[Tango-L] Flaming women (re: ceverett)

[Gary Barnes]

Extracted (perhaps out of context)  from what Jake Spatz  
(TangoDC.com) wrote on 21/07/2007:
>
>  Most of us (I assume) can spot a
> permanent dropout in 5 minutes. Why pester them


I think that's the problem I see: we actually cannot, reliably.  And  
in fact many of the people I know who dance and love tango were  
initially put off by other aspects of their first encounter, not that  
they didn't like the dance. And the (slightly artificially  
constructed) welcome that they subsequently got, brought them in.

BTW this has nothing to do with financial gain -- I don't get any  
money from tango. Its my time I'm wasting, all I might get back is  
more people to dance with; and I choose to use some of my time being  
welcoming to newcomers. I make an effort to take away some of those  
obstacles at first impressions. And that doesn't necessarily mean  
sending them to lessons, especially as the first thing.

I can see how if someone is making money from teaching tango, and  
isn't interested in building this tango community, then they might be  
tempted to tout paid lessons even to people they know won't stick at  
it. I assume this happens in those ballroom studios that also teach  
tango.  But, those teachers don't even come to practicas and milongas  
-- they are not part of the tango community. The teachers who are,  
seem to take actually helping people get on the dance floor pretty  
seriously, and with some success.

But maybe welcoming people just matters more here, where there are so  
few of us. Eg here, there are maybe 40-50 tango regulars (of which  
maybe 20 are die-hards), maybe another 50 occasional attenders. And  
the next place where there is tango is 3 hours drive, and the place  
after that, 8 hours drive. So, if a couple of guys turn up at a  
practica and look interested, of course we try to bring them in!

Whereas in a place where you already have plenty of dancers, plenty  
of good dancers, and plenty of choices of tango activities, there is  
no longer a need to maximise these opportunities.  Maybe then you can  
rely on getting enough people in to keep things going, with only  
those with that heady mix of a driving desire to take up tango,  
together with abundant natural talent. I dream.

Cheers

Gary