I have been dancing here since 2000 and living here since 2004. In the milongas I go to they would never play Piazolla nor any of the electronic music. In addition to the ones mentioned there are many many other milongas in the barrios such as Saraza, Imagen, Club Rivadavia, Sin Rumbo, Los Glorias Argentinas, Sunderland, that would never ever play alternative or Piazolla. These milongas are drawing people of all ages.
If your world is Villa Malcom, Practica X, and so on, then yes you are going to hear that music. Those milonga/practicas are mostly frequented by foreigners and young people looking for something other than the traditional boliche. I know many young people who go to those places who don't dance and don't want to learn. Those milongas are cheaper and "mas tranquila." in the words of one of my young friends. Yes there are two new alternative milongas. Most of them do not last. The ones that have are the same 5 that have been around for the last 6 or so years. If that is what you like, hey, enjoy, but don't kid yourself that tango here in Buenos Aires is becoming open embrace with the same repetitive step because it is not. BTW, 3 new traditional milongas opened last week - 2 at Maipu and new organizers at Leonesa on Wednesday. The old guys do pop up in the alternative milongas. Do you want to know what they call it? "Fishing" or worse "Shopping." Not all but a great percentage of them. They might go to dance, but with other intentions well honed over years in the "traditional" milongas. I am always amazed at this attitude held by foreigners who want to dance alternatively about Argentine tango danced here. It is like they have to win a war and are going to try and prove it anyway they can. There is no contest. 120 milongas that are traditional and around 10 that are not. There is an attitude in general that it is the foreigners who are going to shape what is danced here. Whether it is here when they come here to dance or in their own countries. Tango is part of the Argentine heritage not something invented for tourists to spend money on. Why cannot people just enjoy the dance for what it is? _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
