Social media / photography during social events /milongas

Social Tango to most of us is something we experience as personal, and even somewhat private. The more we dance the more intense the connection with our partners, ourselves and the music can be. Sometimes, the clicking of phones and cameras on the dance floor can be intrusive and even if it goes unnoticed whilst dancing, the aftermath  of the Facebook exposure later on can shatter the dream we had been enjoying during the actual event. How cruel those “snaps” can sometimes be .. when what we felt at the actual time may have been blissful and sublime? Tango photography is a serious art just as all photography really is.. you only have to look at some of the famous photographers exhibitions and work to acknowledge that certain lighting and effect have a huge impact on an image created.  Please don’t think of me as a “kill-joy” or tango snob perhaps .. I embrace the art of tango wholeheartedly and passionately and love enjoying a good sociable milonga with friends and a glass of wine (or champagne ideally) but lately, I have noticed the effects of the iPhone, iPad etc., at the milonga!   Of course, I realise that the snaps are taken mostly from a generous and a light-heated perspective, friends observing others in their glamorous clothes and shoes, dancing with lots of different partners, “having fun” and what’s wrong with that ?  It’s taken me a few months to get my thoughts fully together and to write these few lines about this tricky subject and I hope the majority of readers will understand my position.  The milonga can be a wonderful sanctuary from the outside working world - we dance to express our joys and sorrows, we dress in perhaps a more creative way than we do otherwise, we embrace sometimes strangers as if they are lovers for just 4 minutes.  The moment is precious, the event can be magical in its entirety. Sometimes the venue is a plain old village hall, yet during a tango  we could be transported to an exotic location anywhere else in the universe. Yet - afterwards how often has your dream been shattered?  That’s sad, that’s not I how I remember last night, the place, the ambiance, the tango I danced ..

So for this next occasion on  Sunday 14th June, when we will be treated to the exemplary musicianship of the live quartet  Tango Siempre, as well as the sensitive and complimentary recorded music by traditional tango DJ Paul Strudwick (www.magicroundabout.eu) in our lovely airy Colwall Village Hall, at the foot of the majestic Malvern Hills, I will request that all phones are on silent, put away in bags and pockets - with no photography taken within the milonga at all. If you want photos of your friends please take them outside of the milonga, having your picnic, wherever, so that when we wake up the next day we can reflect on our dreams of the previous night  without disillusionment.