Clay Nelson: We always have a hard time getting an exact count since many people just show up without registering and attend only the milongas and/or maybe 1 or 2 classes. The biggest milonga is the Saturday Grande Tango Ball and we had a count of 540 come through the door. However, there's probably another 100 people or so that didn't get counted, got lost, overslept, decided to skip the Grande Ball and go straight to the Late Night Milonga, or only attended the first few days of the festival and had to leave by Saturday. All in all, I figure well over 600 people attended some part of the festival events.

Close-Embrace.com: Why do you think Portland TangoFest continues to grow? Other festivals have suffered as it gets cheaper and cheaper to go to Buenos Aires.

Clay Nelson: Hmmmmm. Like so many successes, it's not just one thing. First of all the Portland tango community is exceptionally warm, friendly, helpful and united. Next, the tango gods smiled on Portland in providing dozens of wonderful old ballroom--many of which are now being rejuvenated. Also, Portland has some outstanding tango contributors such as Robert Hauk (a staunch supporter of close embrace), Alex Krebs (the boy tango wonder who has his own tango studio and orchestra), Polly McBride (the consummate organizer and diplomat), Megan Pingree (a rock solid teacher, DJ, & organizer of the class hosts), Bill Alsup (keeper of the Portland Tango web site), Mark Beaudry (vendor coordinator and map maker), and Jodi Syverson (spectacular Grande Milonga decorator). But I almost hate to name names because there are so many additional individuals in Portland who contribute and work together. However, I'm getting off the topic of the TangoFest and into why the community [in Portland OR in general] is so good.

Some other reasons TangoFest is successful is because it's always been focused on the dancing. That means 3 things. First, the best DJ's I can get. This is absolutely essential. Second, good venues and good sound equipment. Third, attracting a wide range of great social dancers. Right from the get go, the purpose of having classes at the TangoFest was to attract a group of really good social dancers to Portland by offering them some classes to teach. That's why there are so many teachers and that's why I specifically look for teachers that want to be part of the social scene at the milongas. You might have noticed that generally we don't have reserved tables for the teachers. This is a controversial issue, but we want the teachers to mix and be part of the scene each night.

Let's see, also price, flexibility and variety. You can take one class, a day pass, or the full workshops pass at a very reasonable price. On top of that there are free supervised practicas so students can work individually with instructors. On top of that there are afternoon alternative milongas for those not into taking classes.

(I might add that none of these things happened at once, but were a natural evolution from listening to the evaluations after each TangoFest was over.)

Next, I put in an enormous effort in promoting the TangoFest to teachers, promoters and organizers throughout the country. I am compulsive about maintaining a data base of tango teachers and promoters from all over the world and I have a very liberal policy towards inviting these people as my guests. Again, this not only a good way of getting the word out there, but also it gets the best tango dancers to attend my event.

Finally, the class hosts. Each class has a designated person who is responsible for running the class in an orderly fashion and generally being a classroom aid--i.e., staying on schedule, making announcements, introducing the teacher, operating the sound equipment, playing the music for the instructor, reminding the instructor when it's time to change partners, etc etc.

Close-Embrace.com: You say you place as much importance on DJs as the teachers you invite; how come?

Clay Nelson: Well, I have come to ask myself, if I held a tango event with lots of great classes but no milongas nor practicas, how many tangueros would show up; and if I held an event with lots of great milongas and practicas but no classes how many tangueros would show up? I gotta go with the great milongas--and that explicitly means having great DJs and orchestras! Also, I think a higher quality dancer would show up for the great milongas event.

Close-Embrace.com: Can tangofest get too big?

Clay Nelson: Yes, but we're not there yet!!! There are some spectacular huge new ballrooms currently being remodeled in Portland that I just can't wait to can get into. Besides, we're just now at the threshold of the city starting to take notice of what we're doing.

Close-Embrace.com: You already organize three large festivals (Portland TangoFest, Portland ValenTango, Seattle Tango Magic), what other projects are you working on?

Clay Nelson: Well, in terms of festival, I really can't manage any new ones myself. I think three is my limit. However, I am getting lots of promoters from other cities that have asked if I will consult with them to create an event in their own town. This is real exciting for me and a chance for me to share my experiences.