Tango Map

Tango Map
Started in	2020
Ended in	2021
Initiator(s)	Daniel de Kay, Korey Ireland, Mara, Mitra Martin
Project domain(s)	Community, Experience of tango, Ontology

The Tango Map is a project that was started within the context of AwakenTango. It was initially intended to identify areas where future projects could create value for the tango community, and it quickly developed beyond that intent.

The map, as it is today, aims to describe what tango is made of, including the people who create tango, music, history, culture, and even more.

Evolution of the map

Iteration 0 - initial brainstorming

Visual brainstorming in diagram.io, lead to a few hundred individual items that describe the experience and expression of tango.

This is the first time we realized that tango is bigger than what each of us saw, and that a tango ecosystem map could be an output of the project.

Iteration 1 - clustering

Creating more order by clustering and adding first cluster names. File:The map.pdf

Iteration 2 - sense making

How does it all fit together? One way of categorizing the elements in the map is by "context size":

Iteration 2

Level	Context size	Name	Description	Example elements
1	everything	Essence of Tango	Philosophical level of what tango is, and its potential
2	all	The tango universe = Ecosystem	Encompasses everyone who plays a role in the tango universe
3	many lots	Networks	Everyone, but already in connection with others. Often regional, or within a certain role	Organizers, Dancers in Europe
4	lots	Communities of communities	Regional tango scenes	Berlin tango scene
5	many	Communities	e.g. students of a tango school, members of a community	Students of Nou
6	few	Collaborations	e.g. teachers in a school
7	2=1&1	Partnerships	Close collaboration between two people, like a dancing couple, or teaching couple	Connection
8	1 +x	Individuals in action towards/with others	How one person interacts with people in a milonga, Teaching tango	Social interactions, Cabeceo
9	1	Individual’s inner experience	Learning tango, experience, emotions	Flow, Fear, Joy

Iteration 3 - from sense to action

How can the map be used to help people engage with additional activities? Can it be used in the engagement of Awaken Tango with it's extended community? Can it be used to guide people by interest to the areas they could be contributors?

Iteration 3

N	Context	Horizon of focus	Details	Projects	Challenges	Is this your horizon?
1	Individual "uno"	Phenomenology Behavior	inner experience such as flow, yearning, social anxiety, mystical experiences external behaviors such as mirada/cabeceo, investigation	Tango Inner Experience Research Study It takes one to tango	Fear, low self esteem, discrimination, social acceptance, age, trauma load,	Do you often reflect/journal on your own inner experience? Do you feel curious about how people's choices create our shared reality? Do you enjoy discovering new mind/body modalities and applying them?
2	Partnership "abrazo"	Phenomenology Behavior Life-cycle	A teaching or performing couple; a couple dancing a tanda, a musical duo, a mentor/mentee pair; student/teacher	Love Takes Practice Tango Poetry Project	Underdeveloped communication skills, trust, lack of understanding of consent	Do you love to practice? Do you prefer 1:1 conversations over everything else? Are you a communication geek?
3+	Collectives "barrio"	Cohorts	A team of organizers; a group of teachers in a school	The Tango Challenge, Tango Map	Sexism, racism, ageism; systemic/structural inequity; lack of lack of facilitation skills; lack of collaboration skills; lack of systems literacy; inadequate understanding of business models, marketing, governance	Do you feel motivated to help tango grow and scale? Do you often feel that there is underexplored potential in groups? Do you like to experiment with new formats for social connection? Do you like facilitating group experiences?
		Communities	A tango school; a facebook group with a fcous theme, like Feminism	Oxygen Tango
		Communities of Communities	A city; a region; a scene	House Tango Tango Mango
		Networks	A regional network, a theme network, such as organizers	Awaken Tango
		The tango universe (ecosystem?)	The sum of all tango experience and expression	Tango Partner App Earth Virtual Milonga
Inf	Essence "duende"	Music	What tango is, and what it is becoming	Tango en la terrazzas	Narrowness, conservatism, lack of funding, lack of contexts to celebrate innovation, lack of credible elders	Are you incredibly curious when it comes to tango music? Do you love to immerse yourself in all kinds of tango music? Do you feel motivated to develop skills so you can more fully express?