This year has got off to a very interesting start in the Tango world, with at least 3 new milongas opening in the London area. It’ll be interesting to see how many of them survive later in the year, but it’s great to have some new variety in the Tango scene.
In our area there hasn’t been a new milonga for several years now, and we sometimes wonder why not. With no new competition it can be all too easy for the existing milonga organisers to get complacent with their offering. The dancers may not complain, but the Tango scene can stagnate if there are no new ideas and energy being injected.
Hold on a minute… what am I saying?! Perhaps it not such a bad thing that we haven’t got any new competition? Well, obviously yes, we certainly don’t want any extra milongas competing with ours! Obviously anything operating in direct competition is bad news for us.
But, then again, on our nights off it’s nice to be able to go out and enjoy a good milonga, with a good atmosphere and our kind of music. So we like to see other organisers doing well and putting on good events (I’ve ranted on at length about my personal opinion of what makes a good milonga IMHO).
And, to be honest, it helps us to keep focused on delivering the best milongas. We are always trying the improve things, and we work on the little details we hope will combine to make for a great event. You’d be surprised how much we chat and review our milongas; in fact, we’re slightly obsessive about it!
