently containing this information for 500.000 CDs which has been uploaded by users. * music libraries, essentially databases adapted well to the needs of DJs with the * artist/title information * a link to the MP3-file on the hard-disk (or CD-ROM) * the possibility of tagging entries, e.g. rhythm (Tango,Vals,Milonga,...) style (pugliese-style, d'arienzo style, ...) several "dimensions" of aspects, you can define all that! * CD-cover image * hyperlinks Of course: searching possibilities * playlists, i.e. lists of entries in a library, which can be played in the given order. All in all I found the design of the program very thoughtful. Now, how can a DJ profit from such a system: - you have to enter all of this information into the database. Converting a complete CD to MP3 is not critical, may take some 10 minutes. What takes time is the tagging of the pieces. But then, it is less strenuous than what you would do if you make it by hand, because to find out what kind of piece it is, you just mouse-click and listen. - once all this data is on the harddrive, it is MUCH easier to make compilations, i.e. playlists. Of course, ALL depends on the quality of the tagging of the entries. - you play the music via the sound card of the portable computer, or you can write a compilation on the base of a playlist to a writable music CD. Playlists you can then either already create at home, or you can do it on the fly, even while music is playing. Also, this feature is very nice to separate the music into Tandas, with intermezzos in between. You just once prepare your collection of intermezzos using a sound editing program and you drag them in your playlist with the mouse. You can do an additional service to the listeners and the CD-vendors if you scan the disc covers: They can be displayed on the screen, while the piece is playing. Fine you say, but how much music can you put on a hard-disk. Assuming a compression factor of 10, you can consequently fit the contents of 10 CDs on one CD-ROM. If you have an 8 GB hard-disc, you can thus store the contents of 100 CDs or several thousands of pieces in a single data base. If that is not sufficient for you (there are people out there with ~1000 CDs), you might need to invest more, say into one or several 30GB SCSI drives. Still, much easier to transport than all of your CDs. This leads me to the technical question I have not yet resolved: is it possible to attach external ATAPI discs to laptops? For instance via the parallel port? Because, we have not yet decided on the equipment we want to buy and it should be as cheap as possible. Of course, we will also use the same laptop for standard administrative work on place. In other words, it is completely, even financially REALISTIC to do what I propose. A used laptop is not that much more expensive than - say - a new MiniDisc player/recorder, as is used by some DJs. You do not need a teriffic laptop either, some kind of Pentium 100+ processor and a sound card should suffice. The only problem is the need for the huge hard disc. BTW, maybe somebody is fearing legal issues. Of course, I do not know. We intend to act as this: We make absolutely sure that only discs in the possession of the association will end up in the database, and of course we pay the royalties for the right to play music in our events. Period. Maybe this is too naive? I seem to remember a discussion on the list which questioned the legality of making compilations for DJing. I hope we will not get into trouble, because I still believe in human reason: It is clear that a DJ *must* make compilations, be they on Tape, writable CDs or on a hard disc. And I do not know a single place where no compilations were used. It is not for stealing music, it is for automating and simplifying the DJs work. *** So much for the technology, but now to the SERIOUS QUESTION: You DJs of Tango out there, do you already use a system of classification (calm, funny, dramatic, hall emptier, ...????), do you rely solely on the intuitive database in your head? How do you do it? The crucial point is that you can only profit from such a program, if you actually FORMALIZE your perception of music, so that you can find selections of pieces that go together well. Some people will not like this idea, but from my own experience I am rather sure that it is the only way for a normal human being to handle thousands of recordings to play really interesting music - which at the moment we do NOT in Grenoble. Too much repetition, too often the same sequences of pieces in the same order .... Best wishes, Peter


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 09:26:46 -0000 From: white95r <white95r @HOTMAIL.COM> Subject: Re: New Year's Tango performance in Buenos Aires I saw that performance (or parts of it) and was totally *unimpressed* by it. It was not tango but some sort of ballet type interpretation. I don't know the names of the dancers and I did not record the performance either but I don't think anybody looking for a Tango performance missed anything by not seeing that particular performance. Manuel


Original Message ----- From: Gebauer Carolina <Carolina.Gebauer @DNR.QLD.GOV.AU> Dear All, Although I watched some of the Millennium special which showed the New Year's Eve celebrations around the world, I somehow missed the Tango which was danced as part of the celebrations in Buenos Aires. Did anybody see the performance? If so, do you know the identity of the famous couple?


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 10:22:00 -0600 From: Stephen P Brown <Stephen.P.Brown @DAL.FRB.ORG> Subject: Re: DJs' concerns and the MP3 option Peter wrote: >One of several remarks on the heavy work of DJing: >Ruddy Zelaya writes: >> [...] In order to provide you with one hour of good music a >> good DJ will spend 4 hours at home listening to/arranging >> the songs. [...] >While certain activities of DJs take an unavoidable amount of time, >life could become easier today with MP3-files and DJ-ing software. >(See www.mp3.com for links to such programs). The use of compressed files and a computer sound card results in a degradation in sound quality--which is perceptible particularly if the associated equipment is of high quality. An alternative that would yield higher sound quality would be to use a pair of computer-controlled multi-disc CD players. If one desired, one could still rely heavily on pre-arranged tandas on home-compiled CDs. >You DJs of Tango out there, do you already use a system of >classification (calm, funny, dramatic, hall emptier, ...????), do >you rely solely on the intuitive database in your head? How do you >do it? When I DJ, which is infrequently, I show up with about 50 tandas pre-recorded from my own collection of CDs. I play only these tandas, but I select which tanda to play based upon what I perceive as the mood of the dancers and my own knowledge of the music. --Steve de Tejas


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 12:03:00 -0500 From: Michael Ditkoff <Michael.B.Ditkoff @USDOJ.GOV> Subject: Know before you go (fomerly party manners) I've read a lot of postings about milongas and manners about going to milongas in new cities. I suggest that visiting dancers check the internet to see if there is a listing for the community they are going to visit and make contact through email. Last March, I spent two wonderful weeks on business in the clean, beautiful city of Denver. A week before I left, I checked the internet by arbitrarily typing "Tango in Colorado" in the "Search" box. Incredibly, I lucked out in typing the exact name of the web page. I found the location of milongas and contact names. I sent messages and responses told me who to ask for on my arrival. I followed the instructions and had an absolutely wonderful time. (Note: Denver has a very strong, friendly vibrant community and well worth a visit.) I was introduced to a few women and we danced. Then, I was on my own. Even my New York accent didn't stop women from dancing with me. Nothing in life is black and white. If hosts and hostesses had time to greet everybody at the door, they would. I agree they probably can't enjoy their own milongas because of peripheral concerns that nobody else pays attention. The bottom line is that each dancer has to take responsibility to ensure (s)he has a good time.


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 12:35:06 EST From: Cherie Magnus <MACFroggy @AOL.COM> Subject: Re: re Party Manners Dear Renaldo and List, My compliments to everyone for participating in a very lively discussion regarding being polite and having manners at milongas. Let's bring up some more topics that people feel strongly about! I'd just like to remind people that nowhere in any of my posts did I use the word "profit." (Renaldo, you've got "profit making" in quotes from somewhere). Heck, I think it'd be great if folks could make a profit from tango. Why not? But I realize now that my words, "pocketing the money," were taken to mean accusations of promoters profiting, when all I meant was the physical act of taking the money at the door, and the not-very-social unconcern whether I had a good time. I have never read so much on the topic of *The Overwhelming Difficulty of Having Milongas.* It's really cute how people read what they want into things and how we all love to get offended! Well I for one have really enjoyed this conversation! Thanks all! See you in the milongas of the world! Cherie "One size does NOT fit all!" http://www.viveladifference.com


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 14:06:32 EST From: Jeanne Hill <GeneJeanne @AOL.COM> Subject: Re: Party Manners And Milonga Demands Once again I must agree with Judith's comments in her post of 1/10/00. Not only do the host and hostess not make an even reasonable profit (sometimes they may not even cover the costs) if you consider the 24 hours they put in of their personal time, they have actually worked themselves into the red. I would like to suggest to all those who prefer to criticize that they would be wise to support and graciously acknowledge the efforts of the hosts, hostesses, and milonga organizers before these persons decide to get out "of the business." Pitch in and volunteer to make the experience a better one for all. Jeanne


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 15:17:17 EST From: Charles Roques <Crrtango @AOL.COM> Subject: Party manners. Greetings, A lot of good issues came up during this latest episode dealing with etiquette, manners, courtesy, having a good time etc. But there is still that one small gesture I would like to propose that can say a lot and it can be done by people running a small or large milonga, busy or not. It may help avoid some of the other issues. I'm sure many do this already but if not, think about it. When evening announcements are made, which seems to happen at all milongas, whether the "living-room, house party" type or the large dance hall type, it is a nice gesture to mention that there are out of town guests. In a small environment it may seem unnecessary but in a large one it is important. (Think about it! Your are in NYC [or L.A. or San Fran.] , just visiting from Lawrence, Kansas, and are listening to live tango music, watching about 200 people dressed up and dancing tango. The host makes a few announcements and says, "By the way, tonight we have some tangueros visiting from Kansas". And even though most people in NY don't know where Kansas is it would still probably give you a very warm memory :-)) It usually will break the ice and prompt regulars to dance or to at least make the visitor feel comfortable enough to ask on their own. I am not only speaking from personal feelings but I have been told this by others. It is not the responsibility of the host to personally attend to visitors, depending on the size of the affair, but it only takes a minute or two to announce visitors. (But also if you are a visitor, mention it to the host or door person. We welcome new people but we don't always know they are out-of-towners). Cheers, Charles


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 15:13:00 -0500 From: Michael Ditkoff <Michael.B.Ditkoff @USDOJ.GOV> Subject: Risking a "Yes" Annette Bickford wrote of an interesting experience of asking a teacher for a dance and having a horrible time because his lead was difficult to decipher. Without knowing any more information beyond the message, there are teachers who deliberately dance poorly and afterwards turn on the student and say "If you take lessons with me, I will have you dance like an Argentine." I remember one experience vividly. I asked a stranger to dance. It was like walking in cement. I couldn't move her, even if I had a bulldozer. She proceeded to give me a 15 minute lesson and then topped it off by telling me I should take lessons with her. Clearly, things are seldom what they seem.


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 15:32:30 EST From: Mitchell Levitan <WEDRIVEN @AOL.COM> Subject: Buenos Aires Expectations The plan was to sleep all day and dance all night. My expectations were to find a place where we could dance to live music several nights a week in a club where men and women dressed up for tango. These expectations were based in part on my experience in New York where several of the milongas feature live music along with recorded music on a regular basis. Reason suggested that if New York, with it's dozen or so salons, could feature trios and quartets Buenos Aires, birthplace of the tango, with its several dozen venues might provide perhaps a quintet or a sextet for both our listening and dancing pleasure. The other image that kindled the fire of my expectations was the scene in Saura's "Tango" where the director and choreographer go to the club where they discover their soon-to-be-featured dancer. If any of my fellow listeros share this notion in any way disabuse yourselves of it forthwith. While its true you can dance every night away into the madrugada (and we certainly did), you will be hard pressed to find any club or salon featuring live music for dancing, not even a bandoneon and a guitar. From our investigations it appears that Saura's club was a mere fiction invented to further the plot. Some milongueros say that the people like only to dance to the great orchestras of the golden age and disdain the music of small groups. Some say that it's the economic conditions that discourage the organizers from engaging live musicians. We were told that good musicians can't make a living in Buenos Aires and that to play they go abroad. I believe it's for all these reasons, yet some of the milongas had upwards of 400 people attending, eating and drinking and paying at the door. Many of places we went had bandstands big enough to accommodate a small combo and one or two even had pianos. Don't most musicians have day jobs and don't their motivations derive from other considerations than just making a living? The above expresses the only sour grape in my bunch and that grape wasn't all that sour. In the end we had danced our nights away to the music of the great orchestras of the "golden age". We had a chance to take instruction from superb teachers; we had sharpened our skills especially the one that has to do with navigating around an extremely crowded dance floor. The food and wine were excellent and inexpensive if not too varied, the city was beautiful and clean (though they could really use a" pooper-scooper" law), transportation was superb, the people friendly and helpful and then there was the tomb of Gardel. We just lucked out by going there on Sunday and were greeted with the most singular experience of our two weeks in the city. As I understand it every Sunday afternoon between the hours of 2 and 5 several members of the Gardel Society gather to pay homage at the tomb of Carlos Gardel. Tapes of his music are played on portable players or someone might drive up in a car, roll down the windows and play a CD. Flowers are laid. We were encouraged to have our pictures taken standing next to the life-sized bronze of Gardel that stands atop the crypt. The custom is to place a lit cigarette between the fingers of the statue. I could go on about the city and the people, but that's not tango. The point of this e-mail is that for anyone planning their first trip to Buenos Aires if you don't expect to dance to live music you wont be disappointed. Mitchell


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 13:57:48 -0700 From: Dave Schmitz <dschmitz @MAGELLAN.TEQ.STORTEK.COM> Subject: Re: Buenos Aires Expectations Mitchell, For live music in Buenos Aires, try Torquato Tasso on Friday nights. Back in April, they were having different bands play for our dancing pleasure. There is also a bookstore which features live tango music. Anyone recall its name and address? And, Salgan played once weekly at Club del Vino (did I get that name right?). After three sets by other musicians, all very good to excellent including Nestor Marconi, when Salgan struck the first keys, I knew I was hearing a genius. As for a "pooper-scooper law", it was interesting after leaving Torquato Tasso about the time the subways started up, to see people walking their dogs in a small park nearby which was clearly marked "no dogs". And the dogs were clearly doing their thing, without the owners collecting the deposits. People are people, no matter where, and 5am seems like a good time for the dogs. Back to the music, it was not a disappointment to me to dance to recorded music. I learned a lot from a couple DJs, and the experience improved my own DJ-ing here. They were very helpful, as were other Argentines, answering my many questions about the music they had selected. Dave (from Denver) > From owner-tango-l @MITVMA.MIT.EDU Mon Jan 10 13:35 MST 2000 > X-Comment: mitvma.mit.edu: Mail was sent by imo-d06.mx.aol.com > Mime-Version: 1.0 > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 15:32:30 EST > From: Mitchell Levitan <WEDRIVEN @AOL.COM> > Subject: Buenos Aires Expectations > To: TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU > > The plan was to sleep all day and dance all night. My expectations were to > find a place where we could dance to live music several nights a week <snip> > If any of my fellow listeros share this notion in any way disabuse yourselves > of it forthwith. While its true you can dance every night away into the > madrugada (and we certainly did), you will be hard pressed to find any club > or salon featuring live music for dancing, not even a bandoneon and a guitar. > From our investigations it appears that Saura's club was a mere fiction > invented to further the plot. <snip> > the city > was beautiful and clean (though they could really use a" pooper-scooper" > law), <snip> > I could go on about the city and the people, but that's not tango. The point > of this e-mail is that for anyone planning their first trip to Buenos Aires > if you don't expect to dance to live music you wont be disappointed. > > > Mitchell


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 17:28:49 -0500 From: SERGIO <SERGIO @NCINTER.NET> Subject: A man traveling alone in Argentina STEVE HOFFMAN wrote: >But, as for a man traveling >alone, there is practically no one in Argentina who has any evident >interest in meeting you, neither man nor woman. No one smiles. No one >says hello. It is a country where people don't look at or acknowledge e= ach >other on the street, on the subway, in caf=E9s, or anywhere. If you ask= them >directions, they are very polite; but, to try to "meet" someone .... I >find it nearly impossible. In fact, it has not been possible for me to >"break through" the barriers, in any sense of the word, in Argentina. > They are not bad, mean, or unable - they simply have the >least interest in strangers, the least interest in making contact with >someone new, that I have ever witnessed in all my travels. >The USA, Argentina, and Northern Europe >are not much different in terms of how newcomers are treated, as compare= d >to the "Latin", or more tropical, or friendly countries, whether these b= e >in the Americas or elsewhere. I remember that some time ago the same person wrote about the Argentinean food as being the worse he had found in the world; also he thought that Argentinean tango instructors were only motivated bu= y greed and contempt for the students. It is interesting that he is the only one in the whole world that has suc= h experiences. Because most other people, from the USA, Europe, Australia, New Zeeland, Japan, etc. seem to be having a great time and cannot wait t= o go back. Last year I met some from California that celebrated their 15th. tango trip to BS.AS. It is obvious, Steve that many Argentinean things do not meet your expectations. I wonder if the "cultural barrier" is in your own brain. My impression after having lived in Argentina, the USA and Europe: For Argentineans the most important things are, in order of importance, family, friends, work. An intense interest in the other human beings is always present. People go out to look at other passers by, as soon as you seat in a bench at the park somebody comes and tells you the story of his/her life. They continuously look at each other. The art of conversation is exerted every where and at any occasion. It does not take long after you meet somebody that you will= be invited to a barbeque, a coffee, or to go to the soccer games. The most extraordinary event I remember: I was traveling in the Argentine= an North-west; it was very hot and dry. I stopped at a gas station. While th= e attendant was pumping gas, I casually mentioned how much I would have lik= ed to take a bath in some of the rivers I was crossing; but unfortunately at this time of the year they were all dry. He suggested that his house nex= t door was available for me to take a shower if I wished. Charles Darwin traveling though Argentina in 1833 was impressed by the hospitality and generosity of the people. Although things are changing with the global economy, certain characteristics remain the same. Yes, it is true, in the big cities, worse in Buenos Aires, people do not smile or greet strangers. Argentinean women, in general are not interested in meeting tourists. The= y are like the tango, they go for the "feeling", more than for casual sex. Unless they are "GATOS", cats, ladies of the night. (High percentage of GATOS are foreigners). The last thought, in Argentina, you have to deserve friendship on your ow= n merits, as an interesting human entity. Friendship in those latitudes is given for free, there in no economical interest attached as it happens in other places. Gauchos give you friendship and do things for you without expecting anyth= ing in return. It is so true, that in Argentina when you want somebody to do something for you without any compensation you simply say " please Steve = do me the GAUCHADA" of trying to go beyond your stereotypes.


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 16:27:59 +0100 From: Jochen Herdel <j.herdel @T-ONLINE.DE> Subject: Re: DJs' concerns and the MP3 option Dear Peter, > This leads me to the technical question I have not yet resolved: > is it possible to attach external ATAPI discs to laptops? For instance > via the parallel port? Because, we have not yet decided on the > equipment we want to buy and it should be as cheap as possible. Of > course, we will also use the same laptop for standard > administrative work on place. I would not bother with the laptop option. IMHO the laptop solution would be far too expensive with probably poor music quality (depending very much on the quality of the built-in soundcard). There are already players on the market that have the quality of a good hifi component (e.g. cd player, amplifier), can play CDs with normal audio files as well as CDs with mp3 files AND have the option to build in a normal (cheap!) harddisk with, let's say, 20 GB or more. These players of course can handle playlists. The best one I've seen beeing advertised so far is the "Terratec M3Po": http://www.terratec.de It can be bought (in Germany & other european countries) f.ex. at Vobis superstores. Hope this helps? Jochen -- e-mail: mailto:j.herdel @gmx.de im WWW: http://home.t-online.de/home/j.herdel


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 20:21:28 -0500 From: Ira Goldstein <eyegee @LIGHTLINK.COM> Subject: Carlos & Alicia videos Hi, folks-- Anyone have a source for the videos recently released featuring Carlos & Alicia? Thanks in advance for any info, --Ira Ithaca, NY


Great Dancing: <<...the Highest Intelligence in the Freest Body.>> (Isadora Duncan)





Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 22:03:53 EST From: Timothy Pogros <TimmyTango @AOL.COM> Subject: Carlos and Alicia Video Tell them Timmy sent you <A HREF="http://www.junglefilms.com/T_TangoFS.htm">Ca rlos and Alicia</A>


Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 22:04:11 -0700 From: Tom Stermitz <stermitz @CSN.NET> Subject: Re: DJs' concerns and the MP3 option >Steve responded to Peter: > >The use of compressed files and a computer sound card results in a >degradation in sound quality--which is perceptible particularly if >the associated equipment is of high quality. > >An alternative that would yield higher sound quality would be to use >a pair of computer-controlled multi-disc CD players. If one >desired, one could still rely heavily on pre-arranged tandas on >home-compiled CDs. > > >You DJs of Tango out there, do you already use a system of > >classification (calm, funny, dramatic, hall emptier, ...????), do > >you rely solely on the intuitive database in your head? How do you > >do it? > >When I DJ, which is infrequently, I show up with about 50 tandas >pre-recorded from my own collection of CDs. I play only these >tandas, but I select which tanda to play based upon what I perceive >as the mood of the dancers and my own knowledge of the music. > >--Steve de Tejas Some recording systems are really, REALLY awful. They cut off the end of the song as the sustain dies into silence or if there is a pause before the final chord of a Tanturi piano. I know of DJs whose entire collection has been compressed into un-listenable on mini disks....whummp, whummp, and then just when you are ready for the final pose, the song stops without getting there. Attention to quality is very important, especially since so many important tango music is poorly recorded to begin with: Computers can work, but the demands of audio require the hard to NEVER pause even momentarily. Some not-so-old computers don't use "audio-qualified" hard drives. In particular laptops have power conservation programs that try to "rest" the mechanical parts whenever possible. So you have to investigate this. Steve refers to the artistic sensibility of the DJ. It really is impossible to pre-record a quality milonga ahead of time. The mood changes. Your mood changes. Your mood was wrong when you set it up. You realize that energy has flagged so you have to shift to salsa for one song, before hitting the Pugliese you intended. I have never seen a pre-recorded milonga that worked. Practice can be fine, but not a pre-recorded milonga. But Steve offers a good alternative with pre-recorded sets. You need two CD players, so you can play the curtain music from some other CD while you pop in and program the next set. You can install a CD-ROM burner and a decent music editing program like Toast on your desktop. Going through your collection you can mark the good, the great and the interesting for each orchestra, and construct a CD of, for example, "Rhythmic Biagi Tangos" or "Romantic Fresedo/Ray" or "Merry-go-round DeAngelis Waltzes". It doesn't matter if you have 3 songs or 15, as the CD blanks are very cheap. Then you can program the CD player to play cuts 1, 4 & 5 for Tanda 1. With a little practice you can easily do the CD memory function in the 10 seconds of a curtain. These systems can also help you with that dreaded sound level problem. (Oh another complaint: curtains that go on and on. You want to give people a break, not destroy the energy of the evening.) But the final point is that no amount of technology can help a DJ who doesn't hear the music and feel the social energy of the room. I'm sure you have been there. Tom Stermitz 2612 Clermont St Denver, CO 80207 Chautauqua Publishing / Ragtime Interiors "On-Line Arts & Crafts Movement Resource Directory." (303) 388 - 2560 stermitz @ragtime.org http://www.ragtime.org/ragtime/ http://www.tango.org/dance/


End of TANGO-L Digest - 10 Jan 2000 to 11 Jan 2000 (#2000-10) *************************************************************