[Tango-L] The bar versus other venues for milongas

[Felix Delgado]

I'd like to thank everyone who responded (over 20, mostly off list). The 
responses were varied but there were a few common themes. A successful bar 
milonga is helped by a separate room for the milonga and having a classy 
environment, for example as part of a nice restaurant, which would draw a 
quieter bar crowd, or people who don't just come to drink. The disadvantage 
of a bar milonga is the need to bring in revenue for the bar owner. Since 
tango dancers don't drink a lot, this is a risky relationship. Bar milongas 
can sometimes bring in new people to tango, but it's probably not the best 
location for recruiting.

We met with the management of the campus bar we were thinking about for a 
milonga on their slow night (Monday). The manager kept on emphasizing the 
need to bring in people who would spend some money (buy drinks). We couldn't 
charge admission because some people just come to drink and the manager 
didn't want to lose them. And even though there were only about 15 people 
there last night, a few of them were obviously drunk and were shouting. Not 
a good environment for tango, we thought. So we decided we would look 
elsewhere.

Again, thanks for the input.

Felix


>From: "Felix Delgado" <felixydelgado at hotmail.com>
>To: tango-l at mit.edu
>Subject: [Tango-L] The bar versus other venues for milongas
>Date: Sun, 06 May 2007 13:40:23 +0000
>
>Our tango group is looking for a location for a milonga. One suggestion has 
>been to host it at a campus bar that is available on a slow night. They 
>have a successful salsa dance on another night. The dance floor is pretty 
>nice. I sometimes go to and enjoy the salsa dance. However it is a bit 
>noisy (the dance floor is near the bar, not in a separate area) and people 
>cross the dance floor to get ot the rest rooms. To me tango is different 
>than salsa in that you need to concentrate more and I prefer quieter 
>places. With tango recordings being older and not as loud, I can imagine 
>the bar noise being distracting. I would prefer a place that we could 
>dedicate to tango, but several members of our group are excited about 
>holding a milonga in a bar and say that having a milonga in a public place 
>will attract people. I don't think we want to attract the people who come 
>there to get drunk and I think we could find a better place.
>
>Does anyone have experience with hosting or going to milongas in a bar? 
>What characteristics make a good milonga venue, other than a good dance 
>floor and sound system and proximity to tango people? Is access to alcohol 
>a necessity? What about food service?
>
>Felix
>
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