Milongas (for some reason this entry was erased earlier)

The best place to learn to dance the Argentine tango is at a Milonga. The social dance I was reccommended for Friday night was at Salon Canning. I thought I did well to negotiate my way there by bus, despite the fact that the Guia T or bus guide is virtually incomprehensible.

It cost twenty pesos to get in, and the first thing I did when I got there was walk to the bar to get a drink (water). Then I went to get a seat and I was told that I should wait to be seated. Looking around I saw a lot of tables with reserved signs on them. Shortly after I was escorted to a table at the back of the room with other single ladies. By coincidence two of them ended up being from Australia. The girl from BA informed me that I should watch for smiles or nods from gentleman to wait to be asked to dance. It was an interesting room with a wooden square dance floor in the centre and tables all around. On the walls were large blown up photos of dancers at Salon Canning in different poses.

When asked to dance you generally do a set of three dances, stopping for short conversations between each song, and then are escorted off the floor to sit down when some rock or another style of music is played. Most people were quite nice and encouraging despite the fact I told them I only knew ´muy poquito´. I was a little hurt by one man who smiled at me and then as soon as we started he asked do you even know how to dance. I told him very little, he agreed very little and I suggested we not dance and he immediately walked me off the dance floor. In my mind a good dancer can dance with anyone and really good dancer can make you feel like you can dance even when you don´t know how. I saw the man´s friends scold him for having broken the Milonga ettiquette, and a girl at my table told me he was a professional dancer. I did have some other very nice dances afterwards and agree I still have a lot to learn.

Around 2am they should a short video clip in memorial of Omar Vega and he was quite an impressive dancer. I have to learn to be more of a night person because the Milonga was from 11pm to 4am, and I guess I left a little early.