Sergio, thanks for the very interesting explanation on the origin of tandas. It certainly makes sense now, that it was related to the number of dances normally on a ticket. Not surprising that it had little or nothing to do with changing the style of the music being played and certainly not a change in orchestras.
Personally, Ive always been a little ambivalent on the tanda structure and am probably even more so now, understanding that it is actually an anachronism. On the other hand, I have no problem observing the tanda as an expression of the culture, but as others have noted, I do believe that tandas work against the integration of beginners. Given tandas, experienced dancers who might dance with a beginner for one song instead avoid them altogether rather than getting stuck with them for four dances (exceptions are of course made for attractive young women!). As a result, many beginners find the milonga experience frustrating. Regarding the story of a band playing straight through, and unfortunately its been a while since Ive been to a milonga with live music, but at other dances I go to with live music the bands usually give enough time between songs for a graceful change. Has anyone ever seen this tried in tango, or do we now consider tandas too much an integral part of the culture? WBSmith -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web.com Enhanced email for the mobile individual based on Microsoft® Exchange - http://link.mail2web.com/Personal/EnhancedEmail _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
