Politics I

 Politics has put paid to many a dance. 

 For nearly a year I hosted a lovely little practica that grew in numbers.  I ran it, DJd, booked the room, hosted, brought on new people.  We lost the venue because of a problem with the building, I went into a collaboration instead, that I didn't enjoy, that was endlessly problematic but that attracted a lot of people.  Soon enough the jackals were circling, allying. It was easier to leave them to it.

Unfortunately two other cities near me are suffering from politics too.

The main milonga in Edinburgh has just announced they are cutting the hours of the Sunday milonga from 4 hours to 2.5.  Since it is an hour away that makes it no longer viable.  I don't go to the Tuesday version because I find the music and the atmosphere too loud and too brash. 

Because of longstanding DJ issues I hadn't been to the Sunday session either for a while.  I did go recently before the cuts and was amazed.  There were very few good or experienced dancers left.  One corner was taken up with new dancers brought along by a long-established teacher, who danced with them.  That was nice to see. But I had never seen that happen before.  Was it to prop up the milonga because if it wasn't viable it's less reason to start tango lessons?  Was it a new business strategy? Was it for fun? 

I asked a long-standing dancer what had happened? He thought the better dancers had decamped to Tuesday.  Over the next few weeks  I heard people had moved to a practica run by another host that had been growing in popularity over recent years. It was known for attracting an older crowd with less accomplished dancers. "Friendly" is the common euphemism.

But I had fun on the Sunday.  I chatted, danced, met a newish dancer who asked me repeatedly to come back the next week. I said "probably" and I did.  

That dancer wasn't there. I stayed about two hours, til 2130.  For most of the time there were 8 people present.  It crept up to 12 and then eventually 16.  This is in a near perfect venue, that has hosted dances for over 200 years, in a city of over half a million with a tango tradition stretching back well over two decades. There was no-one I wanted to dance with so I didn't dance.  I travelled for two hours and spent over £40 on transport, a meal, the cheap entry and a drink. It isn't worth it. So that is, in all probability, the end of my dancing in that venue where I went to my first milongas.

I will get back eventually to the practica to see how it is these days.  Just about everyone treats it as a social dance. I would like to use it as a practica if I could find experienced guys I can learn from who are willing to do likewise. 

I think though that most of the good dancers have left off going to the milongas and just not been replaced. With no examples to dance with and learn from, and people travelling less since COVID and the price hikes the newer dancers promise to be very different.