Background:
To increase the awareness and adherence to good etiquette and navigation rules, several years ago I created the Navigation and Etiquette Survey. From the 500 suggestions from over 100 respondents, I weighted, compiled and condensed the suggestions to come up with the following Navigation & Etiquette Guidelines:
- Always move forward in line of dance.
- Stay in your lane.
- Move up and fill gap in front of you.
- Use cabeceo and accept refusals.
- Dance small figures.
- Eyes up and avoid collisions.
- Seek permission to enter the floor.
- No teaching, criticizing or loud talking.
- Clear the floor during the cortina.
- Apologize regardless of who’s at fault.
- Center is for beginners–good dancers stay in outside lanes.
- Dress appropriately and have good hygiene.
The next step was to think of a way to incorporate/instill/enforce/encourage tangueros to actually abide by and follow these guidelines. Towards this end, the Victoria Randlett and I came up with the following:
Stations of the Well Mannered Milonguero (please give me your comments below):
- Upon entering the ballroom, each dancer will receive a pocket-size copy of the Navigation & Etiquette Guidelines.
- Each tanda will be dedicated to observing specifically one of these rules.
- The specific rule being focused on will we be posted on a different column that surrounds the ballroom.
- Each dancer is asked to be especially cognizant of and follow the featured rule.
- Finally–and this may be the most difficult part of all because many times we’re not aware of breaking the rules and/or we’re resistant to others correcting us–each dancer will be asked to gently, and in a respectful manner remind their partner and/or fellow tanguero to respect the specific rules being emphasized.
It is unfortunate that the subject is so avoided by instructors. It’s kind of like that sex education lecture you got from your parents or gave your own kids. Its just too embarrassing because of our cuktural hangups. The answer is being more open about the subject ( sex and floor craft)
from the beginning. A one time mention of appropriate behavior is ineffective. It must be part of the culture. It is one thing to knowingly flaunt the rules. Another to be totally unaware of them.
Thank you, Clay, for taking the time to put that together. I so much appreciate this. I love dancing in a courteous and safe environment and you help to establish this. It’s a good educational process. Thank you for that!
This is a GREAT Idea! Anything you can do to help Us have the real experience of what a Milonga can be like is appreciated.
High quality comments too. They show that once a person has experienced a “tranquil/mindful” Milonga it’s really difficult to enjoy a frantic one.
Clay, thank you!
Any effort to emphasize and teach floor etiquette is valuable. And you have posted some very concrete steps to reinforce this.
These are awesome, but I don’t see a mention anywhere about the lower right issue in the image posted by Christine: aseo personal.
Strong aromas don’t belong in close embrace, whether they come from a bottle or an armpit.
Thank you, Clay! I think this is terrific. May I suggest rather than dedicating a tanda to each of the rules, give verbal reminders about the ones practiced between dances, as needed according to your observation. That could be a few times for some of them.
If 1,2,3 and 5 are observed, most of the problems on the dance floor are solved.
Therefore I suggest emphasizing these, and combining 1 and 2. Most of the better dancers know how to dance small, but many dancers don’t seem to have a clue.
I really like the sign from BA that Christine posted AND notice Lorena’s comment about Ladies never lifting their feet off the floor for boleros in a crowded milonga.
Thank you for at least talking about this ‘elephant in the room’.
I would like you to consider amending #7 to include “Giving permission to enter…”
As a leader I can sometimes wait quite along time to get ‘the nod’ from a leader that they accept I/we will be entering in front of them. There are certain floors where this is particularly necessary, where there is only one primary entry point and the funneling needs extra attention from everyone.
As one person above commented about the problem being mostly beginners (I am paraphrasing) I will disagree. Everyone and anyone can be very bad at floor craft at any given time. (I will admit that I made a very silly move in Portland a year ago and am still embarrassed that I was being silly…at least the floor was not crowded) There are several men that are (otherwise) ‘good’ dancers that have terrible habits of taking over the middle of the floor or going in and out of lanes. (Reminds me of a friend that says he is a “..really good driver…I just like to drive fast!” and has several speeding tickets) Just because you are really good at jumping in and out of lanes does not mean you should do it. I have little idea why people do this. Just because I can lead a volcada does not give me permission to do os on a social floor, therefore I will simple never do it unless I am absolutely sure there is space and time.
I must admit that I am curious as to how this is handled in Buenos Aires, since some folks have commented on their experiences there. Does the person running the milonga ‘have a word’ with a particularly flagrant violator? Does anyone every get tossed from a venue?
While I do not necessarily want there to be ‘tango police’ I would like to believe that anyone that runs a festival or milonga has enough gumption to take someone aside and say a few words in a non threatening way.
I do hope something positive comes from this.
My last time in BA, about five years ago, I was there three weeks and danced every night at many different venues. I made a point of trying to make eye contact with leaders when I wanted to enter the floor and aimed to make eye contact with leaders trying to enter the floor themselves. Not once in hundreds of opportunities was I able to get the attention of a single leader, a large percentage pushed their way backwards onto the floor. Don’t look to BA for guidance to the best etiquette; having danced all over the US, Mexico, and Europe, I found BA to have the worst overall etiquette, especially larger venues with a lot of tourists. Smaller neighborhood venues were better, but what Clay is aiming for will be a wonderful improvement.
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“especially larger venues with a lot of tourists”. You answered your own argument.
We teach and write about the embrace and the connection between two partners but I rarely hear teachers discuss the beauty of the moment when the whole room is dancing together at similar speeds, taking up a similar amount of space. occupying clearly defined lines of dance.
I could see this as a mixer event but think it is a subject teachers should practice with students to.
VERY MUCH APPRECIATE these efforts!
Floor craft at the Thursday night of VT this year was the worst I’ve ever experienced at anytime anywhere. Perhaps just “one of those nights” as music was also loud unto speaker distortion and that can disorder everything. Particularly, there was a lack of seeking permission to enter the line of dance with the result of chaos at the west end of the floor. Also, there was not a consistent second inner lane that wasn’t constantly crashed by those in the center and from many in the outer ring. Usually the floor is very “well-mannered” at VT, so again, it could have been a strange off-night.
Always happy to see good tango manners encouraged. All of them. It’s the machinery AND the oil in the machine that make tango work…or not! Thank you Clay, for your decades long efforts on behalf of tango!
Valentango I had more issues with sightlines as the flow on and off the floor was extremely restricted. Burning tango is more of a free for all mosh pit at the worst times. Plenty of space, hut most don’t know how to use it. I think a leaders cooperation class might be more helpful. Usually I just find a leader who is reasonable and lead behind them so at least one side is safe.
Thank you Clay for addressing this. While I’ve been “learning” Tango since 2009 I still consider myself a beginner. It’s hard enough to lead (and sometimes they follow) but add to it the constant lookout for showmen taking up a lot of space in all directions and it makes it an uncomfortable rather than enjoyable effort to have to avoid collisions all the time (yes I am aware that’s part of my job). I blame the “roosters” more than anyone. You don’t need to lead like you’re swinging a cat around in a circle uncaring of those around you. Please consider everyone leaders. Doesn’t matter if we are beginners or not. I don’t care to continue yanking a woman off her feet because some other guy is throwing his follow into her back!
Sometimes there is the right mix of dancers – maybe the right number of skilled leaders- and the whole room is dancing together. Evenly spaced, everyone staying in their lane traveling at the same or similar speed. I think everyone feels really good when they notice this is happening yet
I have rarely heard teachers emphasize this. The emphasis is always on what happens between two partners, not your responsibility to contribute the flow of the whole room.
Perhaps this could be the emphasis of a class or an afternoon mixer.
Love your observations, Amy.
Sorry, I can’t resist: https://youtu.be/9Wl_uQOABxg
Too funny!
This is a age old problem even in BA lots of bad floor craft. The problem always will exist on a floor with a mix of beginners to advanced dancers. Beginners are just not mindful enough to navigate well if at all, so how do we accommodate this on the floor. In BA on a big floor the more experienced dancers edge the less so into the middle of the floor. Sort of like corralling them out of harms way. So work as a team to maintain the integrity of the floor.
The more important thing is I find most and particularly beginners do not have a good enough handle on giro’s. Tango is not about walking from point A to point B with a bunch of fancy stuff in-between. It is about maintaining the integrity of the embrace and mastering giro’s in everything one does. If you do giro’s well it is hard to compromise the floor, you are dancing in your sq meter of floor, and hence moving with the momentum of the floor.
Perhaps the solution is off the milonga floor and in how classes are structured. A lot more emphasis on the importance of the embrace and emphasis on doing movements in giro’s and put this silly idea of the basic 8 as everything that tango is into the garbage bucket.
Hi Clay,
Tango, as most would agree, is a social dance, and the dance works best when we all follow the etiquette rules stated above. I see Tango as being very similar to how we conduct ourselves off the dance floor as well, and how our ego’s get involved. Are we mindful of others, or are we distracted and care only about ourselves and only our own experience?
For example, we all know that it is rude and unsafe for a fellow vehicle driver to be distracted, unconscious, close their eyes, be focused too much on their passenger, and drift or cut across into our lane- and the same goes for Tango. I see all too often my fellow dancers seem to exist in their own little world with eyes closed while on a very crowded dance floor, and not in tune with what is going on around them. It drives me crazy to see a leader with their eyes closed for even a second on a crowded floor….
I personally do not like to see followers with their eyes closed because it creates an unsafe condition. I know when a follower closes their eyes, they are not able to watch my back and it creates a safety issue. I have witnessed dancers perform high kick moves on crowded dance floors as well.
When I observe these unconscious self absorbed patterns, I find myself shifting into defensive mode and it puts me on red alert, and this makes the experience much less enjoyable-to the point of wondering if I should go back again to the dance floor.
Sadly, I see only one comment from Mr. or Ms. Gael that seems to convey why you are even bringing the topic up, but it is a very important topic and I’m glad you are taking the leadership to bring the discussion forward.
I’m not sure a Miss Manners Milonga is the answer, because, like in life, not many people’s egos will take correction on or off the dance floor. But, students will listen to what the professional instructors say in their classes. So my suggestion again for this year is that you have all instructors during the day stress the importance of line of dance and Tango etiquette in each of their classes and encourage their attendees to remember the rules on the dance floor.
I have attended the last two Valentango events and the main floor became way too crowded and put me on constant red alert due to other dancers lack of consciousness or consideration for Tango etiquette. This was also confirmed by my other Tango friends. As a result, I spent most of the time at the back of the room on the small floor and upstairs on the much less crowded alternate floor. This made things very enjoyable and keeps me wanting to go again to Valentango, so thank you! I would not want to return next year if the two alternate dance floors were not offered.
Lastly, I know this would be difficult to do, but I have often thought about the possibility that dancers consider sitting out every other tanda on a crowded floor, until the crowds start to thin out later in the evening. I would much rather dance every other tanda on a half crowded floor myself, then to be in red alert defensive mode.
bethie.sweet@yahoo.com
It’s difficult to believe that these rules are even necessary to state. If this is necessary then there are underlying issues that are not addressed. One that comes to mind is self centered behavior, that smacks of arrogance and competition that unfortunately misses the lovely essence of tango and creating a community That is unfortunate. My question is who is becoming a tango dancer?
Just first impressions (and take this with a grain of salt because I have not personally experienced Burning Tango and don’t know how bad the problem is there) – I think this is overkill. As an attendee, I would not be insulted by getting an etiquette card when I entered the ballroom, or having a signs in the bathrooms and strategic places about the rules, but I would be very annoyed to have the milonga co opted in this manner. It feels condescending.
I organize events in my community and I feel your pain, all complaints come to you and people expect that you are all-knowing and all-powerful and should and can make everyone’s tango experience perfect for them. And I know you have probably tried many other things and the same problems are happening.
I regret I cannot come up with better alternatives. Maybe having lots of door prizes, (or random prizes for a couple caught doing the right thing) and making that milonga more playful in theme will take out the sting of being lectured to and make it worth the participant’s while to attend.
I find humour also helps. Can you do a comedic mini performance demonstration of the desired and undesired behaviours?
I wish you the best of luck, it seems every community is struggling with this.
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!
Finally someone’s doing something about ‘issues’ on the dance floor. We’re there to enjoy ourselves in a nice and respectful atmosphere. In my humble opinion, most of the world is miles away from good tango etiquette. Having lived in Buenos Aires for many years and danced for almost 18, I find that the leaders in Argentina (men) are amazing, even if they’re not good dancers, they have an enormous respect for their dance partners and that means they take care of us ladies while we dance. I know it’s a big job for you leaders because you have to have eyes all around your head to avoid collisions. And ladies never ever in a crowded milonga should attempt to raise their feet from the floor for boleos. I’ve been hit and stepped on and elbowed outside of Arg….it’s not good. Let’s have fun without getting hurt.
Congrats again and a big GRACIAS!!!
I appreciate the effort, Clay! Including one Milonga that gives your participants a chance to practice etiquette and floorcraft is great. Thought I’d share a sign that is posted just off the dance floor at Bar Los Laureles, Barracas, BA.
The “Miss Manners Milonga” is a bold move that I expect will improve the experience at the festival for most of us who aim for a courteous and friendly exchange with all. Those who don’t even realize there are “lanes” and other etiquette will learn. Those who want to take-up a lot of space showing off large figures or criss-crossing the floor might see the error of their ways or may choose other festivals that don’t promote such etiquette. Excellent idea for an already great festival (Burning Tango).
You’re kidding, right??
Schiff, please share with us. Kidding about what exactly?