[Tango-L] Misc:Missing Magic

[robin tara]

You know, I danced in the milongas of Buenos Aires, New York, Montreal, San
Francisco, Boston and London beginning 1993.
I missed Berlin, the other hotbed of tango at the time - big mistake, I'm
afraid.

There was a magic then that has been missing for me in today's milongas.

Things began to change drastically in the milongas of Buenos Aires around
the time of the crash. (2001/2002)

All of a sudden the regulars began staying away from the salons. They just
couldn't justify spending 5 pesos on something as frivolous as the milonga.
They needed to eat. The milongas began to suffer from lower attendance and
raised prices. The Cro Magnon disaster closed dance venues all over the
inner city. On the other hand, it became much cheaper for tourists to visit
Buenos Aires. So in about 2 years time, the balance of tourists to locals in
the dance halls reversed completely.

The milongas feel so different to me these days. Sitting in a Buenos Aires
milonga on a Friday night, I see the group from Japan at one of the primo
back tables - they don't dance tango yet, but they're ordering dinner! From
there to the right sit a table of local (mostly) women, a group of men who
really have been in the milongs for years, but rarely get up to dance. The
there are the group from some European capital, a bunch of older folks from
the midwest, a table of local guys who don't dance very well, a group of
local women who don't dance very well. Lurking around the edges, men who
can't catch anybody's eye and have decided to prey on the unsuspecting and
longing to dance, middle aged women from the US. It just lacks some sort of
mystery.

Is it all because I see it more clearly now? Was it always this way and I
was too enraptured to notice? No, I'm sure it was more full of the promise
of adventure back then.

Oh, I'm just rambling

Interested in what others think







-- 
Robin Tara

http://www.taratangoshoes.com
http://www.tangotique.com