[Tango-L] El Beso floor size?

[Shahrukh Merchant]

newtonr at mscd.edu asks:

> Would anyone know the dimensions (in feet ot meters) of the milonga 
> floor at El Beso, Bs.As. (the dance area only)?  

Why the interest in El Beso in particular?

Anyway, I went there tonight so I measured it for you. :-) 7.8 m x 8.7 
m. Minus a triangular wedge in one corner of about 2 sq. m. Minus a 
square pole near the center of the floor that is about 30 cm x 30 cm but 
probably effectively removes 1 sq. m. of useable dance space. So call it 
65 sq. m. of dance space.

> How many couples can 
> dance there comfortably?

At its most crowded tonight, there were 30 couples dancing at a time, 
which I would say is close to the maximum *comfortable* number of people 
in that space (any more and people would be in each other's way and 
complaining about how crowded the floor is, even though the El Beso 
crowd, relatively speaking, is a well-behaved lot).

This averages out to just about 1 sq. m. per person, right where the 
Buenos Aires bureaucrats who wrote the "What Constitutes a Milonga" law 
put it! So you could say that (a) they were right on the mark or (b) 
they were too conservative and organizers should be entitled to have a 
more crowded milonga if they want and if their customers are willing to 
put up with it, or (c) what business does the government have deciding 
what makes a milonga (especially considering that all the erudite 
Tango-L-ers cannot even agree on what constitutes *tango*)?

I'm with (c) personally, but I digress. Getting back to El Beso and its 
floor size ...

> Does the music dictate, i.e., could more 
> couples fit on the floor comfortably for a Canaro tango tanda, as 
> opposed to a waltz or milonga.

Of course the music has an effect. To take your example: Canaro tangos, 
valses and milongas would all be danced compactly, but the faster valses 
especially would tend to make things more complicated on a very crowded 
floor, especially if people are moving in unpredictable ways. Milonga 
can cover a lot of space (but doesn't have to) and done properly, 
especially with traspie, can be very maneuverable. So I wouldn't say 
that Tango vs. Vals vs. Milonga is the differentiator. The bigger effect 
is with the dramatic tangos (e.g., Pugliese) where one may *like* to 
have more space to interpret the music, and it may feel more crowded and 
constrained even with fewer people than it would with less dramatic 
music. (The music at El Beso tonight was totally devoid of anything 
resembling Pugliese or anything halfway dramatic (not even 50s Di 
Sarli), so it was not a factor.)

> Or, does it really depend on the 
> quality, experience and awareness of the dancers.

Yes for "quality." As long as "quality" is not the height of your boleo 
but rather your ability to control it; and not your ability to weave in 
and out of the crowd without hitting anyone but rather your ability to 
dance compactly and inoffensively to others while still interpreting the 
music well and having your partner enjoy herself.

Yes for "experience," if experience relates to experience on crowded 
milonga floors and not experience on a stage or experience practicing 
your latest big moves on an empty dance floor.

Yes for "awareness." Unqualified.

If you have good, "aware" and considerate dancers, you could get about 
50% more dancers on the floor before they start to get in each other's 
way. (It is a hypothetical and somewhat academic estimate, since I am 
not sure where one can find that combination for all or most dancers.)

> Also, is this size 
> typical (or average) of the many neighborhood clubs in Bs.As.

El Beso is a small space for a mainstream Milonga. There are others of a 
similar size, but most would be larger (there are even smaller spaces, 
but they are not likely to become mainstream). Oh, and El Beso would not 
be considered a "neigbourhood club" in the sense of "Milonga del 
barrio." It's a Milonga in the center--sure, that's a "neighbourhood" 
too, but the expression is used more for places in a neighbourhood that 
tend to get a regular crowd primarily from that neighbourhood. Those 
spaces are generally further out from the center (and are also generally 
larger).

Shahrukh