The Portland Tango Community Fund was created, initially, to provide scholarships for lessons with Portland tango teachers as well as with visiting tango teachers for Portland Tango dancers who could otherwise not afford such lessons. In this way, the Fund supports dancers, teachers, and organizers of workshops.
Additionally, after the scholarship program is well established, the Fund would like to support outreach (informing the public about the opportunities to learn and dance tango in Portland), and to offer some limited support ,when needed, for organizers of visiting tango teachers.
People seriously interested in learning to dance tango but who can’t afford lessons can apply for scholarships independently or through the teacher with whom they wish to study. Scholarships will range from ⅓ to ⅔ of the costs of the lessons, and will be available for class series. For visiting teachers, people wishing to get some help can apply independently or through the organizer of the visiting teacher. Decisions about scholarships will be made by the Fund administrator(s) with advice from the teachers and organizers.
Funding occurs in two ways:
1. Asking many individuals for annual donations of a relatively small sum, and many individuals have already offered to help.
2. Fund-raising at milongas during one week in the year. Donations might be solicited from those who attend the milongas, and many milonga organizers have already generously offered to donate part of their proceedings for that week.
The accounts for the fund will be transparent and open to anyone who wishes to see them, and reports on the generation and use of the fund will be made periodically on this list.
For details about applying for a scholarship, click on the tabs above (“apply” and “how it works”).
If you have any comments or suggestions about this fund, please speak to Scott Forbes or write to shforbes@gmail.com.