The Taxi Dancer Solution
A traveler returning from Florida reported that taxi dancers charge 25 dollars for a tanda over there. I suddenly saw that I could realize the dream of making my passion my work – and make some cool cash in the process. A friend calculated it for me: six milongas per week – she allowed me a day off – and ten tandas per milonga would yield a sweet 1200 per week. She considered 20 dollares an acceptable price for an old guy like me. Hot leaders would obviously make more, but over time, I could cash in on a potential Mick Jagger effect. Her face told me she questioned the feasibility of the whole idea, though.
“Would YOU allow taxi dancers in your milonga?”, she wondered, raising a moral objection. “I most certainly would,” I told her, holding on to the prospect of 1200 per week. “Why not? Taxi dancers have been around in tango forever. In the old days, women charged by the song.” “Prostitutes, you mean?” “I’m not judging. I understand they were often teaching their clients to dance.” “That’s called a private lesson nowadays and lasts an hour,” she said. “What’s the difference? Taxi dancing is a viable business model in Buenos Aires today. Websites advertise their services.” I wasn’t ready to let a future loaded with quick cash slip away that easily.
“Can’t imagine something like that blowing over to the Netherlands,” she said, shaking her head. “Taxi dancers even enter the Mundial with clients, for up to five thousand dollars,” I argued, doubling down. “They’re taking taxi dancing to a whole new level. As organizers, we must inform ourselves of such developments.” “I don’t think there will be much demand here,” she shrugged. “Events are role-balanced now. Women dislike the idea of paid escorts. Many won’t be able to afford it, anyway. A woman returning from Stockholm told me sixty percent of followers in Sweden are double rollers. In Edinburgh, close to ninety percent.” “That only shows there is a latent demand to be tapped,” I said, feeling cornered.
“Believe me, taxi dancers will not solve a leader-follower mismatch,” she concluded. “What will though? Which solution do you see that hasn’t been tried already?” I countered testily. “And don’t give me ‘free entry or free drinks for leaders’. No ‘male-only get-togethers’ before the milonga, either. Organizers tried all those ideas, and they failed miserably. A clean, commercial taxi-dancing approach could work brilliantly. It’s a win-win proposition after all! Competition might improve the dance level, too.” She didn’t budge. “I think followers will much rather start leading themselves,” she said.
“We would develop the local market first, you know, let them get used to the concept. “Hm,” she said. I continued, on a roll now. “Taxi dancers could dance with women and subtly mention at the end of the tanda that this one was for free. Maybe give them a voucher. Milongas will probably offer free entry and drinks. Any leader with a heartbeat should be able to get to that level.” “And if it doesn’t work out, you can always fly to Miami, dominate the market for geriatric American widows in Florida,” she said, ‘But Trump lives in Miami, right?” The thought had occurred to me, and I felt a dream evaporate in the hot, humid Florida air.