4463  Dance quality in Buenos Aires

Date: Fri, 07 Jul 2006 13:54:33 -0300
From: Deby Novitz <dnovitz@lavidacondeby.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] Dance quality in Buenos Aires
To: tango-l@mit.edu

On my first trip here in 2000 I was in awe. To me everyone knew how to
dance, everyone knew the music. Now I know that is not true. As my own
dancing progressed and changed, so did the partners I danced with. The
men I thought danced like angels even 2 years ago are no longer suitable
of partners for me.

I still find plenty of men to dance with. Maybe not everyone has the
style you want to dance, but there are still good dancers. What I find
is that maybe not everyone will want to dance with you, for whatever
reason. Maybe you don't want to dance with them. Overall, the quality
of dancing here is way better than anywhere else I have ever been.

What is different here is that more people are coming here to dance, and
more locals are learning. In the past if you didn't dance well you went
to a practica. Now people throw themselves into the floor with vigor.
People come from other countries (Not just the U.S.) and think they are
going to show the Argentines how well they dance by doing ganchos and
boleos in the middle of a milonga floor. At certain times of the year
there are more people here than others. The floors are actually
dangerous. Many of us stay away from the milongas during CITA or
realize we will not dance.

As one progresses regardless of where you live, there are less people
for you to dance with. I never thought I would say that about here.
But sigh.....

Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 10:53:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: NANCY <ningle_2000@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Dance quality in Buenos Aires
To: Deby Novitz <dnovitz@lavidacondeby.com>
Cc: tango-l <tango-l@mit.edu>

Thanks, Deby, for confirming my feelings. I have
been going to BsAs annually ( in June) for 8 years and
staying for a month. I agree: one's expectations
rise as one is exposed to better dancers. Also, I
think the closing of the milongas for nearly a year
affected the habits of the dancers. I now have to go
to 2 or 3 milongas each afternoon to find the partners
I like. Instead of staying for 5 hours, the guys all
go home after 2-3 hours. I suspect their wives found
out their 'afternoon jobs' disappeared when the
milongas closed. ;-)

I really look forward to the special weekends here in
the States. I get, in one weekend, as many quality
dances as I do in BsAS, and creative ones at that!
Unfortunately, those special weekends are far away and
infrequent. Denver on Labor Day is the next one for
me.

There are some younger dancers coming up in the
milongas, but they seem to have a predilection for
hustling instead of dancing. They immediately want to
sell lessons or escort services or get an invitation
to come to the States. This from guys who are mediocre
dancers at best. And then there is Confiteria Ideal
which charges tourists twice the entrance fee as they
do locals in spite of the fact that almost no one goes
there anymore.

I love the city of BsAS and I relish in the venues and
the music and the cabaceos and the chamuyos of the
tangueros. Is it worth the expense? It is getting
harder to decide.

Nancy





--- Deby Novitz <dnovitz@lavidacondeby.com> wrote:

> On my first trip here in 2000 I was in awe. To me
> everyone knew how to
> dance, everyone knew the music. Now I know that is
> not true. As my own
> dancing progressed and changed, so did the partners
> I danced with. The
> men I thought danced like angels even 2 years ago
> are no longer suitable
> of partners for me.
>
> I still find plenty of men to dance with. Maybe not
> everyone has the
> style you want to dance, but there are still good
> dancers. What I find
> is that maybe not everyone will want to dance with
> you, for whatever
> reason. Maybe you don't want to dance with them.
> Overall, the quality
> of dancing here is way better than anywhere else I
> have ever been.
>
> What is different here is that more people are
> coming here to dance, and
> more locals are learning. In the past if you didn't
> dance well you went
> to a practica. Now people throw themselves into the
> floor with vigor.
> People come from other countries (Not just the U.S.)
> and think they are
> going to show the Argentines how well they dance by
> doing ganchos and
> boleos in the middle of a milonga floor. At certain
> times of the year
> there are more people here than others. The floors
> are actually
> dangerous. Many of us stay away from the milongas
> during CITA or
> realize we will not dance.
>
> As one progresses regardless of where you live,
> there are less people
> for you to dance with. I never thought I would say
> that about here.
> But sigh.....
>

<<Rito es la danza en tu vida
y el tango que tu amas
te quema en su llama>>
de: Bailarina de tango
por: Horacio Sanguinetti