La Redonda, Edinburgh
On Thursday I went La Redonda the milonga in Edinburgh that’s been going for a few months. It was the only milonga I’d been to since getting back from Buenos Aires in mid-March. There is an imaginary parallelogram that describes the area with milongas in central Scotland. Its points reach between Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews and Forfar (Padanaram village has the dancing). Besides these there is some dancing in Stirling, also at Stirling university in the village of Bridge of Allan and some dancing run by a couple who teach in the town of Dunfermline and the nearby village of Dalmeny. Within this area, La Redonda is the regular milonga most attractive to me just now.
It is an easy decision because in the first instance I go where I think I will find tandas that are not in the majority, broken. Other conditions are a good floor and a host that is at least not off-putting and these thankfully are rare.
I went to La Redonda once before, in mid-February with a Spanish friend, a guy brand new to dancing tango. One of the nicest things for me was the warm welcome. Ricardo, who co-hosted with Jenny also came out to say goodbye when we were leaving. It was the best milonga I've been to locally since Ksenija's one-off milonga before Christmas. The atmosphere was relaxed, people seemed tolerant of my friend and I in our swapped roles. The atmosphere contributes in no small part to new dancers feeling at ease, even more so when it is a guy dancing in the traditional woman’s role. People there said they liked the atmosphere.
Music
The DJ both times I went was Claudia Esslinger though she does not DJ every time. The music was great. The first time there was even good Fresedo - as opposed to Fresedo that is too early or too late. I heard the kind of OTV I don’t like as I was changing my shoes with only one good track. I apologised to my partner and we sat down once during I think a Tanturi-Castillo for possibly the third track because it would have been worse to try to get through it than to not dance it. Not only is Claudia one of the most experienced DJs in Edinburgh, if not the most experienced, she is far from being a “me-jay”. I am sorry she is apparently not DJing at the Edinburgh Tango Festival.
Floor
The floor I found good the first time. But last week I stepped on to it in flats with a friend and immediately felt my shoe gripping the floor. With a knee problem simmering away I could not risk pivoting. The floor is old though smooth. Someone said it had been mopped just prior to dancing so perhaps that explained how I found the difference.
Ronda and dancing
I am delighted that La Redonda is class-free and indeed the milonga attracted a mix of people. In February there were about 40 including several from Glasgow. I think the idea is to attract a broader mix than had been the case at these hosts’ practica which had been on the same day as their main class night and had attracted mostly those doing the classes. On Thursday it was also busy, with a couple of solo experienced dancers who it is a pleasure to watch. The picture was taken later on in evening of my first visit when numbers had thinned.
The first time there was a proper ronda with couple after couple in harmony but otherwise it was a bit chaotic. This was partly from some experienced dancers who don’t recognise a ronda. This is a moden then for new dancers. There was a new guy who didn't move for ages, absorbed I think in a "tango moment" but oblivious to the pile-up behind him. A new guy overtook me and then came back towards me, passing me. It was like realising you have a car coming towards you in the wrong lane on a road. Sometimes people do such amazing things in the ronda that leaves you breathless. Two nights later in St Andrews a new dancer cut through an inner and outer ronda, drawing the diameter of the circle like some random meteorite crashing through earth's orbit.
Generally, the ronda could be tricky, all in quite a tight space. The second time it was much better. All the tall people moved into the centre. I was tired though, didn’t dance much and did not feel I contributed to good ronda dancing. I had hardly danced in the guiding role for a couple of months, did not feel the connection with others in the ronda that I find in places with many experienced dancers but as yet this milonga does not have that kind of dancer in the majority. Since I rarely dance in Edinburgh now it was nice to see and chat to people I hadn’t seen in some cases since last year.
The first time I went to this milonga, mid-way through there was a "dance with a stranger" announcement which I have seen turn into a license for people to walk up and ask you to dance. Last time I dived for the kitchen so I was relieved there was no such announcement the next time.
Venue, room, lighting, seating, snacks
There was a rack for coats outside. There was only one chair upstairs on a landing to change shoes outside the room. You might want to arrive completely ready as there is only one ladies room I know of.
The room was nice with an attractive barrel shaped ceiling. It is often difficult to get good lighting in a hall in the evening. The first time I found the lighting just about OK. Jenny told me they had tested various lighting arrangements beforehand. The room had wall-based uplighters quite high. Jenny said they had a nice glow but when they tested them before launching the milonga they were blinding because of too much bulb. She said the overhead lights were nice and started off warm but got very bright. They made therefore an ingenious solution which hasn't come out well in the photos but they are fairy lights: many many meters wrapped around a rectangular frame of metal and plastic. These they hung from the wooden roof supports with bungee cords. The effect was rectangles of twinkly light. Last week although I think the lighting was the same it felt dark and someone commented to that effect. Both I and a friend thought a woman opposite, in silhouette because of the lighting wanted to dance with us but we couldn't be sure and so nothing came of it.
The tables were great. Although they are light and easily knocked they are small and ideal for milongas. In this respect they are like the ones you find in many central milongas in Buenos Aires. I have seen them more and more at Edinburgh one-off events. Note also how smaller tables tend not to get cluttered as in the picture here. They create less of a sense of barrier than larger tables. Apparently La Redonda had started with larger tables and changed. There was no solo seating per se. There is the usual UK problem of new arrivals taking a seat you may have been sitting in for a while.
Snacks were in the kitchen along with tea, coffee etc. The first time there was some good cake, tangerines, chocolate later on.
This is the best milonga in Edinburgh just now because of music and atmosphere. It is interesting that many of the habitués of Edinburgh’s other main milongas at the 'Counting House' were not present.
Edinburgh however will never be a weekend destination to dance tango for those from other places while it has no regular Friday night, Saturday night or Sunday afternoon milonga. The Edinburgh Tango Society has long had a vice-like grip on the milongas that are run in Edinburgh. This has intensified under its current custodians who hold pretty much the monopoly on all the regular weekly and monthly dances. Edinburgh isn’t alone in being a city with a similar tango cartel. This causes fear in others who are quite simply afraid to start something new because of opposition and alienation from those controlling this scene at present. This situation looks set to continue.
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