Milonguero or Dancer

jantango

jantango

Well-Known Member
In the current issue No. 204 of B.A. Tango -- Buenos Aires Tango magazine and guide, Roberto Aguirre has an interesting article, part of which I quote below:


The dancer looks at the tables while he dances, he needs to know for whom he’s dancing because, in fact, he dances for those who are watching him. He invites this attention for a very special reason. It is there he really finds his pleasure dancing tango, not in the embrace, the music, with his partner or just dancing, no matter how good he is. He just likes to be admired.​

He needs the public. If he sees people captivated by his dance; that’s where he is going to show off with lots of figures without paying attention to the rhythm, cadence or melody. These are the so-called out of rhythm figures. When people look at him, he thinks he’s the center of the universe, and therefore, he couldn’t care less where the rest of the planets are moving. He’s so selfish that he usually obstructs the regular circulation of the other couples, touching the rest or using more space than available, whether deserved or not on the dance floor.​

The milonguero enjoys the embrace and to get him separate before a song ends you would have to cut off his arm…or both of them…and even so, I think he’d keep it in his trunk. While he dances, he is thinking about pleasure and showing his couple, since he is the one who takes credit in the end. He respects spaces, the other dancers, and above all, he respects what he’s listening to. He never dances D´Arienzo during a Pugliese tanda or the other way around.​

The milonguero doesn’t need a permanent partner. Every woman in the milonga can be his partner. Nor does he need choreography; in each set he improvises his own.​



 
It's a standard depiction of two extreme (almost cariacatured) ends of a spectrum, yes. Most of us are somewhere in between those two.

I don't see anything too controversial in this - it's simply a restating of the difference between show and social dancers, with different terms.

Although I'm surprised at the last bit:
The milonguero doesn’t need a permanent partner. Every woman in the milonga can be his partner. Nor does he need choreography; in each set he improvises his own.
Click to expand...

I always assumed that "milongueros" (pure social dancers) were a bit more picky in their choice of partners?
 
jantango said:
In the current issue No. 204 of B.A. Tango -- Buenos Aires Tango magazine and guide, Roberto Aguirre has an interesting article, part of which I quote below:


because, in fact, he dances for those who are watching him​
Click to expand...


No need to read further on, just with this sentence you know the foregone conclusion.

Now in real life, what are milongueros dancing for?
Sitting at Nino Bien with local teacher Cecilia something (not Gonzales, not a famous name, can't remember it btw), she shows me a table with milongueros (old, fat). There are four of them at the table. She explains me the game. One stands up and invites a foreigner, and when the dancing couple arrives in front of the table with the other three men, the milonguero makes a pause, placing the back (lower back, bum, you name it) of the woman just touching the table, he makes an interrogative grin ("Ok boys, what do you think of this one?") and the sitting three milongueros make silent comments, while the woman is blissfully unaware of what is happening, usually her eyes are closed and she thinks that finally she is sharing a moment of authentic tango with an authentic milonguero. Which is the case actually.​
 
I don't have a problem with this thread, as Jan started her own thread rather than hijacking someone else's.

As for me, I think I have some attributes of both, although I embrace (pun intended) the milonguero style more. I really do try to dance to the music, and stay in close embrace as much as possible, but I will use some of the nuevo moves, volcadas, colgadas, leg wraps when the mood or music inspires me (and they can be done in close embrace). I do tend to select partners to ask depending on the music (i.e. if someone has a great embrace, I'm more likely to ask them to dance to something that won't make me want to do a lot of steps).

To be honest, while I love many of the classics, some of my favorites are songs that change their dynamics or rhythms (some Pugliese, Piazolla, and even a few of the Neo tango songs (although I'm rather picky about the ones I like). Some people claim they are undancable, but to me, most any song is dancable, if it inspires you, and you know it well enough. No dis-respect intended to the surviving true milongueros, but if you've been dancing to the same songs for 50 years, you'd better be good at them.

That's what I currently am/do, while still evolving. But to be clear, I don't have a problem with others who are mostly into the steps (rather than the embrace). I can appreciate that as well.
 
Dave Bailey said:
It's a standard depiction of two extreme (almost cariacatured) ends of a spectrum, yes. Most of us are somewhere in between those two.

I don't see anything too controversial in this - it's simply a restating of the difference between show and social dancers, with different terms.
Click to expand...
I don't think so: a show dancer doesn't necessarily do lots of figures without paying attention to the rhythm, cadence or melody, and he usually doesn't performs his shows on the dance floor, or obstruct circulation, etc.
A social dancer, on the other hand, doesn't necessarily give so much importance to the embrace or respect what he is listening to.

Thanks to this article I can now understand some comments that I heard by argentine people, as "he is a dancer", or "he is a milonguero" which left me quite puzzled (in Italy we call dancer whoever dances, so I didn't suspect it was intended to be derogatory).
I always assumed that "milongueros" (pure social dancers) were a bit more picky in their choice of partners?
Click to expand...
Being picky is very different than needing a specific person.
If I understood well the concept, the "dancer" needs a partner who knows the figures that he wants to do, who knows him, and who can understand well his commands: this is basically the reason of a permanent partner.

The "milonguero" can potentially dance with every woman in the milonga. This doesn't mean that he actually will dance with all of them: he will do a selection, and if he is a good dancer maybe he could also be picky, but the selection is essentially based on the connection that you can establish, not on knowing each other.
 
pascal said:
One stands up and invites a foreigner, and when the dancing couple arrives in front of the table with the other three men, the milonguero makes a pause, placing the back (lower back, bum, you name it) of the woman just touching the table, he makes an interrogative grin ("Ok boys, what do you think of this one?") and the sitting three milongueros make silent comments, while the woman is blissfully unaware of what is happening, usually her eyes are closed and she thinks that finally she is sharing a moment of authentic tango with an authentic milonguero. Which is the case actually.
Click to expand...
I suppose that they would never dare to do that with a local milonguera, so I doubt that it can be considered "authentic tango with authentic milonguero".
I would better describe it as "vulgar milonguero mocking a foreigner"
 
chanchan said:
I suppose that they would never dare to do that with a local milonguera, so I doubt that it can be considered "authentic tango with authentic milonguero".
I would better describe it as "vulgar milonguero mocking a foreigner"
Click to expand...

Especially considering that Nino Bien is essentially frequented by tourists and locals who are working with them/praying on them. :rolleyes:
 
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