Milongas have moved down on my list of priorities--way down. They have changed so drastically in the past three years that I have little desire to take the time to get dressed and then sit all night long, hoping that at least one milonguero will show up. I'm very particular and won't dance with just anyone for the sake of dancing. When I first arrived in Buenos Aires in 1999, I went to dance six nights a week. Now I may go three times a month.
Saturday evening I went to Enrique Rosich's milonga in Centro Region Leonesa. I timed my arrival perfectly at 8:00 and was seated at a front row table that had recently been vacated by two women who arrived for the early shift. The corner table on the women's side of the room is strategically located in front of the milongueros' table. That is, if any of them show up. I quickly scanned the men's side of the room. Among the mass of men, I found only three with whom I wanted to dance. That was enough for me. I had a brief conversation with the two women seated at the table. They were both having tandas, but one of them commented that you take your chances and hope for the best. The milonga was 99% to capacity with only a few empty tables in the back. I remarked that I was happy to find three good dancers there. Enrique should have stopped Mr. Muscles and his partner from entering the floor. They walked to the center instead of merging into traffic. He was wearing red sneakers which gives you a big clue that he doesn't know how to dance. He was trying all the moves he learned in classes, even a gancho to her leg. He never followed the line of dance and was a hazard on the floor. If he had been doing this in Cachirulo, Hector would have asked him to leave. There the codes are announced and strictly enforced. I danced Tanturi valses and Di Sarli tangos with Tony of Avellaneda. His embrace makes me melt. I had the distinct pleasure of dancing the Fresedo tanda with Beto Ayala. And as I was putting on my coat to leave, a tanda of milongas began and Pedro Sanchez looked my way. I couldn't leave. He is my favorite dancer of milonga con traspie. I was happy to hear that someone in the US is arranging to bring him next year. I had four wonderful tandas in two hours. I went home satisfied. Sunday evening is another story. It has been ages since I've gone to dance at Plaza Bohemia. For the past six months Lucia and Oscar have had their second milonga Lujos there. I went to the ladies' room to change my shoes. When I returned to be seated, Lucia was dancing a tanda. Oscar sat there rather than escort me to a table. After organizing a milonga for years, they still don't know how to take care of dancers. Finally, when the tanda finished, Lucia walked me over to one of the back tables in front of the windows. The regulars are lined up on the wall in front of the DJ booth; the men are seated in front of the mirrors on the opposite side. It's a small place where location is crucial. The women outnumbered the men last night by 3 to 1. I was there from 8-10pm. During that time I saw six women walk out within an hour because they weren't getting to dance. It was the same for others. Patience along with timing and luck were required. Even the three teachers in attendance, Ana Maria Schapira, Maria Eugenia Cuyas and Muma had to wait their turns. It's nice to see that Ricardo Suarez always has a front-row center table in the milongas. He has been dancing longer than anyone and deserves the respect. At 83, he is dancing almost constantly and with women in their 50s. There was a couple seated behind me. When the man got up to dance, I took the opportunity to speak to the woman. She is Swiss, her husband is Italian and they are on their second visit to BsAs. They were dancing mostly with each other. I pointed out to her that if you arrive together, you are seated in the back section for couples. She indicated they wanted to dance with others. I suggested that they sit separately in other milongas where there is a likelihood that she will not be invited to dance because she is seated with her partner. That is the rule of the milonga although many locals are ignoring it in order to dance with foreigners. Times are changing, and the codes of the milongas are rarely followed. The oldest woman in the milonga was dancing constantly. That's because she was there with the young taxi dancer she hired for the night. I've seen him before with a group of foreigners. A woman at my table commented on them because she couldn't understand why an older woman was dancing all night with a younger man. She had never heard about taxi dancers in the milongas. I explained that the woman is paying him to dance with her all night. I opened a copy of the magazine Diotango and pointed out an ad for taxi dancers. I remarked that the woman probably isn't aware of the milongueros for hire these days who are her age. The advantage is they dress in suits; the taxi dancer was wearing a t-shirt. The milongueros have more years in the milongas than the taxi dancer has in age. And most importantly, the milongueros know how to dance well; the taxi dancer couldn't find the beat of the music. I sat two hours in Lujos enjoying the music. I've never seen their DJ before. He saw how pleased I was during the tanda of Di Sarli. He was up in the booth moving to the music and watching over the dancers. Every tanda was excellent, and he was adjusting the sound level. I had to thank him before leaving and asked his name. Anibal (70+) said he occasionally works in this milonga, but would rather be on the dance floor. It was worth being there to enjoy the music. I didn't dance one tanda. There wasn't anyone with whom I really wanted to dance. A milonguero friend told me he would be going there today, but he never showed up. He probably went to El Beso. Sunday night at El Beso is the toughest milonga in BsAs. I got as far as the door and took the bus home. _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
