There are two resources available on the internet that might be of interest to tango dancers:
What is that? The first point to make is that the Internet isn't made up only of the WorldWide Web, nor is it only made of that plus email (and by extension, email mailing lists!).
There is also Usenet, which is the technical name of the domain that carries something called "newsgroups". Newsgroups, ironically, don't have anything to do with the news. They are public bulletin boards for the posting of messages, much like the Tango-L and Tango-A mailing lists.
"How does this pertain to tango?" you might ask.
The latter newsgroup (alt.music.tango) is dedicated to the music of tango, and the former (rec.arts.dance) contains posts about tango. I know this because *I* posted one! (How about that?)
There are two big differences between newsgroups and mailing lists:
Gotta love Usenet. Newsgroups have FAQ documents with guidelines for posts, just like a moderated email list. However, these guidelines are a lot harder to enforce.
It is up to you whether or not this is advantageous! I offer this as a "public service message" only. ;-)
There are trade-offs for the freedom of Usenet. Usenet has a lot of spam (advertisements, propaganda, off-color material). Also, there isn't anyone to protect you from being "flamed". (On the other hand, this is GREAT if you're the one doing the "flaming". ;-) )
If anyone wants to view these two newsgroups, there is an easy way to do it, using Google Groups. Aficionados of Usenet know about using "newsreaders" and "news clients", but you don't have to be put off by that technical stuff. Google provides an easy way to view newsgroups in a browser interface. Here's the link: Google Groups
When you try to post a new message to a newsgroup, Google prompts you to register. (I always recommend using a dedicated email address for that.) This process is much easier then the list server commands used for subscribing to an email list.
Once you are at Google Groups, you can search for what you want. I recommend:
When you do a search for a keyword like "tango", you will see results for ALL posts from ALL newsgroups containing that word. (For example, Tango is also the name of a computer application, so you will see posts from technical newsgroups.)
If you go directly to one of those "dotted" names of individual newsgroups, you will see a list of subject lines much like what you see in your own mailbox, but there is nothing clogging up your own private mailbox (nor is there anyone telling you what you can and cannot post).
Just like Tango-L, these are PUBLIC forums, so be judicious in your usage of them. Don't put anything in a public post that you wouldn't put on the outgoing message of your telephone answering machine. Also, the info is latent. That means it sticks around for a l o n g time for all to view. There are still posts hanging around from when I was as obsessed with Ayn Rand as I am now about tango. An alternative is to use a phony name, or at LEAST a dedicated email account for posting, like the one I use for these Tango-L posts.
The activity on the two newsgroups I'm recommending for tango dancers is pretty light, so it should be easy enough to pick out the posts that would be of interest to you. Additionally, the post I just made to rec.dance.arts has a subject line with "[Tango-L]" in it which is one easy convention that, if you decide also to use, will make it easy to browse (and to search) for tango-related posts.
Happy tango-surfing.
Jai