The Social Structure of Tango Communities: Cliques and their Impact on Community Growth

• The formation of a hierarchical social structure, revealed in decision making power, attention received, and priority of access to privileges, is a natural outcome of human social interaction in groups.
• In tango communities, the organizers of events (instructional units and milongas) are typically respected and often revered and their position of priority in decision making is usually supported by community members.
  • Event organizers are the community leaders to whom members look for guidance in participating in tango activities.
• There is often a hierarchical structure that develops in milongas, where a certain group of dancers, usually supporters of (but not necessarily including) one or more community organizers, has privileges of higher status, including forming partnerships with the most desired or (perceived to be) most highly skilled dancers.
  • When the dance partnerships formed by the dominant cohort (Insiders) exclude other dancers (Outsiders), a clique has formed.
    • Insiders typically display certain mannerisms, such as moving with confidence both on and off the dance floor.
    • Insiders are also likely to be given special attention, such as announcement of their birthdays or even “birthday dances”, as well as being highlighted in social media.
      • In multifocal (multiple organizer) communities, clique formation is most likely at the milonga with the highest attendance (the Primary Milonga).
  • When a clique structure is formed, due to denied access to privileges (particularly lack of opportunities to form partnerships with the more popular and highly skilled dancers) some Outsiders may feel they are not integrated into the social network of the milonga.
    • Lack of desired partnership opportunities is most likely to cause frustration for highly skilled Outsiders.
    • This feeling of peripheralization is usually diminished somewhat for Outsiders with lower dance skills, provided they can form partnerships with other dancers at their own skill level.
      • Intimidation of lower skilled Outsiders is increased by aggressive navigation of Insiders.
      • Unpleasant experiences for Outsiders can also occur if they are treated rudely by Insiders when off of the dance floor.
    • Because there are usually more women than men attending milongas, Outsider women are often neglected in dance invitations, regardless of their dance skills.
      • This is magnified for older women, whereas younger (perceived to be) attractive women, regardless of their dance skills, are often invited to dance by Insider men.
  • There are several options available to Outsiders who are disturbed by Insider behavior and their own lack of fulfillment in participating in tango activities:
    • They can can leave the tango community.
    • In multifocal tango communities, they can seek a more appropriate social niche in Secondary Milongas, where clique formation is either absent of less developed.
    • They can concentrate on developing their own social network (either in the Primary or Secondary Milongas), consisting of other dancers with a similar social status within the community, e.g., fellow enrollees in tango classes.
    • They can attempt to form their own subcommunity by hosting practicas, milongaas, and workshops with visiting instructors.
      • More highly skilled Outsiders may initiate their own instructional program.
        • However, these efforts can lead to community fragmentation.
• The right to select one’s preferred partner at a milonga is inviolate, but community organizers can improve assimilation of new recruits by emphasizing more inclusive partner selection at practicas.
  • Practicas with regulated partner change within a structured line of dance and a relaxed social atmosphere can provide opportunities for dancers of different skill levels to mingle.
• Clique formation not only leads to loss of new recruits to a tango community, but can also lead to community fragmentation.
  • With fragmentation, each subcommunity has a smaller size, thus creating the possibility of each not maintaining a critical mass, which may result in subcommunity and perhaps even entire community extinction.

Dobie Gray “The In Crowd”: Lyrics Music

Tango communities constantly face challenges of growth and membership maintenance (Tango Voice Post). Newly established smaller communities in particular usually experience difficulties in recruiting and retaining dancers and, therefore, may not survive their inception. Large, well-established communities (i.e., of long duration) have a higher probability of persistence, but may be at risk for decline and possible extinction if factors promoting growth and maintenance are not taken into account by group leaders.

There are many factors that contribute to community growth and persistence. The focus here is on how the formation of a social hierarchy with exclusionary characteristics, i.e., a clique, may determine the course of community evolution.

Tango Community Macrostructure

All human social communities have leaders who influence the characteristics and direction of evolution of the community. Decision making may be concentrated in one or a few interacting individuals with common interests (monocentric) or shared among engaged enfranchised individuals who provide input to leaders and thereby influence the course of community development (dispersed). In monocentric communities, actions emanate alone (or primarily) from the decisions of the leader or leadership group, although management may be responsive in varying degrees to the impact of policy implementation on the members of the community. In most communities with dispersed decision making, there are multiple individuals with varying degrees of influence who execute policies that impact community development somewhat independently.

Tango communities follow this general form of power structure except that, in contrast to the formal political structure of, for example, nations or other obligate membership groups (e.g., the military), membership in tango communities is voluntary. Therefore, the power relinquished to leaders in tango communities is derived from voluntary participation in the activities generated by community leaders, and the success of community leaders is measured in terms of the persistence of member participation in these activities.

The leaders in tango communities almost always are the event organizers, and include local instructors, milonga and practica hosts, and organizers of workshops given by visiting instructors. In most cases, instructors also host milongas and practicas and invite visiting instructors, so in general their actions usually determine most the program characteristics in the community, the nature of the physical environment in which activities occur and often, to a significant degree, the social environment of the community. Therefore, community members usually focus most of their attention on local instructors with regard to their degree of engagement and manner of participation in activities. In actuality, most tango community leaders are entrepreneurs who depend upon financial profit for maintenance of their enterprise, often in competition with other entrepreneurial organizers. It is also possible that a nonprofit organization can be formed to develop a program of tango activities, as may occur in an educational or civic setting; in this latter format, decision making is likely to be distributed in a more democratic manner through group meetings and voting, with leadership (and group membership) generally having a shorter duration (and therefore less lingering impact) than for entrepreneurial enterprises. 

Tango communities can be unifocal, i.e., having a single organizer or organizer couple, or multifocal, having multiple organizers, among whom attention and direction of activities is divided. In multifocal communities there are multiple spheres of influence, with each consisting of the activities and adherents within the leader’s organizational domain, which therefore comprise subcommunities. (Note: Unifocal communities can be monocentric or dispersed in decision making, and multifocal communities can be either monocentric or dispersed in decision making within each subcommunity, but multifocal communities, by definition, cannot be monocentric at the community level.) In the case of multiple organizers, they can be competitive or cooperative to varying degrees. With regard to the dancers comprising the membership of the overall community, individual participation can range from being highly selective, i.e., participating primarily in the activities of a single organizer, to nonselective, i.e., participating without preference in the activities hosted by multiple organizers, as well as (most likely) showing varying degrees of preference for different organizers’ events. The competitiveness versus cooperativeness of community organizers determines to a significant degree the selectivity of dancers in their participation in community activities, i.e., dancers tend to be more selective when community organizers are competitive, especially when they are antagonistic to other community leaders. As a consequence of organizers’ influence on dancers’ choices, multifocal tango communities can be cohesive (dancers’ participation spreads across the activities of multiple organizers) versus fragmented (dancers are mostly loyal in attendance to a particular organizer’s events).      

In some cases, fragmentation of tango communities may not be driven primarily by organizer influence. In regions of high population density that extend over large geographic areas (e.g., metropolitan New York City, San Francisco Bay area), local dancers may prefer to attend nearby events, but some of these dancers also travel moderately long distances (an hour or more) to attend more distant events. Even in smaller municipalities that are somewhat geographically isolated, there may be multiple foci of attention with, for example, a younger group attending events near a university and an older group attending events at a community center located a few miles away.  

Within this variation in overall social structure (macrostructure), there are social factors that contribute significantly to the success of tango communities in the recruitment and retention of dancers. This will be examined below in detail in terms of the social structure within the subgroups comprising a tango community (microstructure).

• The terms defined above:
  • Monocentric vs. Dispersed Decision Making (within Community or Subcommunity)
  • Unifocal vs. Multifocal Community Organizational Structure
  • In multifocal communities:
    • Cooperative vs. Competitive Organizers
    • Selective vs. Nonselective Activity Participation by Dancers
    • Cohesive vs. Fragmented Communities (as result of dancer activity participation)
• are relevant in the discussion of the influence of community microstructure.

Tango Community Microstructure: Dance Partnership Networks

The microstructure of tango communities is apparent in the interactions among dancers. Dance partnerships over the course of a milonga reveal some of the most important components of the social network in the community. In theory, partner selection can be random, a state highly unlikely to be achieved, discriminative (partners selected according to specific criteria), or equitable (attempting to select partners evenly in all categories). In reality, varying degrees of discriminative partner selection are in operation at all milongas. Dancers have preferences regarding with whom they wish to dance, generally choosing partners of similar age, ability, relationship status (single or married) and, to some degree, ethnicity, as well as prior familiarity, which is probably the most important component. (These variables are not independent of one another.) This is the normal state of human affairs and is not necessarily intentionally dismissive of unselected dance partners.

Clique Formation

A clique consists of a group of interconnected individuals that excludes other individuals (Outsiders). Clique members (Insiders) have a dominant position within the community, and they exhibit behaviors that project their status. Insiders make (conscious or subconscious) decisions that determine the characteristics and influence the future development of the community.

In a tango community, the most obvious evidence of clique formation is the Insiders’ selection of dance partners at a milonga exclusively or nearly exclusively within the clique. This dominant clique almost inevitably includes followers of community event organizers. Organizers themselves may or may not be part of the (dance partnership) network; they may be less obviously part of the dominant clique because they are often busy during the milonga focusing on activities that limit their time dancing, e.g., DJing, circulating through the milonga greeting people, advertising other events they sponsor, even dancing occasionally with Outsiders. Usually the organizer has assistants attending to collection of money and providing refreshments, but at small milongas, even the organizer may attend to these tasks. The event organizer places a priority on economic interests. Therefore, it is usually the followers of the organizer (most likely their students if they are tango instructors) who wish to display (or claim) their privileged status, in part because they lack the immediate recognition as community influencers that organizers do. If other community organizers are present at a particular organizer’s milonga (i.e., in a cooperative community), they have the potential (to varying degrees) to enter into the dominant clique network, or form a somewhat separate (codominant or subdominant) clique with their own followers.

Insiders tend to have a sense of ownership of the milonga. (This is their milonga.) This is evident in their demeanor on the dance floor. Insiders tend to be highly skilled dancers, although this is not always the case; regardless, they dance with confidence and energy, often with abandonment (i.e., disregard for the space of other dancers on the floor) and tend to display exhibitionist movements that attract attention. Insiders may or may not be intentionally aggressive towards other dancers in their use of space on the dance floor. Their expansive movements may be simply a result of exuberant free expression emanating from self confidence, although they also may be designed consciously to attract attention from milonga attendees in order to be perceived as highly skilled dancers. This ownership of the dance floor often intimidates Outsiders, especially if floor density is high, increasing the reticence of Outsiders to enter onto the dance floor, even if partners are readily available.

Insiders occasionally select dance partners outside the clique. If permissible within this subculture, they may demonstrate their self-declared superiority by correcting the perceived dancing errors of Outsiders. This communicates to Outsiders that they are inferior dancers. Male Insiders often display their status by selecting as partners Outsider women generally perceived (by the eyes of men) to be the most attractive. This demonstrates some degree of ownership, and signals to Outsider men that they have a hard act to follow (i.e., a dance with a high status male). This is capable of frustrating Outsider men who attend milongas in search of sex and romance.

The feelings of milonga ownership also extend beyond the dance floor. Insiders tend to be relaxed, moving with ease throughout the milonga facility, greeting other dancers of their choice with hugs and kisses, exuding social confidence with smiling and laughing, often boisterously. In contrast, Outsiders tend to be more cautious in their movements and reserved in their social interactions, particularly if they are newcomers to the milonga scene.  

Cliques are recognized by additional features of privileged status which make their existence known to the community. They often have reserved tables at a milonga, enabling them to sit together, often at larger (sometimes decorated) tables at the edge of the dance floor, i.e., in a prominent position, whereas Outsiders often are relegated to smaller tables (that limit social network formation). Insiders’ proximity to each other and preference for dancing primarily or entirely with other Insiders decreases the probability of a successful dance invitation from an Outsider by cabeceo (due to limited possibility of establishing eye contact) and the prospect of a Direct Approach invitation can be intimidating to Outsiders (more so if ever rejected).

Special recognition may be given to Insiders during a milonga, e.g., their birthdays may be announced; even more status may be given by “birthday dances”, a concession to the community where opposite gender milonga attendees line up for an opportunity to dance brief intervals with the Insider whose birthday is celebrated. Even more recognition is given when a milonga is advertised in advance as a “birthday milonga” recognizing an Insider. (Meanwhile, Outsider birthdays generally are not acknowledged publicly.)

Insiders are likely to be trendsetters for the community. Certainly, instructors are role models for style of dance and DJs, by their selection of music, inform community dancers what music is most appropriate for dancing, even if the music selection is poor (Tango Voice Post). In some cases, Insiders may set the fashion trends for the milonga, e.g., whether women wear dresses or pants and whether men dress business casual or with jeans and t-shirts.

Further attention is often given to Insiders in social media and organization websites. For example, photos and videos from a milonga may focus on Insiders dancing, perhaps even mentioning them by name in the captions. Photos and videos of (often smiling) Insiders in nondancing roles at a milonga also may be posted. In some cases, there will be photos of Insiders associating with each other outside the milonga in nontango activities, e.g., at a private party in an Insider’s home, dining together at a restaurant, perhaps including a visiting instructor, or on an outing to another tango community (in some cases, even Buenos Aires). Perhaps the ultimate demarcation of clique boundaries is the private milonga (usually at an Insiders’ home), where only Insiders and select Outsiders (if any) are invited; photos of this exclusionary event are usually not broadcast, but word of mouth is usually sufficient to feed the local rumor mill. All of these communicative actions draw attention to Insiders, giving them recognition as privileged members of the community. Some of this promotion of Insiders may be associated with a website or (more likely) a Facebook page labeled as a ‘community’ tango page (e.g., ‘Big City Tango Group’), designed to appear organization oriented, but some Insiders use their own named Facebook page (and network of ‘Friends’) in these efforts yet, regardless, this activity mostly represents Insider self-promotion of their social status within the community.

There may be several modes of clique formation within a tango community. A universally dominant clique may form around a particular community organizer or set of cooperative organizers. In contrast, the community as a whole may have more than one clique network, each focusing around a particular organizer or set of organizers (i.e., in a multifocal community), with each clique having its own event domain (i.e., set of linked classes, workshops, practicas, milongas, etc.); this latter arrangement is more common in larger, more geographically extensive communities. In multifocal communities, the pattern of clique formation often reflects the degree of fragmentation of the community. In cohesive communities, it is likely that the clique that forms at the most popular milonga (Primary Milonga) will exist at all or nearly all milongas (with considerable membership similarity). In fragmented communities, different cliques may form in different subcommunities. Usually, there is likely to develop a perceived hierarchy among the subcommunities, based on milonga attendance, with the smaller subcommunities less likely to be cliquish because, in the interest of subcommunity growth, they are intent upon being more inclusive.

Cliques differ with respect to their penetrability; i.e., some cliques are more open to (somewhat selective) inclusion of Outsiders in dance partnerships and outside milonga activities.

Cliques are not necessarily overtly or even subtly hostile to Outsiders; in fact, this is probably the most common condition in clique formation. Community leaders may greet Outsiders on arrival (they are, in fact, supporting the community financially), but otherwise Outsiders are given little attention. The dance floor is where clique identity is most apparent. However, in the special case of fragmented multifocal communities with high levels of competitiveness between subcommunities, innocent (i.e., non-adversarial) dancers from other subcommunities may be peripheralized at a competitor’s milonga by being ignored or sometimes being given subtle (nonverbal) or (rarely) overt (usually verbal or even physical) signals of hostility. (Physical signals of hostility include intentional movements, sometimes including contact, on the dance floor, designed to hinder the movement of peripheralized dancers.)  

Consequences of Clique Formation in Tango Communities

Hierarchy formation is a natural component of human social interaction in groups. There need to be leaders who manage community affairs, and it is generally accepted among group members that these leaders acquire certain privileges as rewards for their contributions. In social dance communities, most members appreciate the leaders who organize events; without them, dancers lack opportunities to participate in dance activities. Community organizers do the work that other dancers do not need and want to do. In most cases, community leaders are liked and sometimes even revered.

However, the social impact of clique formation around these community leaders is that it can affect Outsiders’ feelings of belonging to a community. Some Outsiders may develop the perception that the milonga exists primarily to provide a venue for displaying the privileged status of some community members, while others are relegated to an inferior position. This can cause some Outsiders to seek another environment where greater dance and social rewards are available. This is especially true for novices, who are only in the exploratory stage of their tango journey; perhaps another kind of social dance community (ballroom, swing, Tropical Latin, country) will be more rewarding (although these are likely to have a similar clique structure).

Individuals join a social dance community seeking certain favorable outcomes. Having pleasurable social interactions is usually primary. This may consist of making friends or, oftentimes, establishing romantic / sexual relationships. There may be some individuals who join dance communities primarily for the joy of dancing, acquiring skills, or just gaining the physical and psychological benefits of movement. One or more of these needs must be met sufficiently for someone to continue participation in a dance community.

Dancers leave a community when their experiences at events are unpleasant or their basic needs for participation are not met. Many dancers quit taking classes if they are not learning from instruction, although some dancers persist in their community involvement without having acquired many dance skills if other rewards (e.g., social gratification) are achieved. In the earliest stages of dance development, departure from dance communities is usually more common for men than women, because learning the leader’s role is more difficult than following. Unsatisfactory experiences at the milongas, either from not having the desired number of dance partners, or having primarily unpleasant dance experiences with the available partners, are potential reasons for exiting a dance community.

There are several additional identifiable factors that are responsible for the failure to retain recruits to tango dancing. Due to lower initial recruitment rates for men (there are usually more women than men in beginner level classes), and the higher early dropout rate for men, as well as the lower confidence in dance ability for men, milongas typically have more women than men attending in most tango communities. This leaves women in general at a disadvantage in finding partners for as many tandas of music in which they wish to participate. However, this inherent biased gender ratio in attendance is not problematic for all women; younger women deemed to be attractive, somewhat independently of their dance abilities, are often sought as partners by high confidence leaders, usually members of the dominant clique. This often leaves many older women outside of the clique network, even those with higher skill levels; therefore, these women are often without dance partners for many tandas, or relegated to dancing with men with lower dance skills. The gender bias in attendance, the age bias in partner selection (men prefer to dance with younger women), and the consequence of unfulfilling dance experiences often drives older women to leave dance communities (but usually not enough to create an excess of men at milongas).

The presence of a clique can create additional unpleasant milonga attendance experiences for some Outsiders. Because Insiders portray several indicators of status (e.g., access to most desired dance partners, confidence in movement on and off the dance floor, relatively uninhibited social interaction), some Outsiders may feel they are peripheralized lower status members of the community or, in some cases, not integrated at all into the social network of the milonga.  Feelings of not belonging to the community can cause dancers to leave the community.

Nevertheless, the consequences of clique formation are different for different individuals.

Men who join a tango community for the primary purpose of seeking romantic / sexual relationships may find that the most desirable prospects for them may be inaccessible because these women rapidly acquire dance partnerships with male Insiders (or sometimes even female Insiders who choose to assume the leader’s role). Older women who have the same motivations also may find themselves with a limited number of suitable men available as potential relationship partners. 

In contrast, couples who join a tango community primarily to enjoy dancing with each other are less likely to develop feelings of social isolation. Nevertheless, if the demeanor on the dance floor is threatening due to the bravado of Insiders, the milonga can create an unpleasant environment for these couples as well.

In the presence of a relatively impenetrable clique, highly skilled dancers who are newcomers to the community are likely to be frustrated if they encounter limited access to dancing with other highly skilled dancers, who may be mainly integrated into clique partnerships; therefore these newcomers may be relegated to dancing with less skilled dancers. This situation can be exacerbated if the cabeceo is accepted as the community standard for dance invitation. However, newcomer men with good dance skills may be able to partner with peripheral older women with good dance skills, although some of the younger skilled newcomer men may not pursue this option, even if they are not primarily seeking romantic / sexual relationships.

The social impact of cliques on dancers in the early stages of development and new to the milonga scene is dependent on the mindset of these dancers. Some newcomers are excited about their newly discovered social activity and therefore see the environment in a positive light, unaware of their peripheralization. They tend to be concerned mainly with gaining confidence in dancing and are unlikely to seek partnerships within the clique network, whose members are perceived as both physically and socially intimidating. New-to-tango dancers are also likely to find partners among their classmates in beginner level classes and if there is a sufficient number of potential dance partners available, they may be able to find a comfortable niche in the milonga social scene.

Younger newcomer women deemed to be attractive can have various types of experiences, some unpleasant, upon entering the milonga scene. In some cases, community Casanovas will descend rapidly on these newcomers, perhaps making them feel physically uncomfortable if proper physical etiquette is not observed. Astute female newcomers learn to reject the dance invitations of these offenders, but others lack this assertiveness, and some may interpret these encroachments as characteristic of the dance community (or the dance itself), thereby causing their departure from the communitty. Male Insiders tend to be less desperate and often more polite in their interactions with attractive female newcomers, in part because their evident status is sufficiently attractive and, thus, younger attractive newcomer women sometimes achieve the social success of eventually being integrated into the clique, especially if they show promise as dancers.

Feelings of peripheralization at a milonga most likely are experienced by dancers with specific personal characteristics. This includes people who feel they must achieve recognition and access to the rewards of high status in a social environment. This class of individuals could include highly skilled dancers who are unable to find partners with similar skills. In communities with a monocentric decision making structure, with unpleasant milonga conditions created by clique members, there may be individuals who believe they could make important contributions to the community by organizing events with different characteristics (e.g., larger or smaller dance floor, different music selection). In two contrasting interpretations of tango traditions, one aspiring organizer may wish to host an Alternative Milonga (Tango Voice post) with Tango Alternative music and a permissive attitude towards exhibitionism on the dance floor or, in a different context, another aspiring organizer may wish to host a milonga where only Traditional Tango music is played and exhibitionism on the dance floor is frowned upon (Tango Voice post). If these aspirations are acted upon by developing new venues for tango activities, the community structure has the potential to become fragmented, even competitive, and often antagonisitic.

Nevertheless, in many cases, Outsiders will find a niche within the social fabric of the milonga. If high status dancers are not disrespectful towards other dancers, and dance floor conditions are not threatening, clique impenetrability is unlikely to be relevant for Outsiders, provided their social and dance expectations for joining the community are met.         

The effects of clique formation on the milonga experience of Outsiders at a milonga are mediated by several additional social factors. Social segregation, and concomitant feelings of isolation, are magnified with increased clique impenetrability. If opportunity exists to gain access into the clique network, even if only temporarily (e.g., by obtaining an occasional tanda), the clique may appear to possess some penetrability. If Outsiders observe newcomers of similar status (e.g., age, dance ability) gaining access to the clique, there may arise hope, perhaps naively, that this possibility exists for oneself (assuming one desires integration into the clique).

The impact of clique impenetrability on Outsider retention also depends on the size of the clique relative to milonga attendance. If the ratio of Outsiders to clique Insiders is high, the likelihood of Outsiders finding a dance partner is improved, provided there is a nearly equal gender ratio. It may be the case that that clique impenetrability is higher in milongas with higher attendance, but this may be inconsequential.

Without doubt, if Insiders dominate the space on the dance floor with rapid expansive and exhibitionist movements, Outsiders will tend to feel intimidated by the pomposity of the clique, regardless of the potential for Outsiders to find suitable dance partners. The impact of precarious floor conditions is greater for dancers who have less confidence navigating the dance floor, and on older dancers who may be subject to injury due to less mobility and compromised balance. However, if Insiders are relatively reserved in their dancing and are respectful of the space of other dancers, this intimidation factor is reduced significantly and low clique penetrance may be more tolerable. 

Overall, the feeling of alienation that dancers may experiencce in a milonga setting depends not only on the impenetrability of the clique, but also on the behavior of the Insiders. Indifferent and certainly hostile behavior will lead to departure of Outsiders. Arrogance on and off the dance floor is a major contributor to the exit of peripheralized dancers.

Alternatives for Clique Outsiders

Each milonga has its own unique social environment. If a clique network forms, it is usually in the largest milonga in a community (the Primary Milonga). Dancers in the community are aware this milonga is where the In Crowd (dominant clique) goes, and people want to be with the In Crowd, even if they experience peripheralization. Nevertheless, with repeated unsatisfactory milonga experiences, Outsiders will tend to either leave the tango community entirely or, in multifocal communities, find a friendlier environment, which is likely to be a smaller milonga (Secondary Milonga) outside the reach and therefore the exclusivity of the dominant community clique.

Social Reality   

Social hierarchies are a natural part of human existence and therefore are experienced and usually readily accepted. However, it is also human nature to seek a comfortable position with respect to others in a social environment and not feel disrespected or barred from access to the rewards of participation. Although the goals of pleasant social interaction, friendship formation, and pursuit of romance and sexual relationships may be primary motivators for joining a dance community, dance is the medium for achieving these goals, and failure to have pleasant dance experiences usually results in frustration in achieving the anticipated social goals.

It is natural that dancers wish to have dance partners who satisfy their needs in attending a milonga. Most highly skilled dancers prefer to dance with other highly skilled dancers. Dancers seeking social gratification prefer to dance with partners with whom they can share an enjoyable social experience rather than one fraught with tension, perhaps due to intimidation. Dancers seeking romantic and sexual partners prefer to seek out as partners the most desirable prospects for fulfilling these goals. Therefore, dancers who are in the early stages of skill development or timid individuals can expect that some partners will be off limits. Demanding non-discriminative partner selection from the most desirable dancers is an unrealistic expectation. For example, highly skilled dancers cannot be expected to spend a significant amount of time (or even any time) doing what is often labeled as ‘charity work’ dancing with unskilled partners. The purpose of the cabeceo is to allow dancers to select dance partners by mutual consent.

With regard to clique members, few people enter a dance environment for the primary purpose of achieving high social status. Event organizers, by their specific actions to add activities to the community event calendar, become a magnet for dancers’ attendance and therefore attract attention and achieve some social status by their activity organization, but these endeavors typically require some time in residence in a community before being successful. Dancers without organizational ambitions usually attract little attention initially. In general, high social status (as indicated by successful partnership formation with highly desired dancers) is rarely achieved by infrequent attendance at community activities; repeated presence is almost a necessity to achieve high social status. For many dancers, high social status may be achieved somewhat accidently, by being in the right place at the right time. Cliques may form around founders of a community or among long term dancers in a community; i.e., clique formation is based in large part on familiarity, because clique members are socially comfortable with each other. In theory, a coherent cohort of beginner level dancers today may become the dominant clique in the future in a community with high turnover.

Clique members often are not intentionally brash in their behavior on or off the dance floor, at least not initially. The freedom they feel in moving with confidence and often abandonment is exhilarating and therefore this behavior is reinforcing. The execution of complex movements is also rewarding in that the dancer feels a sense of accomplishment, although this often evolves into grandstanding; attracting attention and presumed admiration from the milonga audience, which is believed by the performer to enhance one’s success in future partner invitations, is indeed the purpose of such exhibitionism in many cases. An Insider’s arrogance towards Outsiders is, in most cases, a defensive behavior indicative of a feeling of the threat to one’s status presented by an Outsider. For example, if an Outsider male is successful in partnering with an attractive woman either in the clique or deemed to be a potential clique candidate, an insecure Insider male, who feels a sense of ownership of preferred partnerships, may initiate subtle or blatant antisocial behavior towards the Outsider.

The role of dance skill in partner selection has been mentioned several times in this post. Although there are some components of dance skill that can be identified, e.g., balance, clarity of lead, coordination in following, comfort of physical contact, the assessment of dance skill by individual dancers is subjective, and there are differences among dancers in how they rank dancers of the opposite gender role with respect to their dance ability. Therefore, the designation of Insiders as the most highly skilled dancers is often more a reflection of their dominant position on the dance floor and the public acceptance of their status than an indication of their actual dance skill; i.e., they may appear visually skillful, but if partnership were obtained, physical contact with the Insiders might result in a different skill assessment.

In evaluating the factors affecting partner selection, subjectively determined skill level is probably not as important as deemed in the mind of the observer. Most likely the most important determinant of partner selection is familiarity. Insiders know each other, due to a history of favorable interactions at and often outside the milonga. Therefore, newcomers to a tango community, regardless of their abilities or prior tango experience, are at a disadvantage with respect to forming dance partnerships with Insiders. Other factors affecting choice of a partner include social and physical attractiveness, age, and style of dance. Therefore, within this complex web of decision making in partner formation, an individual who feels peripheralized due to the inability to obtain satisfactory dance experiences may cast blame on the others who appear successful in this endeavor as members of a clique that excludes this Outsider, when in fact it is the complex of variables that leave this individual isolated, without there existing any social network structure that is designed to differentiate dancers as Insiders versus Outsiders. A clique can exist in the mind without being present in reality.     

In general, the impact of clique formation in a milonga has its most serious consequences on community growth and maintenance when it is most apparent (identifiable segregated seating, public attention, and command of the dance floor existing exclusively for a particular group), and its effects are magnified when there is hostility towards Outsiders on and off the dance floor. Nevertheless, even these features can be ameliorated by certain social conditions and behavioral strategies, as discussed below.

Countermeasures for Dealing with Peripheralization  

The broader impact of clique formation is dependent upon community structure. In communities with multiple milongas, the primary domain of the dominant clique is almost always that of the most well-attended milonga (Primary Milonga). In cooperative communities, the reach of the dominant clique may extend into other milonga environments as well. In this case, dancers will experience to varying degrees the effects of clique dominance wherever they go to dance. However, when there are multiple milongas in a community, organizers of the Primary Milonga may interpret a Secondary Milonga as competition to their enterprise and may be unwilling to support it, evidenced not only by their nonattendance, but also by their not advertising it; in worst cases they will criticize other organizers’ events, perhaps even recommending to their followers not to attend them. Supporters of the Primary Milonga organizer, who almost inevitably comprise this milonga’s clique, may follow suit and not attend Secondary Milongas, although in many cases the social gratification that emanates from dominance of a milonga may be sufficient for Insiders to display their status, perhaps in an aggressive manor, in Secondary Milongas as well. [When antagonism between subcommunities reaches this level, it is likely that community is on the road to decline. (Tango Voice Post)]

Nevertheless, in many multifocal communities, where the influence of the dominant clique is diminished beyond the Primary Milonga, Outsiders may find refuge in Secondary Milongas. Since Secondary Milongas (by definition) have lower attendance than the Primary Milonga and, due to the fewer partner choices available, Outsiders at the Primary Milonga are less likely to be overlooked in dance invitations at a Secondary Milonga. In addition, astute organizers of Secondary Milongas and their followers are more likely to embrace greater inclusivity in partner selection as a strategy to strengthen milonga attendance and enhance subcommunity growth. (Sometimes the organizer of a Secondary Milonga circulates among attendees in partner selection.) Therefore, in multifocal communities where the exclusivity of the dominant clique is lessened at Secondary Milongas (due to fewer members attending), Outsiders at the Primary Milonga may find a more rewarding social environment at Secondary Milongas. However, there may be some loss of benefits in attending Secondary Milongas, e.g., lower overall dance quality, DJs with poorer music selection, more limited or less desirable candidates for romantic and sexual relationships, and a less favorable physical environment (perhaps limited or no parking or nearby public transportation, distant location, lower quality dance floor).

Nevertheless, in both Primary and Secondary milongas, there are strategies that Outsiders can utilize to improve their milonga participation experiences. Assuming milonga attendees can select their own tables for seating, Outsiders can attempt to sit at the same table with or nearby to familiar dancers, e.g., their tango classmates; dance invitations, whether by cabeceo or by Direct Approach, tend to be more likely at closer distances from potential partners. Outsiders at all skill levels can gain greater familiarity with other dancers by attending workshops, which usually have attendees with a greater range of skill levels, particularly when taught by visiting instructors, although this may occur at a significant financial cost without learning anything useful for dancing at a milonga (Tango Voice post). Women who have few partnership possibilities at milongas can learn to adopt the leader’s role. (See Tango Voice post on gender neutral tango dancing.) However, this may not meet with universal acceptance, and may even discourage some men from inviting these women to dance (they are perceived as leaders, not followers), perhaps magnifying their partnership deficit. Another possibility is to hire a taxi dancer, which can be costly, and is likely only to be a temporary solution, i.e., not resulting in integration into the milonga social network.

Community organizers bear some responsibility in integrating dancers into the social network of the milonga. One way to increase familiarity among dancers is for milonga organizers to set aside a small segment of the milonga for a snowball dance, although for traditionalists this is inconsistent with maintaining tango customs.

Tango instructors play a significant role in familiarizing dancers with each other. It is standard practice in classes and workshops for dancers to change partners during the instructional period. It is usually more beneficial both in learning and socialization for tango instructors to do less talking and allow more time to practice dancing. One option is to extend class time (e.g., a 75 minute class instead of 60 minutes) to allow for more practice including changing of partners. This will allow dancers to gain greater familiarity with other dancers; whether this allows dancers to become more familiar with dancers at other skill levels depends upon class composition.

To a significant degree, teaching methods contribute to the creation of a hierarchy in perceived skill levels among dancers. When instructors offer a syllabus that emphasizes relatively complex movements (barridas, boleos, calesitas, colgadas, ganchos, giros, sacadas, volcadas, etc.), often in set sequences, developing dancers focus on memorizing the movements, typically with a loss of attention to technique. If this is the community standard, as evident by the dancing at milongas, then there is likely to be discordance between partners with different instructional experiences. However, if instructors focus instead on connection in the embrace, coordination of movements, navigation and musicality, then the discordance between dancers with different instructional encounters is likely to be decreased significantly and, consequently, the dance experience will be more pleasant for partners with different experience levels, as well as rendering the dance floor less hazardous. Instructors may resist adopting this philosophy due to the belief (correct or incorrect) that emphasizing the teaching of tango steps popularized in the media will result in better recruitment and retention of dancers, a strategy that is more likely to maximize financial gains. The decision here depends on one’s perspective, whether tango dancing is a cultural phenomenon or a business enterprise.

Although one needs to respect the partner preferences of dancers at milongas, a different perspective can be adopted for practicas. Instructors can encourage experienced dancers to partner here with dancers in earlier stages of their dance development. To some degree, this resembles the practices of practicas in Buenos Aires during the Golden Age (Tango Voice Post). Scheduling a practica between a more advanced and a less advanced class creates opportunities for mixing of dancers at different skill levels. In addition, providing refreshments in a practica after a beginner class can encourage these dancers to stay and mingle with each other, while encouraging more advanced dancers to arrive earlier and mingle as well.  

More typical practicas outside of instruction times can also assist in this manner, but beginners need an incentive to attend. Creating a social environment (tables with chairs, food and drink available) can aid in this goal. Guided practicas (perhaps after a multilevel lesson, providing feedback but not heavy on instruction), with direction toward forming a line of dance and changing partners in sequence can also allow dancers of different skill levels to mingle. Some tango instructors organize supposedly hybrid events called ‘practilongas’, an artificial creation lacking links to tango traditions and varying in its implementation, but the intent to create a more relaxed social dancing environment for developing tango dancers is laudable.

Practicas are the bridge between the tango classroom and the milonga. There is often too much emphasis on bringing unprepared dancers to the milonga, an environment which may be overwhelming and disappointing, leading to rapid departure from the tango scene. It is a concern with financial success that often drives organizers to encourage dancers unprepared for the milonga to attend and face the harsh reality of the hierarchy in dance partnership preferences.

Development of tango dancing skills and integration into the milonga social network usually go hand in hand. It is beneficial for dancers new to a community to have patience in both endeavors. In multifocal communities, it is also wise for newcomers to explore different venues (i.e., different subcommunities) to determine which has the best fit; it may be best to ignore or circumvent the dominant clique. For newcomers to tango, attending the Primary Milonga may seem like entering a battlefield, whereas a Secondary Milonga or a practica is often more likely to provide a more welcoming environment. 

Discussion and Conclusions

The formation of hierarchies in human groups, with high status members (by definition) gaining preferential access to certain privileges and receiving increased public recognition, is a natural consequence of human social interactions. However, in groups with voluntary membership, the emergence of a clique structure that strongly favors acquisition of social rewards by a select group (Insiders), while limiting social privileges for other individuals (Outsiders), may create in Outsiders feelings of alienation from the group. This has obvious deleterious consequences for community growth and persistence, in that retention of peripheralized individuals is jeopardized. This may be counterbalanced by the creation of alternative venues that provide a suitable niche for individuals peripheralized elsewhere by clique dominance.

The formation of cliques occurs in many tango communities, although it is difficult to estimate accurately how widespread this phenomenon is. Typically, when tango communities are first formed, there is a feeling of camaraderie among the small group of dancers, particularly when the diversity in skill levels among dancers is low. However, as communities evolve, growing in size and developing greater variation in skill levels, the dancers with more experience naturally tend to select as dance partners the familiar foundation members, who are usually similar in skill level, and in this way the basis for formation of cliques has arisen. The consequences of this hierarchy formation and social segregation are magnified when Insider behavior is grandiose, imposing, arrogant and aggressive on and off the dance floor. Clique formation frequently results in community fission, with alternative venues for tango activities often originated by discontented talented dancers who have not been integrated into dominant clique at the clique-dominated Primary Milonga. Community fission provides a release valve for stress experienced at the Primary Milonga and may lead to community growth to a point, providing additional opportunities for recruitment, but too many community activities dilute attendance at individual events and often leads to an eventual reabsorption of the spread in activities.

Clique formation is associated with a greater hazard to community growth in smaller unifocal communities. In communities with high attendance at the Primary Milonga, the impact of a clique may be lessened due to the likely formation of secondary partnership networks among Outsiders. Larger communities are also more likely to have Secondary Milongas, which usually provide refuge for Outsiders. However, if the subcommunities become segregated (i.e., little overlap in event attendance), the (semi-)independent subcommunities each face a greater risk of decline and extinction 

Most likely the best counterweight to clique formation is the creation of alternative partnership networks among Outsiders. This can begin by familiarizing dancers with each other in classes and workshops through frequent partner change. This strategy can also be applied in practicas, and making practicas social events by providing opportunities for off-floor interaction assists in this process. The social practica (with guided instruction) for Outsiders can evolve into a Secondary Milonga (without instruction).

Although partner preferences in dancing at a milonga are an inviolate tradition, recognition must be given to the reality that without integration of newcomers, community extinction is a possibility.