4484  Milongas as business enterprises?

Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 00:37:59 -0300
From: Deby Novitz <dnovitz@lavidacondeby.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] Milongas as business enterprises?
To: tango-l@mit.edu

Nooooooooo, I don't think so. People who run milongas here rarely make
money and when they do, it is not that much. Especially now with
inflation. The organizer's rarely own the venue. Unless you do, you
pay rent, you pay for the wait staff, you pay for the linens on the
table, you pay for the glasses used at the bar, the DJ, etc. It doesn't
take much math to figure it out. You get 150 people who are in the
milonga. Not all of them pay. Teachers, other organizers, and a few
others never pay. Then some pay a reduced rate for whatever reason. So
out of that 150 maybe 120 pay. Depending on the milonga the entrance is
usually around 10 pesos. People leave and come, so let's say on a good
night the take is 1500 pesos...then subtract all the other stuff.
Hardly what I would call a lucrative business. People that organize
milongas in Buenos Aires do it for the same reason you guys do in your
community...you love the dance enough to provide a place for people to
dance. Some nights you do make money, but hardly enough to call it a
business...more a labor of love.

I started coming here in 2000, there was Ideal, El Beso, Canning,
Gricel, La Viruta, Nino Bien, El Arranque, (and others) and basically
there are still these places. There have been few new places. New
organizers in the same clubs on different days perhaps. There seems to
be this romantic notion about the "good old days." Kind of like my
parents waxing poetic about Frank Sinatra.

There are still some neighborhood milongas that don't make it to the
"book." On Fridays sometimes Roberto and I go to this milonga in
Avellneda. You will never find it. (Hey if Roberto didn't drive, I
would not find it.) It is a group of friends who rent a senior center
hall in a really crappy part of the town. Avellneda is a very poor
barrio(city) outside of Buenos Aires. Everyone knows everyone at this
milonga. You pay 2 pesos to offset the cost of the hall. There are
some drinks you can buy. The DJ brings his CDs and borrows from
friends. No fancy sound system here. This is more like friends getting
together. It isn't that you would not be welcome here, it is just this
is more like a private party. Believe me, no money made here. These
are few and far between.

I have spent many hours talking to people who have danced tango for 50
years or more. The milonga scene is much more than 12 years old.
Perhaps you did not know this, but during Argentina's dark years, the
government outlawed public gatherings of more than 10 people. Family
birthday parties that had more than 10 people needed a permit from the
police station or you could be hauled off to where ever. People were
not allowed to go to dance. In addition to the permits, there was a
curfew. This is what killed the dance halls on Corrientes.

The "dirty war" ended in 1983. Tango began to make a revival, so did
the milongas. This was a society that had to reinvent itself. Many
will tell you that they were proud to be Argentinians again. Part of
that was to revive the tango. Tango shows began to happen, classes
began to be taught. People have told me that it was mainly younger
people who went to learn the tango. The older people were still
fearful, and did not come back to the milongas until later. To this day
there is a nationalistic pride of tango to Argentinians whether they
like it or not.