[Tango-L] Milongueros for Hire

[Victor Bennetts]

I was just using the term milonguero to mean someone over, say, 50 who dances tango in BsAs on at least a weekly basis and has done so for decades. Based on my very limited observations over a two week period there are a few of those 50+ guys who don't dance so well. I can't be sure if they are regular dancers, but I did see some of them out at a few different milongas and talking to or sitting with the famous guys like Tete, Flaco etc.

I am not really sure I fully understand what the word 'milonguero' means. I think it was my wife who told me a milonguero is defined as someone who danced in the golden age of tango. That seems to be the definition Janis is assuming below. According to wikipedia and general googling that would be someone who has been dancing from the mid 50s at the latest. On the other hand based in conversations at Milongas and in taxis in BsAs I perceived a far broader definition which encompasses the hard core of dancers who have been dancing for decades. From what I observed I don't think Argentinians go in for precise hair splitting definitions too much :-). Anyway, does a decade more or less really make a difference?

Victor Bennetts

Janis wrote:

Milongueros have been dancing for a lot longer than thirty years.  Those who
are still around have been dancing a minimum of 50 years.  The milonguero
lifestyle has been around since the 1920s in Buenos Aires.  A milonguero
lived for the night and tango--seven nights a week.  He had to dance very
well.  I have danced with many of them.  No milonguero dances badly.
Milongueros didn't learn by taking classes for years.  They learned by
watching other milongueros and then developed a personal style.  Ricardo
Suarez went to the downtown confiterias and clubs to watch for two years
before setting foot on the dance floor in 1940.

Five women from Switzerland, who hired the milongueros for tandas, showed up
yesterday at a milonga.  I asked one of them, probably in her 40s with only
two years of tango, about her experience dancing with them.  She said, it
was good and bad.  She enjoyed dancing with them but wasn't used to being
embraced.  I responded, that's how tango is danced in Buenos Aires.  Tango
IS an embrace.

Victor Bennetts wrote:

Cool, I agree. I didn't say there wasn't a difference. Obviously I am not
saying that after three years I am going to be executing steps as smoothly
as a milonguero who has been doing it for thirty years plus. My contention
is just that experienced and less experienced dancers can both have 'great'
dances as long as they are applying themselves to the things that are really
important. There are plenty of experienced dancers out there (including
milongueros) who dance badly probably for all sorts of different reasons. I
am not sure about the talent side of things, because that is really a
subjective assessment and I am not even sure if the list I gave is complete
or the right list for everyone. It is just my list that works for me.>>



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