[Tango-L] Argentine Tango Dancer Census: Increasing, Decreasing or Dividing?

[Carol Shepherd]

I think it's in the nature of social dance to be subject to the 
development of trends and fads.  Today's new guru, dance style, or slick 
new move, is next month's old news.

I also suspect that in the US this is partly caused by the way we 
Americans specialize and sub-specialize in our fun, in the same way and 
with the same intensity that we specialize and sub-specialize in our 
work.  We see the differences and the particularities that define what 
and who were are not and what we are particularly good at, more than we 
see the common shared experiences we can use to connect with others who 
are different.

I've noticed that people who are accommodating, cheerful, and tolerant 
of different dance styles tend to always have a good time, and with a 
wide variety of partners.  People who have a lot of requirements and can 
only enjoy a dance based on expectations of precisely how certain things 
should occur and look, tend to be disappointed a lot, unless they only 
dance with partners who consistently give them those precise results. 
They're high-maintenance about their fun.

When we split a larger pool of dancers up into nuevo-only venues, 
close-embrace-only venues (or whatever tango identity politics are in 
season), then we ignore the richness of the essence of improvisation 
which is the essence of the dance: being open to a variety of 
occurrences and experiences, in real time.  (Of course this assumes that 
the different styles of dancers in the big pool, will actually be open 
to dancing with each other, rather than their same two or three regulars.)

Maybe the good dancers are bored with all these separate boxes of fun.

Felix Delgado wrote:
>> It's really difficult, because things have been in a constant state of
>> change for the last three years. Old-timers who can really dance don't
>> show-up any more. Big events don't happen like they used to. The scene has
>> too much going-on, meaning mostly everyone's numbers are sort-of down
>> over-all week-by-week.
>>
>> So, we all know that there are more people than ever in the scene. But no
>> one has numbers to show it.
> 
> 
>> It is possible to go to a place and not know many people there (I am one
>> of the ones who hasn't been going around much since things have changed.
>> If the good dancers aren't going out, there isn't incentive for me to go
>> out. We are all in the same boat).
>>
> 
> Are tango numbers really increasing?
> 
> I live near an old and large tango community. I started dancing about 7 years ago.
> 
> I was out of the country for 2 years until about a year ago. When I came back,
> attendance at tango events (milongas, weekly classes, workshops) was way down.
> Of course, there are about 4 times as many instructors, 5 times as many milongas,
> and 2-3 times as many workshops as when I started.
> 
> One troubling sign is that many of the the dancers who were there when I started
> are gone. Even after leaving the tango scene for 2 years, when I came back, I
> hardly recognized anyone.
> 
> I have heard similar things about other tango communities (in the USA).
> 
> Are tango numbers actually decreasing?
> 
> One description I've heard is that people aren't staying with tango as long as they used to.
> Many communities are constantly recruiting beginners.
> 
> Or maybe tango communities are just splitting into little subgroups organized by different
> instructors. 
> 
> I don't know. But the large tango crowds seem to be less frequent. 
> 
> This is not healthy for the future of tango.
> 
> Felix

-- 
Carol Ruth Shepherd
Arborlaw PLC
Ann Arbor MI USA
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