The reasons I don't take Edinburgh for granted

I don't. I really don't. I never knew how lucky I was to have learnt tango in Edinburgh, until I started going to other places. I'm not saying it is the best place in terms of everything. Of course, as mentioned by koolricky and lots of other people, there are good points and bad points to the tango community of Embra.

Anyway, here are the reasons:

1) Friendly & Welcoming
2) Cheap & Frequent
3) Good standard of dancing
4) Good teaching
5) Relatively integrated (albeit some rivalries)

The first impression is so important. As a guest, one would like to be welcomed where they visit. Maybe one is nervous, is feeling lost, or maybe even doesn't speak the language! Somebody mentioned that the general atmosphere flows from the organisers. The hosts have the responsibility to treat the guests, that are potential future regulars, nicely, or else it's their loss.

In Edinburgh, Toby Morris makes sure that visitors are welcomed. He almost pounces on them as they enter. I've seen it so many times. He talks to them very attentively and introduces them to the local dancers. For a few years that's what I've always seen so I assumed that this would be the case wherever I go. Uh uh. Wrong.

When I was on the committee for the Edinburgh University Tango Society, I was always at the door and made sure I spoke to all those that signed up and came in, and learnt their names. When some of us started up La Otra Milonga, we made an effort to speak to people that we had. How else would people know more about what we did? How else would people come back for the next session? What organisers do, the attenders follow.

The Edinburgh tango community consists of various characters: multitalented, ultra-intelligent, dirty (I don't mean covered in mud and unwashed), tarty, hippie, posh, shy, confident, creepy, chatterbox-that-can-speak-for-Scotland, nice (genuine & fake), interesting, geeky, artsy, weird, temperamental, charming, opinionated, old, young, single, attached, etc, etc... On an unlucky day you might end up sitting next to somebody who is in a bad mood (this happens to at least once a month if you're of a female species) and might just bump into somebody who is rather hot-blooded. Somehow, somehow though, despite such a spectrum of people, MOST of them, I find are friendly and chatty and they are fairly well integrated. Even some known enemies are quite civilised to each other.

Those that complain that men have become lazier and stopped asking women to dance, I totally understand, as I used to be one of them. But what I can say to them now is that it's probably the general trend in life anyway*, and really, Edinburgh is doing well compared to other places. The only exception I can think of is if you're young and female, visiting a testosterone-filled milonga abroad, you have no time to sit down.

In conclusion, my dear Edinburgh tangueros, please don't take Edinburgh for granted, and do continue to be friendly to visitors and newcomers.


*I'm just trying to be provocative; seeing if I get any reactions.