Beginner Study Both Vals + Milonga Advisable?

[Gssh]

I am pretty much with Jantango here - tango (and milonga and vals) exists only at the milonga, in the music.
If you are going to milongas, and feel comfortable with the way your dance fits the music during the tango tandas, but when you dance the milonga and vals tanda you are unsatisfied with your musicality then doing extra classes in milonga and vals will probably help.
If you are as happy/unhappy with how your tango feels, and how it feels when you "fake" milonga and vals by dancing them "flat" (i.e. without picking up the vals waltzing or the milonga swinging - which is actually perfectly fine, and i often think more people should throw in a few moments of flat dancing into their dance and explore the other rhythms in vals and milonga besides the obvious ones), then more social dancing and listening to the music, and working on the mechanics of tango in tango classes gives you probably more bang for your buck.

Another thought - this also depends on how you are dancing - i personally at the moment prefer a parallel close embrace with some weight sharing. And i keep this preference in tango, milonga, and vals. I see quite a few people who dance different embraces in the different styles - e.g like JohnEm seems to do - in that case your perspective might be very different from mine.

Gssh

 

[newbie]

By the way the OP only mentions vals and milonga and asks if it's good to learn both at the same time. Milonga and vals. Not tango.

 

[Mladenac]

By the way the OP only mentions vals and milonga and asks if it's good to learn both at the same time. Milonga and vals. Not tango.

He asked many questions if you read it carefully.
He asked to learn vals and milonga after learning 2 month with a year break.

The only benefit he can acquire to get familiar with the music, nothing more.
And maybe when going to regular milonga that can dance to all music, with difficulties.

 

[Gssh]

By the way the OP only mentions vals and milonga and asks if it's good to learn both at the same time. Milonga and vals. Not tango.

You are right - i tend to see tango mostly as a social dance, so the idea of learning only milonga and vals seems a bit strange to me, but i guess if you want to perform and compete(? i don't really follow tango competitions - are there vals and milonga categories?) it might make sense.

In that case i think there should be no problem learning both vals and milonga simultaneously - the rhythms and dances are different enough that there should be only minimal confusion/bleed over.

Gssh

 

[jantango]

What adult tries to learn two languages at the same time? Most can't find the time to practice one, let alone two at the same time. This is a case of getting started late in life with dance and using the fast track to the finish line. I've heard so many ballroom dancer say how they are going to "pick up" another dance quickly. Tango is not in that category. It's foreign music first that no one knows but never takes the time to learn.

Milonga and Vals classes at the same time. It's too much to do at the same time. A teacher who encourages it is teaching for the money, not for students to learn to dance.

 

[JohnEm]

I am pretty much with Jantango here - tango (and milonga and vals) exists only at the milonga, in the music.

Another thought - this also depends on how you are dancing - i personally at the moment prefer a parallel close embrace with some weight sharing. And i keep this preference in tango, milonga, and vals. I see quite a few people who dance different embraces in the different styles - e.g like JohnEm seems to do - in that case your perspective might be very different from mine.
Gssh

Briefly to correct your impression, here is what I actually wrote earlier:

Your embrace may vary, mine does not and yet
my partners feel they are danced very differently.

As you say, the dance exists in the music (and in the moment).
The feel of the dance changes according to whatever the music
inspires, the embrace itself does not. It is parallel and connected
at the chest, avoiding the argument about weight sharing!

See Post No. 25 for the full context.

 

[Gssh]

Briefly to correct your impression, here is what I actually wrote earlier:

Apologies - i slipped when looking up the author of a post - i was actually referring to post #25, too - i wanted to refer to Mladenacs statement:

My embrace and posture varies cause I cannot be as fast and punctuate with tender embrace on fast rhithmical songs.
I cannot change direction fast with tender embrace.
Regarding that my embrace is not the same, and my dancing is not the same.

Gssh