[Tango-L] Nino Bien

[Nina Pesochinsky]

I remember a quote, but don't know where it was from, maybe a movie. 
"Those damn foreigners have been ruining things for us ever since we 
came to this country!".  Doe anyone one know the exact line and where 
it was from?

Foreigner in BsAs are a great thing for the economy, good for tango 
business, and really bad news for the quality of the milongas.

Foreigners bring with them anxieties that belong to their own 
cultures, as well as nervous energy to dance a lot in a short time 
that they are there.  If they live in BsAs, it is differnt.  The 
foreign dancers who live in BsAs are calm and blend with the 
Argentine flow of the milongas.  But those who are there for only a 
couple of weeks, show up with anxiety to dance as much as possible, 
which changes the values placed on dacing in the milongas.

In my experience, milongas that are overwhelmen by foreigners are 
anxious, nervous milongas that do not have the intensity and danger 
of a true Argentine milonga.  They are boring.  Foreigners dance with 
technical precision and no passion, ad that is a cultural handicap 
that cannot be changed by just talking about it.

The point of going to BsAs is to live and breath the culture that 
gave rise to tango, to absorb the energy and the feel without word, 
to experience something that cannot be experienced any place 
else.  To be surrounded by the foreigners and the feeling and their 
own culture that they bring to tango, one does not need to go to 
BsAs.  He/she can just stay in their own countries.

Best,

Nina





At 07:49 AM 2/2/2008, Clif Davis wrote:
>Since the overall attitude seems to be "anti-foreigners" and how they are
>ruining the dance and milonga's, I think ALL foreigners should stop going to
>BsAs and that would solve the problem. I mean, they obviously don't enjoy us
>coming there and spending money, so, let's go somewhere where we will be
>treated with some modicum of respect.
>
>But hey, that is just the old guy from Texas.
>clif
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: tango-l-bounces at mit.edu [mailto:tango-l-bounces at mit.edu] On Behalf Of
>Nina Pesochinsky
>Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2008 8:33 AM
>To: Tango-L at mit.edu
>Subject: [Tango-L] Nino Bien
>
>When Nino Bien just started, it was a lovely, elegant
>milonga.  People were very excited.  I remember when in the whole
>place there would be maybe only 5-6 foreign dancers.  In August,
>there would be more because of the European vacations, but not many
>more.  This was around 1998-99.
>
>Then things began to change.  As the number of foregners increased
>everywhere, there became more and more of them at Nino Bien.  Now it
>is a boring sitting milonga where the Argentine dancers go to hang
>out with their friends and see their foreign students.  Most refuse
>to dance for fear of being hit on the head with someone's heel or
>something like that.  There are usually more foreigners at Nino Bien
>than the Argentines.  But this is a trend of all evening milongas and
>one has to be creative in his/her search for the real milonga without
>the foreigners.  Such milongas do exist.
>
>However, the restaurant downstairs at Nino Bien serves exquisite food
>and deserts, which you can order upstairs at the milonga are also great.
>
>NIna
>
>_______________________________________________
>Tango-L mailing list
>Tango-L at mit.edu
>http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
>
>__________ NOD32 2844 (20080201) Information __________
>
>This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
>http://www.eset.com
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Tango-L mailing list
>Tango-L at mit.edu
>http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l