[Tango-L] Community building

[Crrtango@aol.com]

Stephen wrote:

<<<What Ron described is happening in many U.S. cities--the seeming
proliferation of tango activities without a comensurate growth in
community size, with the consequence smaller and smaller attendance at any
given event.>>>

We have had this same problem in NYC for many years but in spite of the 
diluted scene, the tango community has grown to fill in the spaces somewhat. We now 
have many milongas every week and new workshops on almost a weekly basis and 
some for extended stays...but we also ahve a very large community. We also 
attract a lot of good people and many Argentines pass through here and live here. 
  Even in the beginning days when the milonga of Danel and Maria was the only 
dance in town, there was a community of older expat Argentines here who would 
show up every week. But I would caution that NYC is not your typical city in 
this regard. There are still new venues that open here, and just as many soon 
close. 
However one venue is consistent with other cities...the restaurant that has a 
slow night (or has low attendance in general) that expects to bring in a 
tango crowd to bolster its business.   After an initial rush they usually close. A 
few have survived but as Stephen said, tango dancers do not spend money on 
food and liquor and often the restaurant will drop the tango night, especially 
if business picks up. One or two have survived here, notably Lafayette Grill 
which also has tango now on other nights (but it is an exception), but the floor 
is a little small and the level of dancing is mixed. Others hang in but 
usually with a small crowd. I have personally seen maybe twenty "restaurant 
milongas" come and go.    
Most of the people who run the milongas have resigned themselves to making 
only a certain amount of money and no more...no one makes a big profit. Most of 
the people who run the milongas have other income or are involved in other 
milongas and workshops.

As Danel once said to me: Nobody got rich from tango, except Francisco 
Canaro.

Cheers, 
Charles


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