What is "Tango Milonguero"? 

“Milonga” is not only a dance/music but also a term used to describe a gathering, a social dance, a place where people can spend the evening dancing tango till the early hours of the morning.

 “Milongueros” are the people attending the Milongas.

Some of them drift from one venue to another following their favourite D. J., orchestra or music style played in a specific place at different times of the night.

 "Tango Milonguero" or "Milonguero style" is a “way” of dancing adopted by the Milongueros going back to the 50’s. It is not a competitive dance or a performance for an audience. It is a close up, emotional and personal experience on crowded Tango Bar floors where “bailarins” utilise the limited room available by skilfully dancing in close embrace, with short steps, quick turns on the spot and always within their inner space.

 It goes well beyond the technicality of posture and apile, with the music becoming the catalyst for the bonding of two persons’ as one, in an unbroken and elegant embrace of two bodies perfectly synchronised.

Translated in simple words and transported in our part of the world, Tango Milonguero is a social  dance where you can dance at your chosen level, without competition or performance pressure.

Once you have learnt a few basic steps, you will be able to dance socially without the need of being an acrobat or having to remember any complicated choreography, complex routines and steps, and with the added bonus of a gentle physical exercise in tune with the fantastic music from Buenos Aires.   

The mind is stimulated by the need of concentrating on choice of steps and the music, not just the beat.

 

© V. Merlo ‘08

Asi se baila el tango, sintiendo en la cara,  la sangre que sube a cada compas, mientras el brazo, como una serpiente, se enrosca en el talle, que se va a quebrar.

This is how the tango is danced, feeling in the face, the blood that raises in each beat,  while the arm,            like a serpent, coils around the waist, that it is going to break.