[Tango-L] Misc:Missing Magic

[NANCY]

--- On Mon, 10/12/09, Shahrukh Merchant <shahrukh at shahrukhmerchant.com> wrote:
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?


Without a doubt.  I too, have had problems trying to communicate the feeling, but I have come up with this:  The thrill is gone.  Gone are the days of discovering and being discovered by excellent dancers; from having spirited discussions with the local women about the dancers we are watching;  of going out to dinner with a group of enthusiasts both local and visiting; of being asked to go to a specific milonga later in the week to continue dancing with a leader I have just met.  Now, I am older, wider and not so spritely as I was back in 1996 when I first went to BsAs and so I attribute part of the malaise to that.  But I also sense that I am no longer looked upon as a dance partner but rather as a source of funds - either for lessons, taxi accompaniment, shoe sales, or a visa to the US.  Things have gotten much more commercial and less social.  New visiting faces are getting lots of attention even if they are terrible dancers. And...my old
 friends are dying out, unable to fund a daily trip to the milongas, or just too creaky to dance well.
I get more excellent dances at a festival than I do in BsAs.  Will I continue to make an annual trip?  Probably.  But I will limit my dancing to 3-4 days a week, mostly afternoon milongas.  I will visit with friends, enjoy the restaurants, the theaters, and the vibe of a big city.  I am unlikely to buy any more tango shoes as the quality has plummeted even with my favorite brand and I am unwilling to continue to pay the special gringo price after purchasing 12 pairs of those shoes. 
Should you go to BsAs if you are a tango dancer?  Definitely.  It will be new and wonderful and thrilling to you and you will feel the flavor of tango everywhere you go if you open your heart to it.  Some night a cab driver will sing tangos to you all the way home and it will be beautiful.  Some day you will chat up a woman in the grocery store who will tell you about her father, a famous violinist, who invited all the tango greats to his home for Sunday dinners.  And you will see folks like Milena Plebs dancing on a concrete basketball court in a very blue collar part of the city.  But when some of us old-timers tell you, "You should have been here before....", you will regret you did not come earlier.  
NancyAnnual visitor for 13 years