[Tango-L] Cortinas (not the old car from the '70s)

[Brian Dunn]

Dear list,

I *like* the function of the cortina as Neil and Nina describe it.  I've
frequently observed the events they describe in Buenos Aires milongas, and
appreciate the shared cultural context and social cohesion among the
attendees that contributes to this phenomenon. I especially enjoy the longer
cortinas in Buenos Aires, particularly with tandas of rhythmic tangos or
milongas, because, combined with the tradition of not starting to dance in
the first few bars of songs in mid-tanda, I get more "catch my breath" time
between songs - this lowers my frequency-of-shirt-changes ;).

I can very much appreciate Nina's emphasis on trying to pass along the best
of tango traditions in new social contexts.  But Nina, you must know that in
the diverse United States tango scene, the idea that a woman's rep would
suffer by staying with a partner across tanda boundaries is at best
considered quaint and at worst laughable.  Yet of course it makes sense in
the culture of classic BsAs milongas.  When you attend one, of course it's
useful to understand the codes in effect at that milonga. The same is true
for attending milongas in the USA.  When in Rome, right? Otherwise, social
communication breaks down, and everybody just gets confused everywhere. 

But returning to the original question: how long?  We've been offering
milongas in Boulder for five years, and Neil's rigid timeframe of 1.5
minutes per cortina doesn't seem appropriate, for one or more of the
following reasons, among others not listed: 
- Most people aren't sitting at tables, but are sitting right next to the
floor already
- most people aren't drinking wine
- most people aren't wearing glasses
- most leaders on the floor, at least, pretty much already know where their
next partners are.
Who knows, maybe next year will be different - we're still working on
getting people to enjoy using the cabeceo!

Personally, here in Colorado I try to lead by example as a social dancer,
following cortinas fairly strictly - but as a tango DJ, I provide cortinas
for the paying customers to use as they see fit, and adjust their length
dynamically:

> I think your suggestion is favourable with me, Christopher. Assess the 
> length required on a 'need-to-effect' basis.

I agree about the "need-to-effect" - but the effect I look for is when
people stop leaving the floor.  At our milongas, usually from 10 to 30
percent of the couples will stay together at a Cortina, depending on time of
night, music in the previous set (almost everyone changes after an energetic
milonga set) or expected music in the next set (while we often honor
requests, we post projected playlists at our milongas so people know what's
coming up, more or less).  

When the couples remaining on the floor show no sign of transitioning to new
partners (i.e., they're standing together waiting for the music to start
again), that cortina has had as much effect as it will have with that group
of tango customers at that point, and any further "browbeating" by drawing
out the cortina, as a spank-from-the-DJ or something, is likely to be
interpreted as unnecessarily didactic, no fun, inappropriately parental, and
otherwise not contributing to an atmosphere to which our patrons would want
to return. So, ramp down the volume, hit "next" and continue. Who knows,
maybe next year will be different... 

It's probably worth mentioning that our cortina tracks are all about one
minute in length, including pre-engineered fade-out at the end, and I've
never needed to go beyond for this above-described transition to occur.  If,
as a host/DJ, I get momentarily distracted from strict attention to this
transition effect, I can also rest assured that, in our experience, everyone
could tolerate up to one minute without ill effect.  

All the best,
Brian Dunn
Dance of the Heart
Boulder, Colorado USA
www.danceoftheheart.com
"Building a Better World, One Tango at a Time"