[Tango-L] More on close embrace festivals

[RonTango]

----- Original Message ----
> From: Vince Bagusauskas <vytis at hotmail.com>
> 
> With the talk of some dancers spoiling the close embrace San Diego tango 
> festival,  I thought this edited response to a question I had on the 
> advertised close embrace Phoenix tango festival is worthwhile relating:
> 
> "....... there is good and proper instruction. .... And  by setting a good 
> example in our dancing. We are not making this a "closed" event. We are not 
> planning on "controlling" the event. Rather we are trying to set the 
> exemplary stage for the softer and gentler side of tango close 
> embrace.............close embrace change the dancing in Denver and San Diego 
> and I dream of exposing Phoenix and Arizona to more of the softer close 
> embrace style of dancing...........come knowing this is not an closed elite 
> event but an opportunity to show those without as much exposure to close 
> embrace what they are missing. Hence my plan for a bit larger floor than 
> typical for close embrace."
> 
> So instead of excluding the gate crashers, seems that Phoenix wants to 
> expose and hopefully educate the masses to close embrace.
> 
> This is an interesting development don't you think?

It sounds like inviting the fox into the chicken coup and expecting him to lay eggs instead of attacking the chickens.

'Close embrace' tango was introduced into our local tango community around 2004. This was followed up by repeated visits from instructors teaching 'close embrace' or 'milonguero-style' tango, a few times per year. Even though nearly everyone in the community had the overwhelming majority of their tango instruction in an 'open embrace' style, during the milongas when instructors were in town, nearly everyone tried to dance in a close embrace and, if they didn't, they controlled their navigation. I saw this same trend happening in nearby St Louis at the same time, much less so in Chicago. This changed around 2007, when nuevo started to be taught more widely in our geographic area (US Midwest). Even though we held what were called 'Close Embrace Tango Fiestas', where all instruction was in a social style tango danced in close embrace, there were a significant number of dancers who created navigational hazards with large nuevo style movements on the milonga
 dance floor. These dancers were the ones who did not take any workshops. 

One possible solution for this is to have only one admission ticket for everyone - a festival pass, which would cost over $100 and you couldn't go to the milongas if you didn't purchase the full festival pass. The problem with this is that it excludes high level close embrace dancers who might find the workshops too elementary (although I find the beginner workshops often to be the most interesting). 

You can't convert navigational hazard creators to become good milonga citizens by setting an example. They think they are setting an example of what good skilled dancing is, because the simple movements of tango milonguero dancers are often considered by them to be an elementary level of dancing, which proves they don't understand the dance; these are the same people who blame problems in dancing in close embrace on the poor skills of the close embrace tango dancers rather than on their inability to dance comfortably in a close embrace. 

If dancers of any large movement 'extended embrace' styles want to learn the compact close embrace tango milonguero, they need to be sincere about it from the start. Maybe if everyone was required to purchase a full festival pass and in registration signed a statement saying they understood the intent of the festival and agreed to abide by its basic principles, it could work, but then again I am already hearing cries of protest from the 'extended embrace full utilization of available space' dancers, whom we can't call them 'nuevo' because they claim not to identify with the term, saying that the 'tango police' are restricting their freedom and defining 'tango' in some arbitrary way to exclude the abuse of other dancers on the floor. 
  
 
> Since the problems of bad dancing as related by this list seems to occur 
> mostly outside of BsAs, maybe more festivals should promote themselves as 
> "Close Embrace X Tango Festival", rather than just "X Tango Festival".

As stated above, event that does not work.

Ron