Yesterday I was paying for my shopping in the supermarket when the cashier turned to me and said, "el precio está errado". I didn't get what he was saying at the beginning but I then found out that since they had printed the price on the label the table prices had gone up. I didn't bother to argue over half a peso but it shows what many are fearing. With an estimated inflation of 35% in the end of the year (meat is 24% more expensive now than 4 months ago), prices change every week. What does this have to do with tango?
Tango as we know it, a growing world-wide ever present dance, is relatively new. It was in the nineties that the first tango schools started outside Argentina but mainly it was in the 21st century that the boom, well... Boomed!
Buenos Aires (BsAs) has always welcomed this sudden growth. Even the most traditionally fanatics (and anti tango globalisation) welcome the pesos of the tango tourists. Hypocrite but the money tastes good. So, the last ten years saw an unprecedented growth in tourists flying to BsAs in expensivc flights but rebating those costs in cheap classes, milongas and steaks. All in all, by the end of the two weeks, the trip wasn't all that expensive, because life in Argentina evened out the price of the prohibitive flights...
What's happening now is that prices are getting out of control. The average price for a milonga is AR$20 (about £4 or $6) and although it may sound cheap to you, two years ago the average price would be AR$5. Many locals can't afford to go regularly to milongas anymore, let alone having classes. So, many milongas in BsAs are turning into collection of tourists who ventured into the tango mecca. This makes that promise of floors with nice rondas, no clashes and fantastic dances become a bit of a scam. Some floors here are worse than Europe or States.
I was recently talking with a few milongueros (the true ones) and they told me that they could not see BsAs holding on to its status for very long. Maestros are lured away for most of the year to Europe and USA where they earn fortunes (I heard some "stars" charge £2000 for a performance) and the old milongueros run away from tourists like the devil from the cross. Tourists dance with tourists, just like at home... So what's the point? Good level of dancing? You're starting to get that in Europe and, I believe, the States, as well as South Korea, China, Taiwan and so on... Will those start to be more attractive than a transatlantic flight to the mecca? Some people I know don't bother with BsAs anymore. Maybe more will follow. I think we are in a turning moment, BsAs will never be the same.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The future of tango
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11 comments:
this is rubbish, it´s not like that. the problem is that you see this because you are a tourist.
my email tangueandoporelnoa@gmail.com
Hi Dante:
I am a kind of a tourist. One can't be a tourist if you're somewhere working, right?
Nevertheless, I think you (as in Argentines) should look at the views of tourists. At the moment, they keep the tango engine alive. Imagine Buenos Aires, right now, without tourists... Most milongas would have to close! Just count the number of Argetines in Canning on a monday and you'll see what I mean.
Hi tangocompetition, your name says everything. Tango is not a competition, is a way of interpreting feelings, something that you probably never did.
I don't agree with everything that is written in this text by koolricky but at least he makes a point. You just show your ignorance and arrogance.
the only ignorance and arrogance came from you both.
If you have any questions see you in any milongas en Baires, and we will speak personally.
and if you think that the tourist keep the tango alive, you are so wrong. dont mix tango and busines.
the only thing that i dont like of the tourist is that you speak about something that you have not idea.
I know a lot of people from other countries who are very careful to speak about other cultures. I do when i am in other countrie aswell.
just dont speak about something as you dont know.
To be only a couple of months in Buenos Aires doesnt mean nothing
Hi Dante:
Where did you read that the tourists keep tango alive? I never wrote such thing. What I wrote is that the tango scene as it is is greatly fed by tourism, which isn't a bad thing, if tourists know how to behave
The main pont of this article was to say that if Buenos Aires becomes as expensive as Europe, less people will be likely to come.
I won't call you ignorant or arrogant, it's not the purpose of the blog to insult. However, I am very interested in knowing your arguments because I have read none. I'm sure you'll have them.
I am not trying to pass as a local and I think that is very clear in this blog. This is the view of a visitor. Should the views of visitors be taken into account? It's up to you.
tango competition
I have been living in Buenos Aires (Caballito, to be more precise) and dancing in milongas for the last 18 years, which is probably as old as you are, judging by your comments. How long have you been living in Buenos Aires to know so much about it?
What koolricky posted is nothing new. THere have been loads of articles commenting the same issue. What they didn't especulate was that tango was going to move elsewhere. And sorry to say this, koolricky, but I also don't believe so.
I could go and speak to you in any of the milongas in Buenos Aires. However, I don't think I would gain anything from discussing anything with someone so narrow minded as you are.
Hey I never mentioned anything about tango moving elsewhere, I just mentioned that if BsAs becomes financially more challenging less people are going to come to BsAs. One thing is to have a budget of £2000 for 2-3 weeks in BsAs the other thing is to have budget of £3000.
I did read the articles that you mention mladen, namely on by Miguel Angel Zotto. I also base my arguments in observational facts. Some good dancers in Europe don't come as often to BsAs because is getting to expensive, and with the burgeoning of cheap flights within Europe, staying within Europe has become feasible. Whereas 10 years ago there were very few good dancers in Europe now there are more. Not like in BsAs, obviously but in the world of today, , everything counts...
my computer is eating words... :o(
The true spirit of 'something' will never be the same outside of its origin. However, that 'something' can always flourish outside of its origin.
Karate & Jyudo originated in Japan, as you know. Tae Kwon Do from Korea. Muay Thai from Thailand. But all these things are now far more popular outside of these original countries and the strongest competitors nowadays come from abroad.
Tennis started in England (some will argue). Football as it is known also started in UK (again, some will argue of its origin). Cricket and rugby started in UK. Are the Brits strongest in any of the sports - hell no. Are they most popular in UK - hell no.
Tango is and has been fast becoming a global phenomenon - recently helped largely by those silly-yet-effective TV programmes such as "Strictly Come Dancing".
I can confidently say that majority of the people who learn tango outside of BsAs don't know what it is truly all about. I don't pretend that I know what it's all about either. But these people are the catalysts spreading the 'potential' beauty of tango around the world.
Tango in Argentina declined at some point along its timeline. Meanwhile it regained its popularity largely because it fluorished outside of Argentina, and many went to learn and appreciate the beautiful dance in BsAs, the mecca.
All countries need tourism. End of. It helps with the economy. I won't go in further because I'm no way near an economist. But the fact that the tango scenes are much more lively nowadays acutely has to do with the fact that there are more people (from abroad) dancing there. As koolricky says, take those tourists out of all the milongas and you will notice how quiet they will become.
Going back to martial arts. I come from Japan (and Korea also). I don't for any moment believe that majority of those foreigners who go to the orignal countries (many don't) know what it is truly about. Many do it because they think it's cool and they think they can turn into Jacky Chan or Bruce Lee.
But I also admire those who love the martial arts and who make the effort to go all the way to the Far East to learn all these things. They are the ones who are contributing towards survival of these precious things because in the Far East, these martial arts are declining in popularity (they are too busy working, you see ;-)
Observations are observations. A blog is not an encyclopaedia, nor is it an unbiased documentary. I don't think that koolricky is pretending he knows everything at all. Articles might be rubbish or not, they may be right or wrong. But there is no need to outright condemn someone's opinion. If you think that you are better able to describe and explain the situation, then you should come up with a better article to do so.
And of course, blogs like this and discussions accompanying the articles all help others in gaining knowledge and may help reduce misconceptions (or they may also fuel misconceptions) amongst those who have not had the pleasure of visiting the country itself. By simply saying that it is all "rubbish and you don't understand because you are a tourist" does not help clarify or respect the author, who himself is trying to understand and learn what it's all about because he likes your country!! I respect other people's cultures. I think that you should respect other people's opinions.
Thanks supantheress for your opinion!
I just wanted to say that yesterday I was speaking with someone who has been dancing tango for 30 odd years and works in a company who facilitates tourism in Buenos Aires (not necessarily tango). He told me that at the peak of the recession, which coincided with the swine flu outbreak there were 15 people at Canning at one occasion... Fifteen, not fifty.
Something for everyone to consider.
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