[Tango-L] How to Spot the tourist and other nonsense

[wendy gordon]

Dear Janis.
I read with interest your list on how to spot the tourist....

I am not sure if it is a humor piece (if it was an attempt at humor it
failed).
Or if it is the rantings of a bitter woman.

First as an introduction, I am a GRINGA, living in buenos aires.  I dance
well enough to be mistaken for a local, and count among my friends, teachers
and dance partners some of the world¹s best known and respected dancers.

I have read your postings with interest for years and your experience here
in buenos aires is so vastly different from mine, that I wonder if we are
even in the same city.  And for all of you readers outside of buenos aires
who believe that Janis is giving you a fly on the wall- oh to be in buenos
aires ­ narrative.. I have one word for you... OJO.

What I want to know is this...
DO YOU MAKE ANY MONEY FROM THE TANGO TOURISM INDUSTRY?
HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO BECOME THE ARBITER OF TASTE, CODES AND KEEPER OF THE
TANGUERO CREDO?

Your recent list of how to spot a tourist is the final straw for me.  It is
disrespectful to the people in buenos aires who make their living from
tango, it is disrespectful to the people who spend their hard earned cash on
their tango vacation, it is disrespectful to the teachers, the students and
the process.

Do not get me wrong.. I love the codes of the milonga.  And I learned them
by sitting down, shutting up and watching.
And to be sure, there is a lot about the tourists, their sometimes silly
behavior on the floor, their inability or unwillingness to dance in a
forward direction in a circle, and other typically touristicky things that I
don¹t love.  I hate the big pasos on the crowded floor, I hate the men who
don¹t apologize after bumping in to someone, I laugh with you at the silly
people in the silly hats who dance to the cortinas or the lovebirds who
stand in the middle of an empty pista not noticing that the floor has
cleared.. I loath the commercialization of an art form too...

But the nerve of you... You were a tourist here once, and a beginning tango
dancer as well.  As a foreigner here you will always be an outsider, no
matter who you know, what level of tango star you dance with, or whose table
you are sitting at. The tango tourism business is GOOD for argentina.  The
growth of tango around the world is good for tango.  The tango tourism
industry is the largest growth sector in the argentinean economy. How much
money comes into this once failing economy?  And how many people pay their
rent, feed their kids and support their families off this business?

Your how to spot a tourist list is RIDICULOUS... I could make one for how to
spot an american tourist in paris, or a japanese tourist in new york..  Yes,
there are stereotypes, yes it can be amusing to see how awkward people can
be when they suddenly appear in a foreign place outside of their comfort
zones.. But you take this proprietary attitude as if to say... Hey I am an
american who has figured it all out here, and woe is be to any of you who
don¹t follow my rule book.  You will NEVER be the keeper of these codes..
They aren¹t yours to begin with. So stop forcing all this false information
and opinionated nonsense down the throats of people who only have you as
their eyes and ears here.  It angers me to think that you are their best
source of what is it like here in buenos aires.

As to your list... In an effort to offer a counter opinion.. I will go line
by line.

They arrive wearing a backpack.
THURSDAY NIGHT AT NINO BIEN, 4 of my  argentinean friends who dance in a
local tango show all showed up with backpacks.  They were coming directly
from their show.

They change their shoes at the table.
THE SHOE CHANGE THING IS A CUSTOM AMONG MOST LOCALS ­ SOME CHANGE THEIR
SHOES IN THEIR CAR IF THEY HAVE ONE.  IT IS NOT CONSIDERED BAD FORM TO
CHANGE SHOES AT THE TABLE..

They wear black t-shirts and cargo pants.
BLACK T SHIRTS ­ well, I am not going to count the number of portenos in
black shirts.. But the cargo pants thing is more of a style among locals.
Please refer back to the previous conversation on tango ­L about nuevo
tango.

They arrive after a class wearing the same clothes and no deodorant.
People sweat Janis.. It is hot in buenos aires..Not every milonga is air
conditioned. And not every milonga is a tour de force of fashion.. Even when
people have showered and changed their clothes.

They are shy about making direct eye contact in order to dance.
People ARE SHY.. Direct eye contact is scary.. Ask young locals to tell you
what it feels like for them to LEARN the cabeceo

They walk across the floor to meet their partner.
Milongueros also walk across the floor if space and time allows or requires

They accept verbal invitations at their table.
Most of the men I am FRIENDS with ask me VERBALLY to dance.

They ask men to dance.
Almost every woman I know here will ask a man to dance if she feels inclined

They don't observe dancers before they dance.
Some people arent so snotty that they will only dance with good dancers,
sometimes a pretty face or a nice vibe will do the trick, and spark some
interest to make a connection.. This is a social dance after all.. It is NOT
a dance competition.. The oldest of all social rites is played out here...
Remember?  BOY MEETS GIRL?

They begin dancing as soon as the music starts.
OK.. This is a small pet peeve of mine as well.

They expect or try to dance every tanda.
They have spent a lot of money to come here.  They live in places with
shorter dancing hours and they want to maximize their experience.. This is a
mecca for them.. They want to DANCE! They don¹t have an army of friends to
sit and hang out with.  It isnt easy for people to sit alone and wait..

They dance consecutive tandas with the same man.
So what?  

They add embellishments to excess.
Oh  janis... Then you arent watching the lithe, gamine balarinas of porteno
descent...talk about busy feet.

They prefer quantity over quality of partners.
When you are not KNOWN at the milongas you have a very difficult time
dancing with the very best dancers for a lot of reasons. And NOT BEING KNOWN
is the first of them..

They will suffer through a tanda just to be dancing.
Even dancing a bad tanda is a learning experience. Is every dance you have
ever had a magic moment?

They dance with their eyes closed.
You are kidding with this one right?  Or are you talking about the men?

They don't carry a handkerchief to use between dances.
The only people I have seen using handkerchiefs while they dance are OSVALDO
(coca and osvaldo) and some of the milongueros at SUNDERLAND.  And you may
have noticed that handkerchiefs have gone the way of fedoras.. Old artifacts
of haberdashery that are no longer every day garb.

They share the table with their partner and wonder why locals won't look at
them.
Plenty of people sit at mixed gendered tables and still manage to dance..
Learning the cabaceo takes time and a lot of confidence.

They attract the worst dancers.
What do you mean.. Worst behaved? Worst dressed? Worst what?

They hire a taxi dancer without knowing if he can dance.
What is it with you and the taxi dancers?  Get off their backs. If they were
dance instructors at the level of osvaldo zotto, they wouldn¹t be taxi
dancers.  

They know they are beginners and believe the milonga is for practicing.
As you look around the pista you will see every level of dance.. The milonga
is not an exhibition space for the proficient.. It is a SOCIAL GATHERING..
Am I to understand from your last posting that although women don¹t need to
go to classes ­ they are wasting their money right?  They should also not go
to the milongas? And just out of curiosity... As you were learning to dance
with your benevolent and wonderfully patient tangueros, did you ever make a
mistake on the pista, kick someone by accident or break any of your precious
rules? 

They are hustled for classes by men who can't dance.
TO BE HUSTLED IS IN PART THE FAULT OF THE PERSON HUSTLED.. Unless you
believe that their is no limit to the pressure put on poor defenseless women
who cant think for themselves and are simply overpowered by the dark
syndicate of bad dancers trying to fleece them.

They arrive early and leave within a short time if they haven't danced.
Maybe they have to wake up early the next morning

They are the only ones doing the 8-step basic.
At least they know the basico.

They don't feel the music or know the orchestras.
Oh Janis, what a snob you are..  This takes time.

They believe they have the right to videotape and photograph dancers in the
milongas.
Why do you care that your face may show up in the home movie of someone¹s
trip to buenos aires?
They think that every man in the milongas is a milonguero.
Now now... Don¹t be catty. Or is it only you who knows who is a milonguero
and who isnt?

They don't learn or follow the rules of the milonga.
RULES?  There are codes, and rhythms and I adore them.. But the milonga isnt
a sport.  There is no rulebook or textbook that dictates what to wear, when
to show up, when to leave, who to dance with. There are no tango referees.
It seems that you want to preserve and fossilize the tango.. When did you
forget that people are dancing to dance.. It is a part of enjoying their
lives?  I don¹t necessarily like all of the behavior I see. I find it at
times disrespectful and annoying, and the scars on my legs from being kicked
by a woman who cant keep her feet close to the floor on a crowed pista will
always annoy me.. But for god sakes janis.. Lighten up. Do you want to keep
the milongas just for portenos and enlightened foreigners?  That will surely
not preserve or propogate the dance.

Why is it that you cannot take joy in the fact that an entire new generation
of dancers is born?  And they take what they learn here back to their
countries.. They are so excited to come to argentina, to experience a
connection to the country, to the history and to have a chance to do nothing
but dance for a week.  Why does that offend you so much.?

They attend CITA and go to the milongas to show off their new moves.
OK.. Show your hand about cita.. Which of the organizers did you argue with?
And how is it you know so much about the goings on there?  Cita is virtually
insulated and isolated with its own milongas and schedule that does not
cross paths very much with the regular goings on in the buenos aires tango
scene. Do you have the same disrespect and disregard for all tango
festivals?  Or just this one in buenos aires?

Also, a very important note.. Lest all of you readers think that every
tourist who comes to the milongas behaves like a ridiculous buffoon, I want
to speak to all of the wonderful people I have met from all over the world
at all levels of dance, who are curious, courteous, respectful and in love
with the tango. BRING THEM ON!

With all due respect..
Wendy Gordon
³La niuyorkina²