[Tango-L] When there is standing-room only at Buenos Aires milongas

[Shahrukh Merchant]

Reports a few months ago on Tango-L of the imminent death of Buenos 
Aires milongas owing to lack of attendance notwithstanding, there is an 
unfortunate phenomenon one sometimes sees, where the organizer lets 
people into the milonga when there is no room for them to be seated, 
without letting them know before they pay and enter.

This happened to me twice in the last two months: The first was at 
Parakultural in Salon Canning about a month ago (some overrated but 
popular couple was dancing the show), and most recently last night at La 
Bruja at El Beso. In both cases I took my ticket back to the desk and 
politely asked for a refund as there were no seats, and in both cases I 
was given one (promptly without fuss at Parakultural; though at La Bruja 
the girl at the desk tried to send me back in to speak to someone, but 
relented in a few seconds when I looked shocked at the suggestion).

I would suggest that others with similar expectations of a seat not be 
reluctant to do the same. As I pointed out to the El Beso receptionist, 
"It's supposed to be a milonga not a boliche!" Otherwise, it will just 
be another nail in the coffin of the continued deterioration of milongas 
into being just "places to dance" rather than the broader social and 
cultural institution that they all were at one time.

Some other random observations on this subject:

At almost all milongas in Buenos Aires, the place where you pay is 
intentionally located where you cannot see inside the milonga. No doubt 
this is done so as not to discourage people from entering a 
lightly-attended milonga (or an overcrowded one), among other things. If 
you ask to take a peek in, however, you will rarely be refused, though 
there is a psychological barrier to doing so.

At La Milonguita in Colegiales 2-3 years ago, I went once on a Sunday, 
not expecting it to be crowded, and I was turned away (quite 
apologetically and gracefully) since it was full! Now, you might ask, 
would you rather be turned away or given the option to enter without 
seating? Well, it depends on the situation:

- Firstly, at the very least, if there is no seating but they are 
allowing people to enter, this should be disclosed. This is exactly what 
was done at another milonga in El Beso I remember going to (also a 
couple of years ago) where a sign at the desk said, "No hay sillas" (no 
[available] chairs) or something similar.

- The physical limitations of some locations just does not permit even 
willing standees. El Beso is in fact one of these--the extra people just 
end up piling up and blocking the entranceway--there is no real place to 
stand around the dance floor. Salon Canning is large enough and has a 
wide bar area that one can get away with offering standing-room admission.

- The atmosphere and setup of certain milongas (created by the 
organizer) sometimes doesn't lend itself to standees. La Milonguita (the 
milonga where I couldn't get in), is one of these. People standing 
around would be entirely out of place there and would detract from the 
experience for others.

- The navigation skills at most milongas is usually not good enough for 
enjoyable dancing when the place (and hence the floor) is overcrowded. 
(There can be a compensating "positive crowd energy" for those who are 
willing to deal with the overcrowding and have suitably tuned receptors 
for this energy.)

What about capacity limitations, fire codes, etc.? Well, like many new 
regulations (or newly-enforced regulations), there is an 
"enforcement/observance half-life" of such things in Buenos Aires, which 
I would estimate at:

- 3 months when the new seatbelt law was passed a few years ago;
- 2-3 years for capacity limitation enforcements at milongas after the 
Cromañon nightclub disaster of 2004.

Interestingly, the no-smoking laws seem to continue to be close to 100% 
enforced with no sign of letting up. Some loss of atmosphere (or is it 
gain? :-)) when "Fumando Espero," one of my favourite tangos, is 
playing, but otherwise a good thing.

Shahrukh