I am curious if anyone is taking this week's Tango Marathon seriously.
I am looking at the website and cannot stop wondering. Milonga at Dance Underground on Thursday? Is it instead of the practica or is it in a smaller room next door? The schedule lists Kristina as DJ, but no one ever contacted Kristina about Djing and we are out of town the whole week. I also hope that Thursday, Saturday and Monday night organizers were informed about late start of their milongas and free classes from 9pm to 10pm. Last time I spoke with some organizers of local dances they had no idea about schedule or DJ changes. Is this for real?
The pricing is also strange. For example, $50 for 5 milongas Thursday through Monday at 30% discount. At current prices, Thursday + Saturday + Monday would be around $21. The marathon website does not list individual prices for new Friday and Sunday milongas at Century ballroom (or any other individual prices for that matter), but following $50 at 30% discount, we get $75 is the full price for 5 milongas minus $21 for Thursday/Saturday/Monday = $27 for each Friday and Sunday dances. WOW!
But the best of all is the promise of shuttle between venues: "In case of rain, unforeseen circumstances, sore-feet, or for whatever reason imaginable... there will be a shuttle service on Saturday and Sunday between class venues to help you get to your next destination quickly and safely". Is this for real?
Last summer, La Milonga team was persuaded to participate in the marathon and we moved Friday dance to West Hall to have a special marathon milonga. Unfortunately, we still did not receive any payment - a portion of the door fee as we were promised and we lost money on paying rent at Quenne Anne location for that night. It’s not really a big deal, but the organizers of tango Marathon could be definitely more organized about all accounting. I hope this year all involved parties will receive payments on time as promised.
I did not mean to mis-advertise the festival – quite the opposite. I am also excited that marathon brings new couple Andres Amarilla and Meredith Klein – great dancers. Everyone should definitely consider taking classes and going to festival milongas! I am sure there will be at least a few dancers from out of town, so enjoy, dance, mingle, and just take it easy if there will be some confusion about venues, classes, payments, etc. – it’s all expected this week. Oh and do not forget to request shuttle between class venues and milongas on Saturday and Sunday :-).
Anton