3964 Friendly Tango Communities
Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2005 11:04:13 EST
From: FRSASSON@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: Friendly Tango Communities
MIAMI, paradise with Tango and Sun.
No bickering between the organizers of our Milongas,, but because of the
always present EGO of Tango dancers throughout the world, some small amount of
people decide not to go to a particular milonga or another because of personal
reasons of one or more members of their group. totally unrelated to tango.
That doesn't change the fact that we have the friendliest milongas, and
every visitor is always treated as if he or she were part of our family.
People always ask me, "where are you going on vacation"?
My answer is, "other than Buenos Aires, once every two years, why should I
go anywhere when the whole world comes to Miami on vacation"
And having this magnificent weather (OK diehards 90% of the time, except for
a hurricane here or there) so, we hereby invite every tanguero and tanguera
in the world to come and take advantage of our sun, our sand and ocean, and
the friendliest milongas you will find anywhere....Call me, I'll pick you up
and take you there.
Frank Sasson
Miami, Florida
P.S.
most of you have my phone number, but if you don't, E-mail me and I'll send
it to you.
Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2005 19:30:19 EST
From: Polly McBride <ATANGO2@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Friendly Tango Communities
Hello El,
Come visit us in Portland Oregon!
One of the principle reasons our Tango Fest in October (over 500 at the
Grande Ball and over 300 at 5 days of workshops) and Valen Tango in February (about
2/3 the size of T/F) are so successful is because of the cooperation,
respect, and affection our founding members, teachers and community members have for
each other. That's not to say we always agree on philosophy, style or
procedures, but from the beginning our goals have been to enjoy, understand, accept
the many styles of, and promote tango.
Clay Nelson set high standards for building a cooperative tango community 12
years ago that have stood the test of time. In fact, all 30 or so Portland
teachers are meeting tomorrow to discuss how to better promote tango in
Portland, how to better support each other's events, and to dine, dance and enjoy each
other's company.
Our love for the dance, its music and culture, is the driving force behind
our joined efforts. Each of us brings positive energy to the community and
together we have created an entity that we are privileged and proud to be a part
of. This is reflected in our enthusiastic welcoming of new members and
visitors.
Check out claysdancestudio.com and PortlandTango.com and please write again
after you visit us. :-)
Polly McBride
All Things Argentine Tango
https://members.aol.com/atango2/
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 11:30:52 +0100
From: Christian Lüthen <christian.luethen@GMX.NET>
Subject: Re: Friendly Tango Communities
On 6 Nov 2005 at 19:30, Polly McBride wrote:
> In fact, all 30 or so Portland
> teachers are meeting tomorrow to discuss how to better promote tango in
> Portland, how to better support each other's events,
That's probably *the* reason for the success of PDX-tango: teachers
support each other instead of strugling against ...
... you can feel this atmosphere at their events (and I really pity myself for
not having been able to attend Oktoberfest this year): such a friendly and
welcoming community!
Christian
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 12:30:11 -0500
From: Richard deSousa <mallpasso@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Friendly Tango Communities
Another problem which fractures tango communities is the way teachers
zealously guard their students so they don't stray and learn from
another teacher in the same community. When this happens usually
conflicts arise. But it's precisely the way beginners and intermediate
dancers can improve because being stuck with the same teacher only
stunts the growth of the dancers.
El Bandito de Tango
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 11:30:52 +0100
Subject: Re: [TANGO-L] Friendly Tango Communities
On 6 Nov 2005 at 19:30, Polly McBride wrote:
> In fact, all 30 or so Portland
> teachers are meeting tomorrow to discuss how to better promote tango
in
> Portland, how to better support each other's events,
That's probably *the* reason for the success of PDX-tango: teachers
support each other instead of strugling against ...
... you can feel this atmosphere at their events (and I really pity
myself for
not having been able to attend Oktoberfest this year): such a friendly
and
welcoming community!
Christian
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 17:56:03 +0000
From: Jay Rabe <jayrabe@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Friendly Tango Communities
IMO one of the reasons Portland has such a cohesive atmosphere is due
to Bill Alsup. Bill was one of the dozen or so original dancers who started
with Clay Nelson 12 years ago. At some point he created a webpage,
www.PortlandTango.com, where all events in Portland are listed. In addition,
all teachers in Portland are listed. Many other teachers and organizers have
their own webpages too, but no one has tried to compete with Bill at being
the "one-source" for listing events and available instructors. This single
thing, his webpage, creates a sense of unity in the community.
All teachers and instructors encourage their students to be aware of
and use his webpage to keep up to speed on what's happening in Portland.
This means that any student can easily see and contact other instructors, so
the possessiveness of an instructor for their students is automatically
minimized.
An interesting side-note: My understanding from several sources is
that, at least in the past, Argentine masters who took on a pupil often
demanded that they study with no one else. While there may be some
possessiveness at the root of that, there probably is some validity too.
It's a common phenomenon at tango festivals for a student to take classes
with different instructors who give flatly contradictory advice on
technique. This can be confusing, to say the least. It's arguable whether
such confusion significantly delays or damages a student's progress in the
long run, but regardless staying with just one maestro avoids that
confusion. The festival format that is used here in the USA of having many
instructors certainly gives students the opportunity to sample different
approaches and ultimately pick those instructors and techniques that work
for them.
J in Portland
www.TangoMoments.com
----Original Message Follows----
Sent: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 11:30:52 +0100
Subject: Re: [TANGO-L] Friendly Tango Communities
On 6 Nov 2005 at 19:30, Polly McBride wrote:
>In fact, all 30 or so Portland
>teachers are meeting tomorrow to discuss how to better promote tango
in
>Portland, how to better support each other's events,
That's probably *the* reason for the success of PDX-tango: teachers
support each other instead of strugling against ...
... you can feel this atmosphere at their events (and I really pity myself
for
not having been able to attend Oktoberfest this year): such a friendly and
welcoming community!
Christian
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 20:00:45 +0000
From: El Mago <elmago@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Friendly Tango Communities
Polly ,
Sorry I don't mention it in my original email to the list. I have been there
on a number of Tangofest and Valentango occasions.You are right. Portland is
a very friendly community. Which porbably accounts for the amount of
Tangueros young and old in Portland. Especially refreshing is the young
population.
El
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 18:48:19 -0600
From: "Christopher L. Everett" <ceverett@CEVERETT.COM>
Subject: Re: Friendly Tango Communities
Richard deSousa wrote:
> Another problem which fractures tango communities is the way teachers
> zealously guard their students so they don't stray and learn from
> another teacher in the same community. When this happens usually
> conflicts arise. But it's precisely the way beginners and
> intermediate dancers can improve because being stuck with the same
> teacher only stunts the growth of the dancers.
Or, when you have an open embrace vs close embrace culture war.
Or, when a towns only teacher treats the tango community like a farmer
treats his herd of cows. Actually, that only stunts community growth,
sort of like doing a bonsai number on it. The community gets fractured
when an outsider calls bullshit.
Or, when somebody perceives promoting tango workshops as a way
to make money (ha!) and then decides tango should be a "socialist"
enterprise.
The common thread through all of this is control. Tango communities
are entities unto themselves, like a plant. In many ways they are beyond
control. Sure you can nourish one, you can help it grow faster, but you
can't decide to make it a certain kind of community, you can't make it
give you a living. All you can do is help one grow, and perhaps shape
it a bit over time.
--
Christopher L. Everett
Chief Technology Officer www.medbanner.com
MedBanner, Inc. www.physemp.com
