[Tango-L] chartered for growth

Tue May 9 15:46:26 EDT 2006

Hi Steve,

I am still analyzing the responses I have received,
but you do do bring up one interesting aspect.

Pittsburgh and Portland are also similar in that in
our cities, the tango events are centrally located. 
In Pittsburgh, the events are located within a mile or
two (there are now a total of five groups with two
groups providing the main activities).  Most
organizers live within two miles of each other.  

This proximity may have helped ease the conflict.  It
certainly made it easier for those who wanted to
support multiple groups during the early years of
conflict. It also kept the desire for unity alive for
nonorganizers within the community, as opposed to
accepting it as part of the landscape.

Trini de Pittsburgh

--- steve pastor <tang0man2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I have a few words about the Portland tango scene
> from the perspective of a community member, rather
> than an instructor or organizer. 
>   I consider myself to be very fortunate to be here.
> From the beginning I was told in classes that tango
> is a very broad subject, and there are many styles
> and ways of approaching it. Students were encouraged
> to study with other teachers and explore the
> possibilities .
>   For several years now, I have taken classes, and
> series of classes from many of the local
> instructors. They have all encouraged learning from
> other instructors, and attending events at other
> venues. While I am open to the possibility that
> there are many things happening in private, as a
> group the instructors and organizers of the Portland
> tango scene set a standard of civility and
> cooperation that is hard to match. 
>    
>   The relative sizes of Portland and Pittsburgh has
> come up in other venues, so let me share some facts
> I researched.
>     "While the city of Pittsburgh may be "only about
> 2/3 the size of Portland", and have a population of
> 334,000,compared to Portland's population of
> 529,000; citing these facts gives a very incomplete
> picture... . 
>   Cities are components of "agglomerations", or
> metropolitan area, defined as a central city and
> neighboring communities linked to it by continuous
> built-up areas or by many commuters. Proponents of
> urban areas frequently overlook this fact. The
> Pittsburgh agglomeration has a population of
> 2,358,695. The Portland area has a population of
> 1,918,009. So, when looking at populations of the
> total metropolitan areas, ... Portland is actually
> 19% smaller than Pittsburgh."
> 
>   
> 
> "Trini y Sean (PATangoS)" <patangos at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>   Several of our friends have started their own
> tango
> groups recently which has me wondering a few things
> about community building. Specifically, how to
> expand
> a community without going through a division within
> the community. Most of the second groups I know have
> faced animosity from the original group/instructor,
> which can take awhile to heal.
> 
> Theoretically, more groups should mean more growth
> and
> opportunities for a community. In smaller
> communities, though it can be perceived as a
> debilitating community division. 
> 
> So far the only city I know of that seems to have
> increased the number of independent
> instructors/groups
> without any animosity is Portland. I understand that
> much of that is due to Clay, who runs Octoberfest
> and
> Valentango. 
> 
> New York has also grown tremendously, but I suspect
> that the first places to dance tango had
> professional
> ballroom people who were already used to
> competition. 
> NYC is also huge, so I would think there wasn’t too
> much of an issue when multiple tango teachers began
> appearing. Does anyone know if that was the case?
> 
> Have other cities developed with multiple groups
> (not
> multiple instructors within the same group) in a
> healthy way? If this has happened in your community,
> was is it just by luck of personalities or had the
> original group planned for growth and possible
> offshoots (something written in the charter)? Or was
> it just a function of the size of the city?
> 
> This may have been discussed before, but I do not
> recall any discussion on specific measures that were
> taken by an original group before a second actually
> group formed. 
> 
> Thanks,
> Trini de Pittsburgh
> 
> 
> 
> PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society 
> Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh's
> most popular social dance. 
> http://www.pitt.edu/~mcph/PATangoWeb.htm
> 
> 
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam
> protection around 
> http://mail.yahoo.com 
> _______________________________________________
> Tango-L mailing list
> Tango-L at mit.edu
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
> 
> 
> 		
> ---------------------------------
> Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make  PC-to-Phone
> Calls using Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.
> _______________________________________________
> Tango-L mailing list
> Tango-L at mit.edu
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
> 

PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society 
Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh's most popular social dance. 
http://www.pitt.edu/~mcph/PATangoWeb.htm

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 