Don't give up on these places yet, Charles. About a year ago I was contacted by a local Latin restaurant, a really nice, popular place, asking me to do a tango night. The night they chose was Thursday.
I warned the owners that this night would probably not succeed, because Thursday nights had already recently seen a tango night closed because of lack of business. Also, this same place had at one time had a tango night on Wednesday, hosted by another teacher (although I later took over). The owner at that time was not satisfied, and we decided to close it down. The night is still going strong, and it's a lot of fun. I think the combination of not too high of expectations, plus a go-between (someone between the dancers and the owners), was the difference. It is true that dancers don't spend as much as other patrons. But worse than that, they are messy (shoes and bags everywhere), they don't leave, and they are demanding (the music is too quiet/loud, the place is too hot/cold, the dance floor is too slick/sticky, not big enough) plus they don't make room for waitstaff. If there is no one but the restaurant staff to complain to, the owners get pretty sick of the dancers. I provide that "go-between" service to the restaurant. I have been running a dance night at another location once a month now for 4 years, and the owners love us. I think I finally learned how to run these nights. I don't tell them that a dance night will solve their fiscal problems, bring in lots of new customers, make their place a hot-spot....I know I can't promise that. I thank them for having us. I am mindful that we are in their place, not that they work for us. I thank them, and I ask the dancers who come to thank them as well. Oh, yes - any tango teacher who organizes a dance night with the purpose of making money is crazy. Organizing dance nights is a service that all teachers should provide for their communities (if they are invested in the community). It may make some money - about $3/hour if you count the whole night plus the legwork. Don't expect to get lots of students either. Other teachers who come to the event are on the lookout for newbies, too. What you get is a stronger community that, someday, may have a bigger returns for everyone. Oh, yeah, and it's more fun!! Lois Donnay Minneapolis (welcoming everyone to the Heartland Tango Festival in 2 weeks!) > However one venue is consistent with other cities...the restaurant that has a > slow night (or has low attendance in general) that expects to bring in a > tango crowd to bolster its business. After an initial rush they usually > close. A > few have survived but as Stephen said, tango dancers do not spend money on > food and liquor and often the restaurant will drop the tango night, especially > if business picks up. One or two have survived here, notably Lafayette Grill > which also has tango now on other nights (but it is an exception), but the > floor > is a little small and the level of dancing is mixed. Others hang in but > usually with a small crowd. I have personally seen maybe twenty "restaurant > milongas" come and go. > Most of the people who run the milongas have resigned themselves to making > only a certain amount of money and no more...no one makes a big profit. Most > of > the people who run the milongas have other income or are involved in other > milongas and workshops. > > As Danel once said to me: Nobody got rich from tango, except Francisco > Canaro. > > Cheers, > Charles _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
