Berlin - Sunday: 'Café Domínguez' and 'Max & Moritz'

Max & Moritz

The two main events for Sunday that were recommended by pretty much everyone I spoke to locally were Café Domínguez in the afternoon and  Max & Moritz in the evening.  I had already heard about them in the UK from friends.  They were described - Max & Moritz in particular - as the places where teachers and the best dancers went to dance.  Everyone had said that it was very hard to get dances there.  I was curious to see how they compared to the places I had already been.

For Café Domínguez (Mala Junta [dance school] Kolonnenstr. 29 Berlin 10829) look for the access road on the left, just past the bus stop (coming from Platz der Luftbrücke). It is also signed Mala Junta. 

Towards Café Domínguez 

Entrance to Café Domínguez 

The door on the right has a buzzer for Mala Junta.  The milonga was on the 4th floor.  It is not a particularly large space for the numbers that were there so it was especially good that there was an area for coats outside the main room. I think it's one of the signs of a civilized milonga when there's space to leave your coats and shoes and larger bags outside.

The DJ was Raimund. I bought tea at the bar.  There was delicious-looking cake which everyone said goes fast! I arrived around 1600 and stayed until about 2030. Video. 

I think it was here (rather than at Max & Moritz later) that I arrived to Verdemar (this is the earlier 1943 version with Rufino).  The music was good. I was a bit surprised to hear three or four Di Sarli tandas in the time I was there.  Some DJs  believe that you have to play, regularly, whatever their interpretation of "the big four" is.  If these include Di Sarli - and you don't happen to be a huge Di Sarli fan - or Pugliese, and you believe Pugliese is more enjoyable when played sparingly and to the right crowd - this can make things strained.   Few, I think, would object to D'Arienzo being the backbone of most milongas - again, depending on the type of D'Arienzo and the crowd. Beginners I have noticed really aren't likely to stand up to Yapeyú ('51) or El huracán ('44).   I am relieved when I find more of a mix. 

Age varied here.  There were still mostly younger women but quite a number in their forties.  Most invitation happens to the left of the bar area and near there along the window.  There are a few tables and chairs near the DJ but you would probably only sit there if you were in couples or maybe with a group of friends.

See the notes on floorcraft at this milonga.  Despite this there was good dancing here, though if you are sitting along the window side, right on the floor, you may need to watch out if this sort of thing is going on.  But it is many peoples favourite milonga and it is busy.  I chatted a lot and was not as consciously listening for the orchestras but it was a relief to hear some of the gentler, softer music, in fact a broader mix compared to some of the other trad milongas I had been to.  It was not all strong and dramatic and of course it was the afternoon and early evening.  I usually find time of day is a factor in what is played.  You probably noticed Lomuto's Nostalgias in the first video.  I seem to be at odds with Antti Suniala and perhaps others over this orchestra but I and many enjoy this sweet, firm and lovely piece.  I was at this milonga either earlier or longer than at Nou, Alma and Loca and so did not hear the music that was played earlier on at these places.

I prefer more balance, more contrast between tandas rather than too much of one type or the other.  I once played a Biagi tanda that started with Bélgica and ended with La marca de fuego then started the next tanda with Canaro's Candombe criollo.  A teacher-DJ said he would've preferred I keep the energy high but if not everyone wants high energy tanda after tanda that isn't going to work.

The eponymous song by d'Agostino/Vargas reflected the atmosphere of the place - of good dancers out to dance and to relax.  It was true that it was by no means easy to get dances here. I danced with women and then a Demare tanda with an Italian visitor who really felt the music and then with two guys, one of whom I already knew and one I had corresponded with a little.  Both these men were good, established and popular dancers, but even this did not persuade any of the other Berlin men.  One tries to avoid having a crisis of confidence but I remembered Alma when I did not even get on the floor and let it go.  I got chatting to the ladies I danced with and stayed an hour longer than I had intended. 

Around 2300 I arrived at Max & Moritz (Oranienstr.162 Berlin 10969) when the milonga was well under way.   Leandro was the DJ. 

This milonga is in the back of a typical German restaurant. I liked the room for dancing. It reminded me a little of the Counting House in Edinburgh.  I  arrived about 11pm and left at about 0115. 

The music was good trad but, especially at the start, was almost painfully loud from the wall-mounted speakers.  There is a slight division in the room between the main dance area and the (unused) rear bar which is the DJ spot.  Perhaps because of that the DJ just didn't always realise how loud it was, although since he was not always at his spot he might have been dancing so maybe he just liked it loud.  I sat in front of the bar along the wall, across from where the photo at the top is taken. 

There was a very good Donato tanda that started with El huracán and finished with Elegante papirusa. There was also a good vals tanda and a milonga with Milonga de los fortines, and Cacareando both by Orquesta Típica Víctor (OTV). Cacareando is  the other "bird" piece I forgot.  It is great for private drunken parties or the beach in summer - but it is often played with the other track and they are not the easiest milongas to place.  Overall I liked the music and the cortinas but I was in conversation  for a good part of the time I was there and don't remember it all.

After what I had heard back in the UK I was surprised that the dance standard at Max & Moritz was not as high as at Café Domínguez though a few people had come on from there.  There was a big mix of people, of dancing, of age, of style, of everything.  There were at least a couple of groups who looked as though they might be visiting from out of town.  I rather liked the mix even though I couldn't see any guys with whom I particularly wanted to dance.  I was happy to watch and listen and see what transpired.  There were two or three couples of wild and crazy young dancers who I did not remember seeing elsewhere.  They were dancing trad tango music more in the way you sometimes see at nuevo dances but also at a strange speed that was too fast.  They were doing the most dangerously high, uncontrolled voleos I saw in Berlin.  

It was at this milonga that I found the kind of dance I had been looking for in Berlin. I felt quiet, relaxed and happy in that embrace.  I left soon after, wanting that to be my last dance in Berlin.

Today I discovered another perspective on dancing tango in Berlin.  It was written last summer and updated last month.  The writer refers to scene 1 dancers (trad) and scene 2 (alt) and describes scene 2 dancers pitching up at scene 1 venues and "making it their own"  - not an idea I have much sympathy with.  On this site you can even buy for $5 a guide to surviving your own first milonga. Or you could just turn up, watch and get chatting.