The Tango scene usually gets quieter over the summer holiday period; organisers take a break and halls get shut down for maintenance work. We’ve taken it easy too, especially in the past when the old venue was shut (often for no reason whatsoever, but that’s another story…). But this year we were kept active; a Sueños Milonga, ‘Junction 8’, two Wedneday practice evenings, private lessons, and the build-up to ‘Septonathon’. And all this during the school summer holidays.
Now we are in September things seem quieter; at least we are running fewer events this month. But the build up for ‘Etonathon’ has already started, plus preparations for our first ever New Years Eve milonga. And that all starts with the guest DJs.
Recruiting the DJ team is a painstaking process, mostly because we are so picky about the guest DJs. We’re out & about at milongas a lot checking out the music, amongst other things, and we also get plenty of suggestions for DJs we might use. It’s part control-freakery and part fussiness, but we find that there aren’t actually that many DJs who we think make the grade for our events.
If we’re approached by a DJ who we haven’t heard in action, then we’ll ask for a sample of a recent playlist, which we can check out at leisure. This is never the same as being in the room at a milonga, but it can give a good idea of how the DJ structures tandas, and the style of music that they prefer. Sometimes it’s a revelation. But often it’s not pretty, with poor choice of tracks and an excessive tendency towards a particular mood or artist.
Anyway, despite needing to meet our high criteria this years DJ team is just about recruited, and their travel arrangements and accomodation will need to be sorted out soon. Then we’ll relax and look forward to another great event.
‘I love it when a plan comes together!’
