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Confusion about milongas in Los Altos
I have been supporting Ruddy and Judith's Los Altos Milonga for several
years and I am a bit confused about the recently announced new milonga.
The people behind this new milonga are not forthcoming about who they are,
or if they are (or are not) affiliated with Ruddy and Judith's popular
milonga that has been held in this same location on Friday nights for more
than three years. They seem eager to capitalize on the goodwill within
the San Francisco Bay Area Tango Community that Ruddy and Judith have built
up with their milonga in this location. If one does not pay close
attention, one might believe that this new milonga date at the same locale,
with no clear sponsorship and without a name to distinguish it, that it is
perhaps the same milonga. Well, I'd like to make it perfectly clear that
this is clearly not the case!
Despite my clear and simple request to learn more about this new and
unknown group, I can't get anyone associated with the group to TELL who is
involved! I get sideways answers instead of straight forward ones. This
is not comforting. The only person (who publicly claims to be part of
this group) who gives his name is Steve Hoffman, (who posted the
announcement) but my research indicates that Steve isn't the person who is
putting on the milonga! Why is Steve fronting for someone else who is
actually putting on the milonga? Why does Steve give vague and incomplete
answers when asked, instead of publicly name the people in this
group? Does he want to lead folks to make our own inaccurate assumptions
about the group?
This new milonga is put on by a group (of mostly unknown member, except for
Steve) that call themselves a "society". What is a society?
http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=society
>so·ci·e·ty (s-s-t) n., pl. so·ci·e·ties. Abbr. soc., s., S.
>
> 1.
> a.The totality of social relationships among human beings.
> b.A group of human beings broadly distinguished from
> other groups by mutual interests, participation in
> characteristic relationships, shared
> institutions, and a common culture.
> c.The institutions and culture of a distinct
>self-perpetuating group.
> 2.An organization or association of persons engaged in a
> common profession, activity, or interest: a folklore
> society; a society of bird watchers.
> 3.
> a.The rich, privileged, and fashionable social class.
> b.The socially dominant members of a community.
> 4.Companionship; company: enjoys the society of friends and
> family members.
> 5.Biology. A colony or community of organisms, usually of the
> same species: an insect society.
>
>[French société, from Old French from Latin societs, fellowship, from
>socius, companion; see sekw-1 in Indo-European Roots.]
They do not appear to be "an organization or association of persons engaged
in a common profession, activity, or interest" since no organization
exists, there is no way to "join". Nor are they the established "socially
dominant members of a community" or they would have no reason to create
confusion about their group, their identities and their purpose - we would
already know them all and their express intent because they would be a
members of the established San Francisco Bay Area Tango Community to which
we all already belong. Their apparent need or desire for secrecy makes me
worry that there is some untoward objective that the group wishes to
disguise. This leaves me with a very unsettled feeling about this group
and their milonga.
Until I know a lot more about the members of this group, the structure of
this group, and their goals, I will not be supporting this new milonga.
Sigh. What is it about the San Francisco Bay Area Tango Community that it
always seems to need to have some AT controversy? What is it about AT that
draws in people who try to trick or bully their way into prominence, rather
than get along with those who have the respect and custom of the
established community?
jc