Many years ago, rumor had it that a milonga organizer in a major North American city would run out onto the floor and give people tickets for breaches of tango etiquette. People ridiculed her for the behavior. I would have found such behavior funny (both humorous and odd).
I don't think it makes much sense for an organizer or a group of community leaders to impose a set of rules on those attending milongas. People go to milongas to have fun dancing tango, not to have a bunch of rules imposed on them, and that includes a forced rotation of partners. Various communities have drafted social etiquette rules which are intended to be informative rather than requirements. For some examples, see http://www.portlandtango.com/faq.html http://www.tangovita.com/page.php?page=14 http://www.tangomuse.com/TangoManners.html http://www.close-embrace.com/invitingetiquette.html http://www.tejastango.com/faq_dallas_tango.html Of course, severe breeches of what is considered acceptable social etiquette may require intervention on an individual basis. I don't think it serves the milonga well for the dj to force everyone off the floor with a second cortina or a lengthy cortina. The cortina should be long enough to allow the floor to clear--not to force it cleared. Dancers know what the cortina means. If they want to stay on the dance floor that is their choice. (If one of them is being coerced to stay on the floor that is another issue.) Some ideas that I've seen work at milongas (that had the right spaces) to promote more positive social interaction (not force rotation). 1) A milonga has a break zone--an area where people could sit or stand and talk without being asked to dance. 2) A milonga has two dance floors--one for practicing and one for dancing the ronda. 3) A milonga has three seating zones: single males, single females, couples. Couples who want to interact as singles may sit with their own gender in the singles area. The cabeceo is used as a matter of social etiquette--not rules. Anyone is always free to reject invitations that have not been properly offered. With best regards, Steve _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
