[HouTango-L] State of Argentine Tango in Houston; a Rebuttal

[A. Lester Buck III]

Michael Figart  <info at tangohouston.org> writes for Tango Houston:

Hello to all!

First of all I'd like to say thanks to all of you who support Tango
Houston, and Argentine Tango in general, in Houston. Its really
wonderful seeing new people taking lessons, and everybody spreading
the word! The number one key to the growth of our community is the
recruitment of new blood; lots of it. Unfortunately, the retention
rate in the tango world is abysmally low, due to the difficulty in
learning this dance, among other things. I could write a lot more on
"community building", and quote from some people more knowledgable
than I, but I'll leave it that right now.

Second, I'm an optimist, I know, so my views may be skewed slightly
toward the good, but I have a great outlook on the future of Argentine
Tango in this city. I've been involved for a little over three years
now, and I believe that 90% of the stalwarts that were dancing then
are still around, and dancing regularly. I've also noticed that many
new people are staying longer now. Whereas we used to have a regular
turnstile of people coming in and out, now a few more of those are
sticking around for longer and longer periods. And thank goodness for
the influx of experienced dancers who have moved here over the last
year!!

Derik Rawson's report on our current opportunities, and their
associated venues was circulated today, and I have to make a few
things clear, and offer another view. His report is appended to the
end of this email, if you'd like to read it now.

Derik offers a rather dismal view of our current situation, stating
that, "Basically all of them [our venues] are suffering and in danger
of disappearing". But....the teacher's milongas seem to be going very
well, or at least they are pleased enough to continue offering their
space on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. (Thanks, Teachers!)  No
real danger of losing these opportunities!. The Belmar on Tuesday
nights has been very well attended, and the management is happy to
have us there (this from Susana). After all, they didn't do much
business on Tuesday anyway, and having the Tango crowd there has only
increased their sales. Yeah, they might like it if we spent a little
more money, but would they rather have only five or six hardcore
drinkers, or those drinkers PLUS the tango crowd? Its only added
business for them with no "downside". (I would like to tell them that
they'd probably sell a few more drinks if their prices weren't
ridiculously, "out of this world", outrageously high). The Cotton
Exchange? It's the same deal. While we may not spend as much as they
want us to, we're only added business. And Thursdays can't be their
real "hopping" night. And at any rate, should they decide to kick us
out, there are always other places to go that will appreciate the
little extra business, and the atmosphere that we provide so well!

And....last but not least. Cafe Matisse wiil be back. I spoke to Jimmy
tonight, and he assures me that he is committed to Tango Houston
nights at Cafe Matisse. He's experiencing permit problems, and all the
other troubles that go along with the bureaucracy of contracts and
permits, but says that we WILL have Sunday nights there, hopefully
sometime in December. If nothing else, maybe we can plan on a huge New
Year's Milonga there at our newly remodeled digs! (The night before my
flight to Buenos Aires!)

I will agree with Derik that some of us probably need to show just a
little more appreciation at some of these venues. Buy two waters
instead of one, or two beers instead of one; after all, its free to
get in! But I'll differ with Derik on his pessimistic view of our
current position. And I'll also differ from his opinion that every
milonga should cost $7-$10.00 plus drinks. I know we'll always be able
to find good venues that won't require that of us.

Tango in Houston is doing well. It's healthy and it's growing. We
should be very proud of the people we are and the friends that we've
made. I'm continually amazed at the intelligence and diversity of all
the friends and people I've met in Tango activities. Let's get more
people involved! The more the merrier!

Any pessimism from me? Yeah, I guess a little bit, why not? We have a
fantastic piano player on Monday nights at Continental Club and this
event is very poorly attended. It's free! They have water for free!
You don't have to buy anything! Glover Gill knows tango, and plays it
like no other solo pianist can, so why does noone ever show up? OK, a
few show up (and I know who you are; I'm not talking about you!). OK,
lets all set a date to pack the place and show some support for Glover
Gill! I'll announce it in the next weekly email that I send out this
Sunday. Please try to show up!!!

Warm regards to all, and remember; other people go bowling, or
golfing, or read, or do needlepoint, or something like that. WE DO
ARGENTINE TANGO!

Thanks!

Michael
Tango Houston
info at tangohouston.org
281-731-5237

This is Derik's report:

================

Derik here with an update on what I have found out about the status of
our venues.  Basically all of them are suffering and endanger of
disappearing.  The bottom line is that we are taking up dance space
and not paying for it adequately.  Cafe Matisse is gone for a few
months more and maybe will not come back at all after it is remodeled
and improved.  The Cotton Exchange Bar and the Belmar are seeing some
people come in and dance all night for the price of a soft drink,
about $2.50, and the Agora does not really care much if we show up or
not....lol.  Perhaps a solution to this general problem would be for
all of us to just VOLUNTARILY add at least $5.00 to $10.00 cash to our
bar tabs, per person, to help out the people who are kind enough to
lets us use their facilities.  What do you think?  In New York City
tango people are happy to pay a $10.00 cover charge to dance plus
drink, even buying bottled water at soft drink prices.  In Paris the
cost of dance space is about $7.00.  In Houston, the fourth largest
city in the USA, we are paying nothing or about $2.00 to $3.00 for
dance space, which is not really enough.  I guess we are voting with
our dollars and our dollars are saying that we do not really want to
have places to dance tango.  Unless we vote better with our dollars,
the problem will take care of itself automatically. Anyway, that is
the latest.  Hopefully we can resolve the problem in the coming days,
by letting the owners of these venues know that we do appreciate them.
If not, no problem....lol.

=====================



Michael Figart II
info at tangohouston.org
www.tangohouston.org
281-731-5237