10/20/2017
Just a reminder that our Milonga is happening in GJ this Saturday at Movement Therapies from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. Since we have some couple in our community who are new to Argentine Tango we thought we'd take a few moments to explain a question we are getting asked a lot and that is, what is a Milonga? For a brief explanation you can watch this 2 minute video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=139&v=xb1FNJEz_d0
I think they cover the main points, but the thing to know about our community in particular is that we are a pretty friendly lot who places a strong emphasis on building a community, socializing and having fun together. Ultimately, a Milonga is a social, Argentine Tango centered, dance party. It is also a style of tango dance and music but that's a topic for another time!
Anyone can come to a Milonga, it doesn't matter how much or how little you know. One of my favorite things when I was first learning to dance Tango was to go to Milongas and just watch. It's a great way to get to know the music and see more experienced dancers do their thing. It's also an opportunity to dance with more experienced dancers which is always helpful!
There are certain things that are good to know when you come to your first Milonga that I wish I had known! Knowing a few of the finer points of Milonga Etiquette might make you less self conscious about coming so here goes:
Music consists of primarily Argentine Tango (Traditional Tango, Tango Vals (similar to Waltz), Milonga, Nuevo and so on). When you get on the floor to dance it's important to know that as a leader, you are committing to three songs with the same partner. This is called a Tanda. A tanda is made up of 3 songs of the same genre (tango, vals, milonga, etc). Followers, if you say thank you after the first dance in the tanda ends that is a signal to your leader that you would rather not dance the last two songs, you may do that if you wish, but don't say thank you if you want to dance the whole tanda! I did that my first Milonga and thankfully had a partner who filled me in on the scoop! In between Tanda's there is a minute or so of clearly non-tango music, called a Cortina. During the Cortina you thank each other and part ways and the leader gets to go find another partner for the next dance.
One of the things I love about this dance is that it's a very respectful dance. During the Cortina you'll want to make sure you are looking around the room if you want to dance because the way a leader asks a follower to dance is largely based on eye contact. The leader will make eye contact from across the room with someone he'd like to dance with. If she is interested she returns eye contact and nods. Ladies, let him come to you and take you to the floor. This saves embarrassment if there are multiple ladies at a table and he actually wants to dance with the lady behind you, not you.
Gentlemen, if a lady does not make eye contact it means she is not looking to dance right now or she is not interested in dancing with you. This eye contact and head nod is called the Cabeceo and saves the lady the awkwardness of saying no to the man and saves the man the awkwardness of asking and being told no in front of people. It's also a great way to practice engaging with each other and making eye contact with people! Wow, so not comfortable in our culture!
Traditionally, ladies wear a skirt or dress to a Milonga but we won't look down on anyone who decides to wear pants 🙂 However, this is a great opportunity to get dressed up and look nice for each other so personally I always like to take advantage of that. Both ladies and men should wear shoes with a smooth sole (leather or swede) you'll want to be able to slide and pivot. Sticky soles will make your dance tough! Ladies, if you wear heels make sure they have a closed heel - ie they are strapped onto your foot in some way and not just slip on, you won't have enough stability.
That's all I can think of for now. If any of our more experienced dancers want to weigh in or elaborate on anything I've forgotten that would be great!
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