3296  who pays at the milongas in Buenos Aires

Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 17:12:36 -0300
From: Janis Kenyon <jantango@FEEDBACK.NET.AR>
Subject: who pays at the milongas in Buenos Aires

Jay Rabe wrote:
But my question is, what is the custom in BsAs when Gustavo or Chicho or el
Pulpo show up at a milonga? And what about the less-well-known-in-the-US
teachers/dancers/maestros/milongueros?

Janis?
___________

Milonga organizers in Buenos Aires do not pay the entrada at other milongas.
This is an agreement among organizers.

Teachers in Buenos Aires do not pay the entrada to enter milongas. The
organizers are glad they came because they bring their students with them.
This said, teachers like Gustavo Naveira and Carlos Gavito certainly can
afford the entrada, but this is a courtesy extended to teachers in Buenos
Aires.

Many dancers are given passes to the milongas which they attend regularly.
They are friends of the organizer(s) and good dancers and/or don't have the
money to pay the entrada. Many of the men who go to dance every afternoon
wouldn't be able to go if they had to pay the entrada.


I know some milongueros who never pay the entrada in any milonga, and other
who always pay the entrada. It depends on individual circumstances.
Organizers realize that the presence of a few milongueros in their milonga
will attract the women who want to dance with them.

I pay the entrada wherever I go to dance in Buenos Aires. The milonga is
the organizer's work. Even though I am considered a regular, I gladly pay
the entrada to have hours of pleasure listening to the music and dancing.

Two years ago I travelled with a milonguero, who was my partner, to dance in
Denver, San Francisco and Miami. The only time we were asked to pay to
enter a milonga was in Denver at the Milonguero Labor Day Weekend.

Janis Kenyon
Buenos Aires