[Tango-L] Preliminary Review of "Loca! Milonga" (Palermo Soho, Buenos Aires)

[Shahrukh Merchant]

Just found out about this new milonga, that has opened a couple of 
months ago in Palermo Soho, called "Loca! Milonga," so I went last night 
to check it out. Since I got there about 1 am and it just runs till 2 
am, it's based on a limited exposure, but here goes anyway. Others who 
have been there, or go there, might want to add their experiences.

The place is an "artsy" restaurant/bar called Chalmers Club (pictures of 
the restaurant at www.chalmersclub.com.ar, though the milonga website is 
www.locamilonga.blogspot.com) that seems to have a decent menu. You can 
order from the full menu during the milonga, with separate seating in 
the pleasant bar area, till about 11 pm, after which only drinks are 
available. The milonga rents the main dining room, which has a stone 
floor, and is pretty large. (Independently of the milonga, the 
restaurant also has "Jazz Nights" on Saturday in May, with their full 
menu, which you can check out as well.)

Crowd was pretty light--enough people for a good time, not enough to 
judge navigation skill (or require much for that matter), younger crowd 
in the 20s and 30s mostly, I would guess 70% Argentines, 30% foreigners.

Music, at least for the last hour that I was there, was mostly guardia 
nueva (modern orchestra renditions of classics, though not "nuevo"), but 
I suspect it was largely classic during the first hours.

I had decent-to-very-good dances with everyone I danced with (sample 
size of 4 ...), and I danced all the tandas. Minimal use of cabeceo at 
this milonga as it's rather informal and I got the impression that many 
of the attendees knew each other at least casually, e.g., from the 
classes preceding the milonga. (If you insist on strict cabeceo you're 
probably limited yourself here, as at many other milongas/prácticas with 
these demographics.)

There is usually a demo/show by one couple (I came after it was 
over)--there is a video of one on the website (rather "stagey" dancing 
for my tastes).

Summary: Good bet for a not-too-late Sunday night, but they do stop at 2 
a.m. sharp even though there were more than enough people that they 
could have kept going (probably a limitation of the arrangement with the 
restaurant). It's a nice space, and the milonga has the potential to be 
more interesting as it gets known and gets better attendance. (It's 
possible there was less of a crowd last night because it was the end of 
a long weekend in Argentina.)

And as for the "Loca!" part, nothing about it seemed especially wild and 
crazy ... maybe that's in the works? :-)

Information:

Website: www.locamilonga.blogspot.com
Address: Niceto Vega 5248 (at Godoy Cruz), Palermo Soho
Reservations: 15-6284-4568, 15-6332-0448 (Marcela and Demian, the 
organizers)
Hours: Sundays, 10 pm - 2 am

Shahrukh