[Tango-L] Building communities

[Jay Rabe]

     We here in Portland have always felt blessed to have such a congenial tango community. Even though it has now grown so much that we do sometimes have conflicts, that is, more than one event on the same night, I've never seen anything contentious, and everyone remains friends.
     So why have we been so lucky? I think one reason is the luck of geography. Everything is clustered in the SE area, where there's no more than 10 minutes drive between any two venues.
     Another IMO is the website that Bill Alsup created more than 10 years ago, that has ALL events, and ALL instructors listed equally.
     But a third and maybe more profound reason was the spirit and philsosophy of Clay Nelson, who founded the Portland tango community. At the time he was a ballroom dance instructor. He discovered tango and loved it and started bringing master maestros to Portland to teach, partly because he wanted to learn more himself. That practice grew into what are now arguably the largest tango festivals in the US, February's ValenTango and the TangoFest in October.
     Clay's philosophy on "building a successful tango community" is now captured on his webpage at:
          http://www.claysdancestudio.com/building_community.shtml

     Among other things, there you'll find such gems as:
          "Ignore the dissonance and encourage the harmony."
          [regarding different styles of teaching and dancing...] "Make room for everyone."
          "Accept and even encourage others who want to teach and/or become organizers and promoters."
          "Accept splinter groups and “clicks” that naturally form."
          "Include flyers and announcements from all groups at all events."

     As well as the more controversial:
          "Who should teach? ... Everyone!... Tango is a folk dance and should be shared and taught by everyone."


          J
     TangoMoments.com

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