SLO Tango -- Laura's memo, Tom's response

[Norman Tiber]

Dear Tom,

I completely agree with you that the “important thing is the Tango  
community.”  I did not, however, perceive the proposals in  Laura’s  
memo as fostering “stratification” or  reducing “inclusively.” I  
think her goal was to explore alternative formats for our community’s  
workshops that would benefit dancers at all levels of expertise.

In my previous life, as an avid international folk dancer, I always  
liked the expression, “That’s how they dance it in my village.” This  
applied to a myriad of situations where people had different views  
regarding some aspect of dancing and the dance community. It is in  
this vein that I share with you a different perspective on the issues  
that you raised. I will deal with them in reverse order.

1. In your response “why not more Milongas,” you seem to take a very  
casual approach and ignore the fact that setting these up takes  
effort, time, and money. As one of the people who helps arrange  
Milongas, I would not be willing, on too many occasions, to “take a  
risk, roll the dice.” Knowing that people in our Tango community are  
interested and willing to support these, for me, justifies the effort  
and costs involved.

2. I agree that in a dance community people should try to “dance with  
everyone.” I think our community does this reasonably well at our  
Monday and Wednesday classes and Milongas. Laura’s proposal was aimed  
at facilitating this at beginning workshops. Having more advanced  
dancers attend these is very helpful. I do not agree, however, with  
your suggestion that they should have to “pay” to attend these  
workshops. For example, I consider myself to be at the “intermediate”  
level of ability. Yes, I can always get some benefit from attending a  
beginning workshop. But lets be realistic, I am not going to spend  
$25 to do this. I would, however, be willing to support our dance  
community by attending a beginning workshop to help equalize the # of  
men and women and to provide followers an opportunity to dance with a  
more experienced leader.

3. I do not think Laura's proposals foster “stratification,”  but  
are, instead, attempts to deal with the reality of stratification  
using a “we are family” approach. Every dance community I have been a  
member of has had to deal with stratification. As a dance community  
develops stratification occurs; you do have people at different  
levels of mastery. This is not bad. In fact, I believe  a healthy  
dance community foster this. You want a constant flow of people at  
all levels of mastery.  The real issue is  how does the community  
deal with stratification. Some communities approach this in a way  
that fosters elitism. For example, setting up “by invitation” only  
classes for more advanced dancers. Needless to say, I do not support  
this approach. Other communities use the kind of approach that Laura  
has proposed to maximize inclusiveness. Having more advanced dancers  
attend beginner workshops fosters inclusiveness. Having advanced  
workshops which are partner based, with voluntary rotation, fosters  
inclusiveness. Less advanced
dancers can “spread their wings”  by attending these workshops and do  
so in a way that does not interfere with more advanced participants.  
This is how good family members support each other.

Finally, Laura has given a great deal of herself to our tango  
community and I think her memo was sent in this spirit. It never  
hurts to discuss new approaches. She deserves a big “Thank you!”

Written by Norm, with Anne’s stamp of approval!

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