[Tango-L] How can one attract more male dancers on to the dance floor?

[Tango22]

Thanks for your feedback.  The short video (apologies for the quality)  
is an edited clip, so may look a bit more unruly than it actually  
was.  The line of dance was in fact clearly marked by two large  
columns, so it was difficult not to maintain a loose ronda.  Even  
negotiating the bar did not seem to present a problem.  Admittedly, we  
do not particularly encourage a "military" line of dance for the  
walking dead.  I give credit to the good dancers, who cut some slack  
to the beginners (and even newbies, in this case) and have the ability  
to comfortably avoid the occasional indiscretion from a beginner.  I  
did not observe any dangerous figures (boleos, ganchos etc) nor static  
figures that seriously disrupt the flow of a dance.

The question was "how do you attract men to Tango?".  This is  
definitely not an "aficionado's only" milonga and not intended as a  
weekly barrio milonga.  It is intended for a) a great night to dance  
and listen to Tango and socialise with friends, and b) attracting  
people to Tango.  We also prefer to produce an adult dance that does  
not have a school-gym feel about it.  It achieved these objectives, in  
spades, with 200+ people (in a city of 500,000) of all ages, standard  
(stage) of dance having a really good time dancing Tango in a  
spectacular venue.  Some people (particularly some older Argentine and  
Latin Americans who have not been to a milonga since migrating to  
Australia) came only for the music.

When you consider the responses to the questionnaire that was posted  
in Tango-L, the reasons that people aren't attracted to Tango are,  
essentially, to do with, boring, stuffy, old-fashioned, old people  
etc.,  Even though I played only pre-1945 music (with one or two  
exceptions) and no nuevo, we had no such complaint or feedback.  Some  
of the reason for this is choosing (ie., paying for) the best quality  
traditional music and a very good audio system.  But in the end, a  
memorable milonga is a mix of all the ingredients, music, dance,  
sociability, venue, atmosphere, organisation.   All the feedback to  
date (except your observation) is positive and encouraging.
Best wishes,
John




On 06/02/2011, at 12:45 PM, Batt Johnson wrote:

> I would NOT consider this a good quality milonga. Yes, it's a  
> beautiful room, but that's about it. There isn't even a line of  
> dance. The room is chaotic as can be. Not being critical, just an  
> observation.
> b
>
> On Jan 30, 2011, at 6:41 PM, Tango22 <tango22 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> How about with good quality milongas at good quality venues, like  
>> this:
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-tAIoKQjRU
>> John
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