Re: [TANGO-L] Community growth...Teacher Challenge

[Bruce Stephens <bruce @CENDERIS.DEMON.CO.UK>]

Ramu Pyreddy <rpyreddy @EECS.UMICH.EDU> writes:

> On a related note -
>
> Maybe this was discussed in this list before.  But why is that
> swing, ballroom and salsa communities are thriving whereas tango
> communities are always struggling to survive - let alone grow. Salsa
> clubs and ballroom studios can be found in small cities and big
> towns - so obviously it is economically feasible, whereas clubs
> dedicated to only tango are rare - (extinct as a matter of fact,
> TangoNadamas in Chicago just got closed - it is a shame).

The comparison with salsa (and swing in the US, I guess) is an
interesting one: why are they so much more popular than tango?

The comparison with ballroom is less interesting.  At least in the UK,
ballroom dancing has a quite different feel to it: many people who
take ballroom classes never dance it socially, and the vast majority
don't dance it socially regularly.  And the expectation seems to be
set appropriately: ballroom dancing is taught in a way that will get
you through medal tests (and for a small minority, there's competition
tuition), but it's typically not much about social dancing.

So that's how ballroom studios get through: they teach quite large
numbers of people how to get through various tests (by teaching
memorized routines, along with some amount of technique, although way
less than any decent AT teacher).  And often they get in significant
numbers of people who want to learn salsa; the salsa teaching demand
still seems quite high.

But there seems very little social ballroom dancing.  The various
schools run them, of course, but that seems to me more to be
practicing routines rather than actual social dancing.  (There's
sometimes even membership requirements before you can go to such
events, thus making it less likely you'll meet someone who wasn't
taught at that school.)

In contrast, here in London Argentine tango is based around the social
events.  I'm sure overall there are more ballroom dancers around, but
I know where I can find social tango, just about every night of the
week.

So why is tango less successful than ballroom dancing?  Probably as
much as anything an accident of history.  Because it's less
successful, in order to learn it you'll probably have to make a
serious effort (since decent classes are probably some way away).  And
then you'll find that it's hard, and it requires social dancing, and
the places to dance it socially are also some way away.

In contrast, it's probably much easier to take ballroom dance classes,
and you'll probably be able to dance it socially at the same nearby
dance school (as much as anybody dances it socially, anyway), and
there'll be a sense of progress because you'll be offered a
progression of exams to take, not to mention the obvious accumulation
of fancy steps.

None of that's anything like the thrill of social AT.  But how do you
catch people just as they're considering taking classes in ballroom
dancing?  How would you persuade them that they'd get more out of
travelling an extra hour for classes, and the same to dance socially,
and that they'll be regarded as beginners for at least six months,
probably more?

I guess an even more important question is what kind of people are
likely to end up as tango dancers?  Who should you market to, and how
can you do that?

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