This is about the Portland tango festival which took place just last month: Q: When is a tango fest not a tango fest?
A: When the commercial aspects of it have been so suppressed, that it is more like an elegant invitation to spend the night dancing with dozens of your best friends. This was the third time in a year that I have had the enormous pleasure of being able to travel to Portland to attend one of their smashing successes. Almost 400 tangueros traveled from all over the US as well as from many other countries to take classes for 5 days at the outrageously low cost of only $255 from 40 unbelievably fabulous teachers representing a variety of styles from not only Argentina, but also many American and European communities. The atmosphere was so friendly and "down-home" that no one felt intimidated or left out. You even found the teachers taking each other's classes and trying out new styles, something I have rarely seen before. There were lots of chances to talk to the teachers and also to dance with them at the milongas. At noon time there were interesting lunch-time talks about what else, you guessed it - tango! including the history and the music. The milongas were outstanding, in a variety of interesting venues - even an old historical church! Each night featured a different DJ, again representing all sorts of musical sensibilities. The all-night milonga at Alex Kreb's new place, El Berretin, was awesome. He has designed all kinds of little exotic nooks and crannies for resting between dances, and he even made breakfast for those who didn't fall asleep too soon. The Portland community is a very special tango community. Many people travel especially to Portland for a week-end of dancing, because the folks there are so friendly as well as being great dancers. They have managed to keep tango non-competitive, open to newcomers, and welcoming. In fact after experiencing the Portland hospitality, many folks have moved there in order to hone their tango skills. One of the especially nice things about the tango festival is how Clay Nelson and the other Portland tangueros have been able to engage so many folks in their group, and to unite them into a cooperative community. Clay had everyone who participated in planning the event stand up at one of the milongas and it was well into the dozens. Not only do local tangueros help to chauffeur the visitors around when they can, to classes and milongas, but they also help out with housing. As you can imagine, this creates a lot of warm bonds between the dancers in the various tango communities, and later on, the Portland dancers have ready-made housing when they want to come visit and dance in other parts of the country.. Much nicer and more "tango heart" than staying in a hotel. Clay and his fellow tangueros are already busy planning the February event and I highly recommend it if you can go. Stella from San Francisco p.s. I have no financial interest in any of these events.
