Milongas in Manchester, Oxford and Bristol and the good conditions for dancing

Last weekend I went to three milongas in England.

The first was run by Tango Manchester.  It was in the Longfield Suite in Prestwich, North Manchester, DJ Alina.  This is a monthly milonga on a Friday.  There was a good ladies room for changing shoes.  The salon felt quite relaxed as people arrived.  Seating was at large circular tables where most seemed to be a mixture of couples and singles who knew one another.   There were about five solo seats behind the main tables in a corner and invitation by look is not easy there.   I did not  notice those seats at first and so stood at the bar for a couple of tandas.  Fortunately, I bumped into three or four people I knew, else as an unknown, solo dancer, things could have been difficult.  The floor surface was good.  Video.

The second milonga was El Arrabal, St Columbas, Alfred Street on Saturday in Oxford, DJ Dante Culcuy.  I went to this milonga because I had heard Dante's music was good and had heard a little of it at a Sunday evening practica at La Tasca in Leeds last month  For me, without good music, which is to say good traditional  tandas with cortinas within a well-balanced set there can be no good dancing.  I prefer 4 tangos, 3 vals, 3 milonga.  I particularly remember a marvellous d'Arienzo tanda:  Mandria, then Pensalo Bien and after that I was so lost in the music and dance I forget the rest of the tanda, but they were all similar and great.  The same thing happened on Sunday when I was dancing an OTV tanda and was asked who the orchestra was.  I could name the track, Mi taza di cafe but was puzzled when the orchestra stayed obstinately out of reach.   OTV is an orchestra with many singers.  I suppose once we start dancing, thought just switches off. Neither did I instinctively reach for the orchestra or rather the particular era of an orchestra that I play less often at home.

In Oxford I felt lucky I knew a couple of guys with whom I like to dance. Some tracks and tandas for me inclined towards the vocally dramatic, more concert tangos for listening, but there were some very good tandas:  a Biagi, a lovely Fresedo, a great Laurenz and others.  

The venue is atmospheric, in a church in the gothic style, with dark wood.  Seating is at small tables on three sides.  There are a couple of sofas at one end - used by groups of friends mostly I think, and a few solo seats at the door which is also near the refreshments. Invitation by look, or nearly, seemed the mainstay. Video.

My favourite milonga by a stretch was at Tango West, in the Redland club in Bristol.  DJ: Michele Tedder; 2pm-7pm

I am sorry there is no video.  More about video another time perhaps but you can see video from Andrew Oldroyd here.

Andrew is a lovely host. He welcomes everyone and says goodbye to everyone, sorts out the air conditioning and presumably many other things we don't even notice, and he also dances.  He even helped me with my musical education and he is very knowledgeable. He is the kind of musical dancer I for the most part only dream of.  Many of us who try to dance are sometimes vaguely close to the beat but a few dancers like Andrew are just suffused with the music, they pretty much are the same thing as the music and make you part of that too. 

For me, the conditions for dancing at Tango West are about perfect.  It was just lovely.  I had been once before two years ago but had forgotten quite how nice it is.

There is a separate room for bags, coats and plenty of chairs for changing shoes.

The room is square, so the shape and the size mean you can see everyone from wherever you sit. The advantage of this can hardly be over-emphasised.  

Good lighting, for me, is sufficient for invitation by look and will also contribute to a pleasant ambiance.  There is no point having a room of appropriate size and shape if it is too dim to see to invite or so bright it feels like a waiting room.  The lighting at Tango West that afternoon was great.  There is a wooden ceiling, soft but sufficient and atmospheric lighting and tables with cloths which all contributed to the warm atmosphere.  There were nice cakes etc included in the £10 entrada.

Here, invitation by look is evidently de rigeur.   Some guys, standing on the side by the entrance clearly wanted to invite women but I saw no guys who, not having managed to invite at a distance, approach to do so directly, as is sometimes the case elsewhere. I was never worried about a walk-up/hand-offering invitation from a stranger. 

Seating:  Other things being equal, I like to have a table for my drink.  Especially if I arrive at a milonga where I know no-one, I would like to sit with other solo people (ideally women) in an area with small tables, facing other solos (ideally guys) who have come to dance, so I can easily see the maximum number of my potential partners.  Times I would reluctantly forego a table might be if I arrive at a milonga with large tables for groups (as at the Longfield suite); I do not want to gate-crash one of these tables,  uninvited, where friends may be sitting together. Or if I arrive at a milonga with small tables (as at Oxford) I may not sit at one if I feel I will sit conspicuously alone throughout except for dancing but it all depends.

At Bristol, there are chairs with tables for drinks.  It seemed to be a popular milonga.  I am not sure if there were sufficient tables.  Obviously, it's also better when everyone has a seat but guys stood, quite naturally, for women when there were insufficient chairs on our side, which I think is how things should be, certainly in the milonga.  I can see why people do think men standing for women is different to people standing for the elderly or anyone who evidently needs a seat.  But for me, children standing for adults, men for women is a not-that-old-fashioned courtesy that I grew up with and I just like and appreciate it.

There probably was sufficient seating because I noticed empty solo chairs behind the chairs with tables on the other side.  Not surprisingly though, people do seem to prefer chairs with tables.  I got a table early on which people I didn't know joined.  That surprised me a bit but for me and I would guess the majority there, it was nice and it made for a warm atmosphere. You might not like it if you are a couple who, understandably, prefers to sit and dance with each other and I think there were one or two of those but I don't think anyone infringed upon them and everything seemed to work out.  At the table I met different people who came and went and had some brief conversations although generally I danced or watched the floor.  As a visitor you can't fathom the social dynamics so easily, but I thought it felt very relaxed with many people smiling and having a nice time.

Temperature:  It was a muggy day and the floor was busy but there was a lot of attention to maintaining a good temperature in the room with several welcome fans and cooling devices. 

Music: The music had been advertised as "Golden Age Tangos, Vals & Milongas selected for strong uplifting melodies and rhythm". I took this to indicate the set was going to be well-balanced between softer and stronger music because all great tracks have good melodies. There were a lot of wholly great tandas both strong and soft, composed of what I feel are the best tracks for dancing. The set was perhaps on the softer side and I remember a particularly great Fresedo tanda.   I don't remember a d'Arienzo or a Troilo tanda as strong as the one Dante played, but I remember great tandas of strong, rhythmic Biagi and Tanturi.  There were some tracks mid-tanda I didn't know but I still found them danceable.  I try to avoid dancing tracks I don't know or know but dislike especially in the other role, because I find I don't dance them well - it becomes movement rather than dance.  Elsewhere I have often had to excuse myself, embarrassed and apologetic mid-tanda from understanding partners. I hate doing this and so try to avoid milongas where the music will lead to that.  But at Tango West, whether it was the music, or the very relaxed atmosphere, I danced these unknown tracks, not unhappily.  I remember nothing over-dramatic and nothing leaden or "plodding" as Michele called it.  

I had some lovely dances here and some surprising things happened. More than one guy asked if I would lead him, and I did, with pleasure.  It is always a lovely surprise when a guy is relaxed and receptive in the other role because they are so used to "control". One lovely partner danced Di Sarli (La capilla blanca and friends) so softly I found myself won over to this music that I don't often dance and at last began to see its good side. He invited me into small volcadas (where women are usually given no choice) so gently I was persuaded happily into them. 

The sound was easily the best I heard this weekend. For the most part, the volume seemed either pre-normalised (an equal volume has been set beforehand on a collection of tracks) or was well-managed manually by the DJ. Sound was sufficient, for me, and not too loud, which I often find a problem.  Gaps between tracks were mostly fine. The cortinas were fun. 

A few people asked if I was going on to Halo, where there would be a milonga that evening. I have been to Halo once before and I'm sure it would have been nice but I was tired, I had to get to Manchester and most of all, I had had such a nice afternoon that I didn't want anything more.