[Tango-L] Nuevo Milonga: An Oxymoron

[Tango Society of Central Illinois]

On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 11:06 PM, Jack Dylan <jackdylan007 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> This brings up an interesting subject that I'm not sure has been discussed before. Is there any such thing as a 'Nuevo Milonga'?

The term 'Nuevo Milonga' is an oxymoron.

A 'milonga' is a place where tango is danced, where certain traditions
are maintained. Among them are keeping feet on the floor, progressing
around the floor counterclockwise in a line of dance without passing
or changing lanes, where the physical space of others is not invaded
or threatened, where classic tango music from the 30s through 50s is
played in tandas with cortinas, where there is no teaching on the
dance floor, not to mention separation of men, women and couples in
different sections and the use of cabeceo to invite someone to dance,
etc, etc. This is how the Argentine tango culture defines a milonga.

There are about 100 milongas per week in the city of Buenos Aires,
more counting greater Buenos Aires province.

Nuevo, although having historical roots in tango and often danced to
tango music (often not) is a different dance from tango. Typically the
feet are not maintained on the floor and some movements do not follow
the line of dance and many challenge the personal space of others on
the dance floor. Nuevo is an exploration of movement possibilities and
many of these movements violate the codes of the milonga. Tango
focuses on attaining an intimate connection with your partner and the
music.

This is not to say that there are not social gatherings where nuevo is
danced, but they do not abide by the codes of the milongas and
therefore these gatherings cannot be called 'milongas', a defined by
Argentine tango cultural traditions. This is perhaps why EL Tangauta
and BA Tango do not list Villa Malcom gatherings and Practica X as
milongas.

It would be a good idea for the nuevo dance community to develop
another name for their social dance gatherings, at the very least for
truth is advertising. There have been several times where I have been
to so-called 'milongas' where little or no classic tango music is
played and the dancing consists sufficiently of moves designed for
exhibition so that one cannot say the codes of respecting others'
space on the dance floor is followed. There events should not be
called 'milongas'. Someone needs to come up with another name so
dancers can know what to expect when they plan to attend a dance
gathering. Perhaps 'nuevo dance' or 'nuevilonga'.

Ron


>
> As Vince points out, everyone treats Practica X as a milonga, but the organisers call it a practica and that's how it's listed in El Tangauta and B.A. Tango. Similarly, all the events at Villa Malcolm [that's Tango Cool and El Motivo], where Nuevo is predominant, are also listed as practicas, not milongas. La Viruta is interesting. When I was there 2 years ago, La Viruta had gone very Nuevo and El Tangauta removed them from the list of milongas and put them under practicas. This year, they can't seem to decide and they're listed under milongas AND practicas.
>
> In Buenos Aires, is there a deliberate attempt to exclude places that are predominantly Tango Nuevo from what are deemed to be milongas? But, as Vince says, they're not practicas either so maybe another name is needed.
>
> Jack
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Vince Bagusauskas <vytis at hotmail.com>
>>
>> Yes you are correct on both counts. Most people seem to treat Practica X as
>> a milonga and with a semi crowded dance floor there is no space to stop and
>> practise.  Plus I recall that there were cortina breaks every so often
>> making it more milonga like.
>>
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