[Tango-L] Rampant serious misunderstandings about "Gustavo"

[Meredith Klein]

Your points are valid, Huck, and there's also this:  Gustavo and
Giselle travel with their two small children (who are about 2- and
5-years old) and their baby-sitter.  Whereas generally organizers pay
for the travel of a single teacher or a couple, here they are paying
for travel and accommodation for five!  Of course that has to be
reflected in the cost of the workshops.  The fact that organizers are
still dying to book them is one sign of how important this couple is
to tango worldwide.

Here's another thought for everyone sitting at home in the US or
Europe or wherever and passing judgment on Gustavo and Giselle.  Here
in Buenos Aires, there is pretty much only one class that people who
teach and dance tango professionally will consider going to:  that of
Gustavo & Giselle.  Most of the year, Gustavo & Giselle teach
foreigners both in (excellent) seminars here in Buenos Aires and in
workshops in Europe and the US.  But because Gustavo has been one of
the main forces in tango education here for over 20 years (my husband
started studying with him as a child 20 years ago this November), he
still makes it a priority to offer classes for locals two months a
year at local prices (this year, $20AR per class).  The classes take
place in La Manufactura Papelera in San Telmo and are attended by
about 100 people.  The level of the students ranges from
beginner/intermediate to advanced to international professionals
working in tango for more than 15 years.

In a community where competition is rampant and people are hesitant to
acknowledge each other's skills, knowledge and success, the reverence
with which most of the tango community here in Buenos Aires views
Gustavo is exceptional.

On 26/07/07, Huck Kennedy <huck at eninet.eas.asu.edu> wrote:
> Chris UK writes:
> > I'll pass, thanks. But others hereabouts might like to know of his
> > forthcoming "first Volcadas & Colgadas Tango Seminar in Europe".
> >
> > For beginners upwards. At $750 per person.
> >
> > Yes, you read that correctly. Details at http://tinyurl.com/273mqu .
>
>      The course is actually 550 euros for 20 hours.  550
> divided by 20 is 27.5 euros per hour.  By way of comparison,
> the classes at the upcoming Moscow Tango Festival are an hour
> and fifteen minutes and retail for 30 euros apiece.  But if
> you buy a lot of them and pay in advance, that goes down to
> 24 euros per class, plus they throw in the milongas.  So
> 27.5 euros per hour is perhaps a bit pricy, but not
> outrageous, at least by what apparently are normal European
> standards for group classes from traveling professionals.
>
>      The main problem is that a dollar used to be steadily
> equivalent to a euro, within a penny or two.  That's where
> it was at the end of Clinton's term as US President.  Now,
> under George Bush, six years and countless dead bodies
> later, it costs $750 to take the same course that would
> have been $550, before George Bush decided to ring up the
> largest deficit in US history by dumping billions of our
> money (not to mention thousands of our lives and limbs)
> into his sinkhole in Iraq, making our currency more and more
> like toilet paper with each passing day.  But hey, what am
> I complaining about, at least I still have all of my arms
> and legs.
>
>      So let's not lay the blame for the outrageousness of
> $750 on Gustavo Naveira's doorstep, shall we.
>
> Huck
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