Just found out about this new milonga, that has opened a couple of months ago in Palermo Soho, called "Loca! Milonga," so I went last night to check it out. Since I got there about 1 am and it just runs till 2 am, it's based on a limited exposure, but here goes anyway. Others who have been there, or go there, might want to add their experiences.
The place is an "artsy" restaurant/bar called Chalmers Club (pictures of the restaurant at www.chalmersclub.com.ar, though the milonga website is www.locamilonga.blogspot.com) that seems to have a decent menu. You can order from the full menu during the milonga, with separate seating in the pleasant bar area, till about 11 pm, after which only drinks are available. The milonga rents the main dining room, which has a stone floor, and is pretty large. (Independently of the milonga, the restaurant also has "Jazz Nights" on Saturday in May, with their full menu, which you can check out as well.) Crowd was pretty light--enough people for a good time, not enough to judge navigation skill (or require much for that matter), younger crowd in the 20s and 30s mostly, I would guess 70% Argentines, 30% foreigners. Music, at least for the last hour that I was there, was mostly guardia nueva (modern orchestra renditions of classics, though not "nuevo"), but I suspect it was largely classic during the first hours. I had decent-to-very-good dances with everyone I danced with (sample size of 4 ...), and I danced all the tandas. Minimal use of cabeceo at this milonga as it's rather informal and I got the impression that many of the attendees knew each other at least casually, e.g., from the classes preceding the milonga. (If you insist on strict cabeceo you're probably limited yourself here, as at many other milongas/prácticas with these demographics.) There is usually a demo/show by one couple (I came after it was over)--there is a video of one on the website (rather "stagey" dancing for my tastes). Summary: Good bet for a not-too-late Sunday night, but they do stop at 2 a.m. sharp even though there were more than enough people that they could have kept going (probably a limitation of the arrangement with the restaurant). It's a nice space, and the milonga has the potential to be more interesting as it gets known and gets better attendance. (It's possible there was less of a crowd last night because it was the end of a long weekend in Argentina.) And as for the "Loca!" part, nothing about it seemed especially wild and crazy ... maybe that's in the works? :-) Information: Website: www.locamilonga.blogspot.com Address: Niceto Vega 5248 (at Godoy Cruz), Palermo Soho Reservations: 15-6284-4568, 15-6332-0448 (Marcela and Demian, the organizers) Hours: Sundays, 10 pm - 2 am Shahrukh _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
