Tango Peeps: What's Your Favorite Milonga, And Why?

[Bajo_cero2]

Well, in fact, dancing apilado is something I didn´t see in some years.
Seems that you want to dance Di Sarli instead of D´Arienzo.
However, this is the kind of music milongueros dance with their couples/lovers/wives/ etc.

When you have Biagi, Troilo, D´Arienzo, of course there are no pausas if you listen to the music.

So are you, Bajo_cero2, a young milonguero who takes short steps in crowded milongas?

No, I m the kind that round and round without crashing anybody when others can´t move.

P.S. Are you angry with my post?

Little bit. Milongueros aren´t enterteiners. That´s why I suggested the taxi dancer, they are.
No offense. I just explained why I was a little bit upset.

However, I insist, you need a bailarin not a milonguero.

 

[HelaineT]

Seems that you want to dance Di Sarli instead of D´Arienzo.

When you have Biagi, Troilo, D´Arienzo, of course there are no pausas if you listen to the music.

I love Di Sarli. I love D'Arienzo. I love Troilo. I like Biagi very much.

I would love to show you what I mean by pauses in D'Arienzo, Troilo, Biagi, etc. It's when the contrabajo takes a break at the end of a phrase, or sometimes in the middle of a phrase, too. Think of the first phrase of Mandria, for example. The contrabajista takes his hand off the strings, and during this short pause in the rhythm, the piano embellishes. It happens in the middle of the phrase, and again at the end of the phrase. While the piano embellishes, (or the violins, or the bandoneons), there's no rhythm being played! Listen for this in the orchestration of any tango. It becomes not just satisfying, but fascinating. I developed a system to analyze tangos, and when I dance I can just enjoy the music, but be so precise! Milongueros like it.

No, I m the kind that round and round without crashing anybody when others can´t move.

Brilliant. I love that!!
Average milongueros (and most gringos) just get stuck.

Little bit. Milongueros aren´t enterteiners. That´s why I suggested the taxi dancer, they are.
No offense. I just explained why I was a little bit upset.

Thank you for your honesty. I'm not looking to be entertained. I'm looking for stimulating "dialog" between a man and a woman. Sometimes I find it with milongueros. Sometimes not. It's not about vocabulary of figures at all.

But I'll tell you this about performers: I've danced with a few of the young ones who are being trained for stage and competition. Most don't know how to communicate with a woman. Many don't know how to use their right arm.

However, I insist, you need a bailarin not a milonguero.

Very good distinction. You're right.

But I can still dance in milongas, no?

 

[Bajo_cero2]

Well, the milongueros i see around stops when there is a pause but i m going only to el Beso, mainly to Cachirulo.
There are just a few that don t listen to the music or its pauses.
Cachirulo might be close, but perhaps its the best option.

 

[HelaineT]

Maybe I'll give Cachirulo another chance, if only to watch you go round and round in a square meter!

Only at El Beso or Saturday at Obelisco too?

 

[Bajo_cero2]

I dont like obelisco, but being bigger, it looks better for you.

 

[demokritos]

Bajo_cero would you mind pointing me to the difference between a milonguero and a bailarin? El milonguero vive para el abrazo, y el bailarin para el movimiento, algo asi?

 

[HelaineT]

I dont like obelisco, but being bigger, it looks better for you.

Obelisco is where I didn't like the atmosphere of Cachirulo 2 weeks ago. I'll give El Beso a try on a Tuesday.

 

[HelaineT]

La Fleur, thanks again for the tip about Sallycat's book. I bought the Kindle version yesterday, and read most of it immediately. But it only took a few pages for me to discover the key that I was missing. "Stay late and go back". I'd been making reservations and showing up early, which helped me get noticed and invited in general, but not by the dancers I preferred, who often arrive later. I'd go home around 2 or 2:30am, or earlier if I felt I just didn't have my mojo. The organizers at Yira Yira the other night advised me to stay till the end and assured me I would dance more. They pointed out that there was an unusually high number of women that night. The air conditioner was off - it was uncomfortable!, and I had a guest who wanted to leave, so I did. Thanks to Sally, I understand better what they were talking about. Sally says that in the last hour or so, the regulars are satisfied with how much they have danced with their regulars, and they are often open to trying someone new. I'll give this tactic a try!

 

[La Fleur]

La Fleur, thanks again for the tip about Sallycat's book. I bought the Kindle version yesterday, and read most of it immediately. [....] Thanks to Sally, I understand better what they were talking about. Sally says that in the last hour or so, the regulars are satisfied with how much they have danced with their regulars, and they are often open to trying someone new. I'll give this tactic a try!

I'm so glad you enjoyed Sallycat's Happy Tango - and that you received immediate benefit from her advice. I think her whole approach is revolutionary, since she focuses on ways the (foreign) reader / tango dancer can construct a more enjoyable experience for themselves. Very quickly. And you are living proof that it works! Nice of you to share what was a key point for you. For others, something else will be a revelation.

I do hope you remember to write a review on Amazon.com or wherever you bought the book.

Now for another tango book recommendation. Written by an award-winning author, this is the best 'tango biography / travel book' I have ever read (and there are many out there). See Twelve Minutes of Love: A Tango Story by Kapka Kassabova (Penguin, 2013). Link here. Ironically, I have also met this author - but long before I ever thought about dancing tango, or visited BA. Her book well deserves its glowing international reviews.

Maybe the BAExpats Book Club might like to put it on their schedule?

Happy tango,
La Fleur

 

[toongeorges]

"Stay late and go back".

Also look to the eyes of guys you would like to dance with that are not dancing. Probably you are already aware. Though I am just telling, because I have seen tourists looking at the ground all the time or staring in one fixed direction. Of course, they do not get invites to dance. Cabaceo is an active game for both men and women. Do not stare all the time to one person, because that may be perceived as being somewhat aggressive, but scan the eyes of the people around you, observe who is looking around (for a cabaceo) and if you would like to dance with one of them, occasionally look at him and your eyes would cross eventually.

From a man's point of view (though I am not Argentine) I just look around. First I look to the women I know with whom I dance well, though there is not always eye contact so I also look to other women and basically the first eye contact I have, I cabaceo(, unless I know the women would be a horrible dancer or make sexual advances).

And while looking around, smile!