827  Portland tangofest VI - Admiration and thanks

Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 16:21:16 -0800
From: Dan Boccia <redfox@ALASKA.NET>
Subject: Portland tangofest VI - Admiration and thanks

Having FINALLY recovered from Portland, Oregon’s tangofest I would like
to openly thank the Portland tango community for throwing an
extraordinary tango party. Organizing 6 milongas in 5 nights, each with
their own flavor (I felt like I was going to a different tango club
every night), literally dozens upon dozens of classes/instructors
throughout the day, performances, the live orchestra, lunch during the
classes and who knows what else is something that only a mature,
close-knit community with a great leader/organizer like Clay Nelson and
an all-inclusive attitude can accomplish. As far as I’m concerned, the
tangofest sets the standard for tango parties in North America. It is
an affordable, energetic, organized and contagious event, without undue
hype. It had a profound impact on my dancing and my outlook on tango in
general.

One thing that I noticed this year was that the dancing at the milongas
was VERY energetic. People were generally getting high dancing to great
tango music. My skin is still tingling at the sight of the sea of
dancers at the Viscount Sunday night packing the floor, from the outside
clear to the very center, filling the room to near-capacity. Once I
started dancing, I was even more impressed. The energy on the floor and
in the room was just electric. The other thing I noticed was that over
the course of the event, I enjoyed several hours of relatively
well-navigated dancing. There were a few periods of time in which chaos
reigned supreme and I know some people got hurt, but as the event
unfolded, everybody realized that they needed to find a way to dance in
close quarters or get off the floor. We don’t need a drill sergeant
telling us how to do it, we just need to create an energetic and
positive environment and let the magic unfold. I think the silent ones
who dance and navigate well (both leaders and followers) and transmit an
environment of “energetic calm” have more net positive effect on the
room than anyone, and this event attracted a lot of those people, from
Portland and all over the world. At one point I realized I was dancing
in such a trance to very romantic music that my eyes were closed half
the time, and I realized everyone around me was dancing in a similar
calm trance. On the other hand, there were a lot of times in which
really upbeat music was being played, and the dancers were literally
partying on the dance floor, making jokes to each other, laughing and
sharing a lot of bubbling, positive energy. It felt like a big family
on the dance floor.

And I must say that from my visitor’s perspective, over the course of
several dozens of nights dancing in Portland in the last 2 ½ years, I’ve
never once had my car towed and I’ve never even heard of this problem
until Andrew’s post.

I can hardly wait for Valentine’s Day, when we get to do it all over
again. Clay, and everyone else in Portland, I love you!!

Dan Boccia
Anchorage, AK