[Tango-L] Impact of 'Dancing with the Stars' on Tango Communities

[Ron Weigel]

Our local tango community (Urbana IL) got started in 1998, with a
group of about 15-20 regulars who participated in weekly practicas. It
was basically a mix of people who had started in ballroom dancing or
salsa. During the late 90s, an explosion of interest in swing fueled
the growth of other dance groups, particularly ballroom and salsa for
us, which eventually provided a jumpstart to get a critical mass to
maintain a tango community which now, 8 years later, has about 120-150
regular dancers. So this cultural fad was not bad.

It appears that 'Dancing with the Stars' has been a catalyst for
another population explosion in our dance commuities, with ballroom
being the initial recipient. However, tango appears to be benefiting
significantly from this growth as well. Susana and I decided to teach
2 beginner tango courses (on different nights) this fall. We did so in
anticipation of this increased interest in social dancing. It turns
out that our community has 6 different beginner tango courses to
choose from this fall, taught by 4 different instructor couples,
whereas for several years we have typically had only 2 beginner
courses, each one taught by a different couple. We have 25 students in
each of our beginner courses, which is right at our average, but
that's 50 students altogether instead of 25. I've heard one of the
other classes has similar numbers, and I expect that another
longstanding class has similar numbers, so instead of addin 50 or so
newcomers to a community in a 3 month period, I anticipate it will be
over 100. These increased numbers are undoubtedly due in part to the
increased attention given to couples dancing because of 'Dancing with
the Stars'.

What remains to be seen is the long term effect. We teach milonguero
style so those expecting flashy television moves may be disappointed.
On the other hand, I think many people are seeking dance classes just
to be social, because overall interest is up. Some of these will find
something satisfying, even it isn't flashy. On the other hand, we
could get flooded by hordes of 'Dancing with the Stars' wannabies (if
market forces become stronger than the desire to preserve a culture).
That too will die out because those personality types seeking an
instant fix of flashy tango will seek their thrills elsewhere a year
or so from now when media generated interest migrates to another
pasttime (perhaps poker or polka).

Ron
Urbana IL