Organising milongas
A tongue-in-cheek vision of a good milonga.
While I don’t agree with everything shown here (food, and no mention about teaching on the dance floor, for example), for me some of the take-home messages are:
- Good music – with a not-too-shabby sound system that can produce consistent quality of sounds,
- Good floor (not necessarily dust-free but at least should be stable and safe to dance on!),
- Considerate dancing which becomes even more acute as the size of the dance floor gets smaller,
- Pleasant atmosphere, which from experience is largely dependent on the attitude of the host.
On a more serious note, I recommend highly to anyone contemplating (or even if you are already organising events) to start a milonga to read: “How to organise a milonga”. Almost all of the major points of ensuring a good event are covered, as anyone with some hands-on experience can attest to.
If you are already organising a regular milonga, how many of the issues listed have you considered? If not, probably not too late to learn something new and time to take action! 
Popularity: 11%
Traditional tango
Keep coming across the term “traditional tango” on a number of tango teachers’ websites. The use of the term plus the sample video clips got me thinking: just like tango Nuevo was difficult to give a concise definition, what is traditional tango really?
The following is generally accepted as a good demonstration of social dancing by a respected milonguero/a (I am not using the term “milonguero style” here, which admittedly is somewhat ambiguous):
But is this the elusive traditional tango mentioned by the those teachers? Come to think of it, the pace at which tango is changing means what we consider revolutionary or modern will probably become the classic/traditional in, say, 5-6 years’ time? 
Popularity: 8%
Ways to hug your man
Over at jantango (one of the many expats who has, for tango, settled in Buenos Aires for a number of years) she has documented a list of the embraces used by women she has observed in Buenos Aires:
- How do you hug your dance partner?
- How do you hug your partner? — part 2
- How do you hug your partner? — part 3
It’s good to see such a variety of embraces and to know that as a social dance, there does not need to be one single way to embrace your man.
As video embedding is disabled, please head over to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIkqCQo63Ig to see examples of many of these embraces in action as practiced by respectable milongueros/milongueras. It’s also an interesting educational exercise to consider why certain couples adopt specific embraces.
Popularity: 8%
Role of a DJ
This post continues on my thoughts concerning tango DJing.
An interesting point was raised in the comment to my post on danceability. In some communities (such as ours in Singapore), the DJ is likely to wear multiple hats, perhaps doubling as the milonga organiser, the MC, etc. The duties may include welcoming the guests/visitors, mingling as well as lots of dancing to get the crowd going. Even in the most of informal setting, he or she is ultimately answerable to the paying patrons of the milonga (and may or may not to the milonga organiser, as the case may be).
This then begs the question, what is the role of a tango DJ?
In some situations, such as in Buenos Aires or in larger communities around the world, the primary goal of the DJ is probably to pack the dancefloor as much as possible by playing great music. For smaller communities, I suspect the answer may not be so clear-cut all the time. Furthermore, as we evolve as dancers, obviously our tastes and appreciation in music will change. For example, I remember vividly how I used to think Di Sarli was terribly boring 
– one of my first CDs was actually the RCA 100 Anons… For others, perhaps it was Pugliese that they had problem handling at first? This means that from time to time there may be a disparity in how a tango DJ perceives a certain piece of music compared to segments of the community, who may be more junior as far as dance experience is concerned. How should the DJ react in such a situation? Listen to his/her instincts or play to the crowd?
This is the type of dimlemma that all DJs are likely to face at some point in their careers, in that each DJ needs to be able to answer, not only to him/herself but also to the organiser of the milonga as well as the patrons. After all, why are people coming to your milonga? Do they come primarily to dance? To socialise with friends, as well as share a few dances with friends? To learn about music? Nevertheless, despite the possibly conflicting objectives, knowing the audience will greatly facilitate a DJ in carrying out his/her duty conscientiously.
Popularity: 13%