[Tango-L] Buenos Aires Milonga traditions outside Buenos Aires (WAS chacarera skirts)

[rde@exemail.com.au]

On 21/05/12 14:33, Shahrukh Merchant wrote:
> .. talking through the first 30 seconds or so ....

Ah .. would that it were only 30 seconds...
My wife's friend, while in BA, took the trouble to time this phenomenon 
- and it was 1m20s before the last couple stopped talking and used the 
dance floor to actually dance.

Locally, we have a number of exponents of the custom, and often they 
find it necessary to talk beyond a minute while dancers negotiate the 
resultant chicane.. Far from making any effort to be aware of the 
inconvenience they cause, an air of studied indifference is de rigeur. 
It adds to the authenticity, it seems. On one occasion I saw  this 
carried to the extreme, by a particularly staunch adherent spending the 
entire track, hands in pockets, engaged in conversation.

It would be nice to see adherence to a custom of using a little common 
sense.

Roger Edgecombe
Melbourne, Australia.