Yes, milonguero! Just like those old milongueos from the Golden Age of tango… at least that’s my goal. Since my early months, I’ve been focused on developing repertoire and musicality, back then known as “tango salon” or just simply “tango,” but today referred to as “milonguero.”
Not only that, I try to dance in its simplest and purest form. If you see me on the dance floor doing more than three sequences, I’m often not quite happy with my dancing. I certainly know much more than that minimalist version I insist on, but I strongly believe that good dancing is not about what you’re doing – good dancing is about doing it well… And the more things you do, the less focused you are on what really matters – your partner.
Why do I do that? And should you also consider dancing milonguero and traveling to milonguero events? Will it be good for you? What will you gain? And does it worth it?
Everyone should get their own answers to these questions, but if you ask me, I will decisively answer “Hell yeah!!!”. If you want more elaborated answer, you’ll find it in this article.
1. Less is more indeed
“It’s like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory,” said Bruce Lee, referring to the ancient Chinese wisdom.
In tango, our bodies and movements serve as this pointer. Focusing too much on them will make you miss the “heavenly glory” that lies deeper.
Focusing on complex sequences or perfect posture will make you miss the universe that your partner carries within them. Making hard acrobatic steps or choreographed figures will make you miss the joy of moving simply with the music.
Milonguero dancing is often criticized for being too simple – but when one says “simple,” they should be aware that it’s simple in movements, but very complex and rich in emotion and experience.
Social dancers are not professionals, nor performers. They don’t need special talents – they dance with what they know and how they know. Perfection is in simplicity.
Don’t forget that in your everyday language you don’t need a complex vocabulary to say beautiful things – it’s often the simplest words that are the most powerful.
Check, for example, how simply Beto dances in this video:
2. Meaningful and authentic
Let me be honest: I hate when people are acting. I don’t like fakeness, and I don’t like when people are trying to show something they’re not.
And that is one of the reasons I like milonguero. Since you don’t dance to captivate onlookers, nor try to be better than someone else – you can be yourself.
Dancing for an audience becomes a performance, acting, and pretense to leave an impression. Posturing is something I despise; I appreciate authenticity, even if it means dancing imperfectly. There’s a certain beauty in being your true self and an undeniable ugliness in being fake.
The old milongueros used to say that when you dance for the public, you kill your tango angel – I needed some time to understand the meaning of that, but I believe now I do.
3. Because it’s social, not a sport
I avoid going to big festivals, and I hate when they interrupt milongas and give an opportunity to stars to perform. It often happens after the performance that the dance floor becomes a battlefield. Dancers are being “motivated” to dance like their idols, and they forget that dancing socially is not a performance.
On top of that, dancers are often competitive, so they tend to show off. They make huge steps, complex sequences, and their dance becomes a physically demanding experience.
I firmly believe that social tango is and should be a social experience, not a sport. It should be elegant and easy, allowing dancers to focus on the true purpose of dancing—being social and connecting with new people.
- Social dancers dance like nobody is watching.
- It’s not important how good your moves are; if you make your partner feel bad, you’re a bad dancer.
- Tango is not just a dance; it’s creating an experience.
- There aren’t many ways to connect with people as deeply as when you move together with the music in the background in a tango embrace.
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Ivica
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4. Solidarity, not competition
In my experience, the main difference between milonguero events and others is the solidarity among the dancers. Yes, there’s often competitiveness, but on the dance floor, we’re all together, and we’re all having a shared experience.
The most visible expression of this mindset is the musicality. Milonguero dancers tend to move in a smooth and predictable way, so others can give them space and not be interrupted by the “creativity” of the couple. A milonguero couple glides on the dance floor with elegance and simplicity, allowing the ronda to flow easily.
That also helps partners to relax and connect, instead of trying to predict or amaze with their moves or choreography.
I can’t think of a better example of this than the video created by Rick from Tango and Chaos in Buenos Aires. I leave it to your discretion to decide what’s what and who doesn’t belong here.
I consider milonguero as the essence of tango. Tango lives at milongas, not on the stage, and that’s why social dancing (milonguero) should avoid being influenced so much by stage performances. Tango is, before everything, a social interaction: considering it just as a dance takes away so much from its richness and its history.
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Stephen V Bernot says
Excellent points. Very well articulated. Your message is entirely positive, focusing on the affirmative. Less is more, it’s not Kabuki, it is social, and an individual connection. I think it is a really good idea that people discuss and discern the difference between milonguero and Step Dancers. It’s especially confusing for new people. New people want to get into the flow as soon as possible. They are looking for people to emulate, and develop in their own minds what their tango will be. Unfortunately, new people are bombarded with messages from people who have a commercial interest in tango. The Step Dancing industrial complex has an economic interest in making you think you are insufficient. Tango media is dominated by Step dancers offering events, workshops, lessons, clothing, shoes, and travel packages. New people are told the way to learn tango is to take endless lessons, learn steps, memorize sequences, and adore the gymnastics show at the festival. There are endless offers on how, for a nominal charge, some instructor will elevate you to the “next level.” Endless advice on how you can “get good.” No wonder tango isn’t growing. I would advise new people to go out dancing. Discover the beauty of simple movements, make a connection with your partner, make a social connection, think about if you are dancing for an audience or a partner experience, practice cabeceo, and listen to the music. Adding precision, elegance, and new ways of looking at your dance should come second. Learn milonguero first, and see where that takes you. Walk before you try to run. If your tango leads you to structured learning, precision movements, and complicated sequences great. But don’t do it backward.
Ivica says
I agree 100%, you make some very good points too!
Chrostos says
The way you describe it…. milonguero seems somehow unattractive for a performance, since (as you point out) people dance it for themselves and not an audience and they don’t care much about how it looks. (BTW… I totally agree with that… The beauty of milonguero style is not easily seen from the outside… But it can be felt from the couple)
So do you think that more performances of such style could help in some way? Or do you think that performances in milonguero style go against the idea of dancing for yourself and not an audience? Could you somehow marry them?
Ivica says
I think that performing is a deal with the devil – and “it kills your tango angel”
https://tangomentor.com/killing-the-angel/
Christos Kouroupetroglou says
Indeed… It is… that is why I admire people who manage to somehow “trick the devil”. It is really hard to resist the temptation of going wild in a show… and I think that we need more people that can achieve such a trick! Harder than any back sacada, gancho or colgada!
Here is my take on that on an older post.
https://goodnighttango.com/2023/01/23/is-social-tango-good-for-shows/
Ivica says
I don’t know about you, but I think it’s a losing battle – the devil always wins 🙂
Ben Lovejoy says
Perfectly stated. I’ve shared it on my own blog: https://benlovejoy.blog/2024/02/08/dancing-milonguero-style-a-tango-mentor-blog-post/
Ivica says
Thank you Ben, I appreciate that!
Andreas Gierstorfer says
There is also the name “Close Embrace”, which I like very much. Is it what you mean by “Milonguero”? It’s what I dance for over 20 years, even when I didn’t know yet that it’s what I wanted.
And, actually, I don’t find it easy. The posture is difficult, I think, that slight forward leaning you have to keep up, along with a certain amount of tension in your body. I didn’t find it easy at first, and in my experience followers have to go at it for quite some time before they master it (as opposed to standing upright, for example). I kept practicing because I always loved the contact within the couple. And when it’s there, and you have that deep contact, you can dance the littlest things and feel so close to the music and your partner, without people on the outside seeing much of what is going on.
Ivica says
Thanks for the comment… I’m actually preparing an article on this topic… will be out soon!
Steve says
Don’t know why you guys have to keep throwing shade on open embrace dancers. Most people dance your way because….it’s EASY!
Ivica says
That’s a great point Steve, I agree… but…
1) Some people don’t want it easy… as Kennedy said in his famous Moon speech we do things ‘Not because they are easy, but because they are hard’
2) Milonguero is not always danced in embrace, it’s sometimes danced in open position as well. I’m working on an article about that – I hope it should come out soon 🙂