[Tango-L] Misc:Missing Magic

[Shahrukh Merchant]

About a week ago, Robin Tara wrote:

> You know, I danced in the milongas of Buenos Aires, New York, Montreal, San
> Francisco, Boston and London beginning 1993.
> ...
> 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)

I was actually expecting more responses to this email, well more than 
zero anyway. But I did want to respond myself since I identified a lot 
with what Robin says.

> So in about 2 years time, the balance of tourists to locals in
> the dance halls reversed completely.

This has no doubt change the dynamics significantly--the observers, by 
their presence and especially their vast numbers, have changed what it 
is that they have come to observe. Whether this is a good thing or a bad 
thing is besides the point (well, a different discussion, anyway), but 
it certainly has changed things.

> The milongas feel so different to me these days. 
...
> 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.

And depending on which milonga you go to, some of what you describe may 
not apply, or may apply with different demographics, but you're right 
that there was some sort of *something* that is now missing.

> 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.

Ah, this is the question isn't it? "Did the world really change around 
me, or did my perception of the world change?" I drafted a similar 
article for Tango-L some months ago, let it sit on my desktop for 
several days while I tinkered with it, trying to convey satisfactorily 
what I wanted to say, but was never entirely satisfied with it, and so 
deleted it. But my conclusion was essentially the same: No, the change 
is real.

> Oh, I'm just rambling

I'm glad you posted this article even though you seemed to have had a 
similar problem managing to express the feeling to your satisfaction.

I'm guessing that, at this point, the majority of list members were not 
dancing in Buenos Aires at regular milongas (i.e., not counting just 
visiting for festivals) on a semi-regular basis pre-2001. But there is 
probably a significant minority who were. What's your feeling about this 
change? Do you dance less often in Buenos Aires for reasons you 
attribute to this change?

Shahrukh