Re: [TANGO-L] Married couples in BA

[Tom Stermitz <stermitz@TANGO.ORG>]

This is all pretty good advice.

The codes are looser than in the old days, ... like ten years ago!


My wife & I had very little problem dancing with the locals, once  
they got to know us. Yes, she is attractive, and a good dancer. It  
didn't happen until after they watched us dance, noticed that we fit  
right in, and after I started asking some of the other ladies. In  
fact, you could see the little buzz at the ladies' tables as they  
asked the test subject whether I was good; same at the guys table  
after they asked my wife.

The important thing to do is show that you are there to dance, and  
know the codes of the dance floor. Yes, the cabeceo, but more  
importantly respect for line of dance, and fitting in with the  
general style.


I have to highlight another of Christian's comments. In Buenos Aires,  
stage tango is much more distinct from social tango than in the US,  
i.e. you will see it on stage, but not at the milonga. Leave your  
"ganchos-cool-moves-neo/non-tango"  vocabulary at home.

There are a few practices and 20-something alternative milongas, but  
the milongas are for social dancing. The weird thing is that a lot of  
classes teach show dance; you have to look carefully to find social  
dance being taught. It seems like they have an attitude of, "social  
dance is so easy, why would anyone teach it?"

The few times we saw show dancing during a milonga it was invariably  
a foreigner. One couple from brazil actually came dressed in a  
costume from the 1930s, and did their little memorized routine in the  
middle of the floor. The juxtaposition with the calm social dancers  
carefully avoiding them was bizarre.



On Jan 28, 2006, at 11:27 AM, Christian Lüthen wrote:

> Clive,
>
> you both want to go to Bs.As. and you both want to dance there:  
> together and with other
> people. Go for it (both) and do not let you talk out of it from  
> others!
>
> Go for it, and go for it together ... just take a simple advice:
> You can enter the milonga together, no problem. You can even take a  
> table together ... but
> then the most difficult part starts: the male part has to prove  
> that he is agreing that other
> males could take the female part to dance. How to achieve this?
> After entering the milonga you can definitely dance a tanda with  
> together ... BUT then the
> male part has as soon as possible to start to dance (either you do  
> the cabaceo from your own
> table, or you can use a trick: just stroll around and do the  
> cabaceo 'on the stroll'). The idea is
> to prove that the male part is also dancing with other - and more  
> than one tanda! Actually the
> lady should be left "alone" for quite a while! Avoid to cling  
> together, maximum of the first and
> the last tanda together (perhaps one in between if it's a long long  
> nigth, but this will allready
> be risky!).
> ...
>
> On 28 Jan 2006 at 16:45, Clive Randewich wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> > I'd be grateful for any comments on the subject of married couples  
> > at the
> > milongas in BA.
> >
> > My understanding is that, in earlier times, men did not take their  
> > wives to
> > the milongas. Is that still true today? If they do, would they both
> > typically dance with a number of other partners, or only with each  
> > other?
> >
> > Finally, I'd appreciate any advice for a N. American husband and  
> > wife who
> > visit BA and would like to dance not only with each other, but  
> > with people
> > from BA. For example, would you suggest that they should enter the  
> > milonga
> > separately, and pretend not to know each other?
> >
> > Once again, thank you.
> > Clive