2886 Ways to Kill Tango In Your Community: A Handbook
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2004 18:58:50 EDT
From: sherpal1@AOL.COM
Subject: Ways to Kill Tango In Your Community: A Handbook
There are other wonderful ways to kill a community, that are equally
successful:
-No matter how big the available dancing space, the organizer compels his
attendees to only dance milonguero style. In Buenos Aires they laugh that
foreigners force their communities to dance inside chair corales to get used to
being on top of one another, when there maybe only 20 people dancing in an
otherwise huge space.
-Tell your attendees they can't talk to each other while dancing
-Forbid exchange of phone numbers and emails so that no one can form
friendships or bonds outside of the organizer's milonga
-Advertise milongas and then contact certain dancers and tell them they are
not invited or allowed to come
-Weed out all the best dancers through intimidation and coercion so that the
organizer always appears to be the best dancer
-BE constantly suspicious and paranoid that your members are stealing away
your members or trying to become their teachers
-Make sure that exclusiveness and eliteness is the way you elevate yourself
and exclude your perceived competitors. Create as many events, activities and
offereings as possible to gobble up all the tango energy in a community,
leaving members exhausted and depleted so that they cannot support other community
activities.
-Make competition and adversarialsm rather than cooperation and coordination
the core mission of your tango group.
THese things work real "good" too and I know some people who could write the
anti-tango-community handbook.. Don't You?
La Marocha
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2004 02:32:41 -0500
From: "Christopher L. Everett" <ceverett@CEVERETT.COM>
Subject: Re: Ways to Kill Tango In Your Community: A Handbook
I can believe people do this kind of stuff -- this is what we've had to
deal with, and I leave out the worst of it here:
1. Dance something that doesn't look like any tango anyone's ever seen
(mix elements of West Coast Swing, foxtrot and other ballroom dances
with tango).
2. Make sure to claim "all forms of tango are welcome" in your
community. This means American and International Ballroom Tango, not
just your usual close embrace/milonguero/apilado vs. Nuevo Tango
tension.
3. Start beginners off by having them "walk creatively". Make sure they
don't know anything about the music, and make sure they don't know
about any fundamentals at all.
4. When someone clearly can benefit from a little (or a lot of)
coaching, say nothing at all or tell them they're doing great, but
make sure not to tell them anything that might result in their
improvement.
5. Make double sure never to mention ideas like "line of dance" and "no
back steps" so you don't get held accountable for your lousy habits.
6. At practicas, turn the lights lights down and arrange the music (half
of which is either undanceable or dreary crap) into tandas, as if it
was a milonga.
7. Play Enya, and call it "Nuevo Tango". Play music where the beat gets
submerged for a couple of measures at a time, and say that beginners
have to learn to hear the beat. Play "alternative" tango lacking the
musical structure of tango.
8. When you've been dancing tango for less than 6 months, ignore
feedback good dancers with years of experience give you about music
choices for practicas, and how to go about starting beginners off.
9. Be sure to show up at practicas wearing black leather pants and vest.
Make sure that everyone gets it that you're a bondage & discipline
freak. Make the odd sexual innuendo here and there.
10. Make a fuss over new women, leave new men on their own, unless some
more experienced pays attention to them.
11. When a man is coaching another man on a step or technique, sabotage
the coach by following the coachee around, saying "I got a real live
girl here! Wouldn't you rather dance with a real live girl?"
12. When a group of people have finally had it and split off into their
own practice arrangement, use your email newsletter to minimize and
belittle them and misinform others about their their practica.
>There are other wonderful ways to kill a community, that are equally
>successful:
>
>-No matter how big the available dancing space, the organizer compels his
>attendees to only dance milonguero style. In Buenos Aires they laugh that
>foreigners force their communities to dance inside chair corales to get used to
>being on top of one another, when there maybe only 20 people dancing in an
>otherwise huge space.
>
>-Tell your attendees they can't talk to each other while dancing
>
>-Forbid exchange of phone numbers and emails so that no one can form
>friendships or bonds outside of the organizer's milonga
>
>-Advertise milongas and then contact certain dancers and tell them they are
>not invited or allowed to come
>
>-Weed out all the best dancers through intimidation and coercion so that the
>organizer always appears to be the best dancer
>
>-BE constantly suspicious and paranoid that your members are stealing away
>your members or trying to become their teachers
>
>-Make sure that exclusiveness and eliteness is the way you elevate yourself
>and exclude your perceived competitors. Create as many events, activities and
>offereings as possible to gobble up all the tango energy in a community,
>leaving members exhausted and depleted so that they cannot support other community
>activities.
>
>-Make competition and adversarialsm rather than cooperation and coordination
>the core mission of your tango group.
>
>THese things work real "good" too and I know some people who could write the
>anti-tango-community handbook.. Don't You?
>
>
>La Marocha
>
>
>
>
>
--
Christopher L. Everett
Chief Technology Officer www.medbanner.com
MedBanner, Inc. www.physemp.com
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2004 11:48:21 -0700
From: Larry Gmucs <dance_ala_time@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Ways to Kill Tango In Your Community: A Handbook
Proclaim yourself to be a Tango authority.
Unilaterally judge who is a good dancer.
Send childish messages about those out of your favor.
Don't experiment with things that might attract new
people to the community.
_______________________________
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2004 12:13:54 -0700
From: Larry Gmucs <dance_ala_time@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Ways to Kill Tango In Your Community: A Handbook
Moracha,
mea culpa
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