Second Stuttgart milonga weekend

Tango Loft from the entrance side

I am recently returned from the second milonga weekend in Stuttgart. It comprised evening dances on Friday and Saturday and afternoon dances on Saturday and Sunday.  

I went for these reasons:

• It was milongas only and had been recommended as having no workshops, classes or shows
• It did not, in theory require registration.  This was still true for the second weekend but the emphasis had changed slightly.  Since the venue is limited by capacity though it made sense to reserve a place.   
• There was no list of rules. I find while I like events that adhere to traditional milonga etiquette I do not tend to enjoy the hosting or atmosphere of events that are explicitly rule-bound, either on websites or I have even seen rules on cards or posters in venues.  That implies the people coming need that kind of instruction so it is likely I won’t enjoy that kind of event.  On the description of this event it said simply that the event was for experienced dancers.  Given the other features and traditional music I expected dancing in the embrace to be the norm, people to clear the floor during the cortinas and invitation only by look and that is what I found.
• There was an opportunity to go to El Amateur milonga (different venue and host) on Sunday night
• I hoped to see something of the city.

Practicalities

Registration

I tried - late - to register for the first event last autumn.  However, I discovered in correspondence with the organiser that they were balancing gender.  I dislike waiting lists especially when I dance both roles and this tends to keep me away from events.  Also I did not hear back twice when I expected to and ultimately there was no space for me. I also heard reports of poor DJing e.g. DJ La Rubia - not for the first time in her case.  I had not therefore intended to register again.

I changed my mind especially as the advertising seemed to imply there may not be gender balancing.  I see now though the same statement was also made on the advertising for the first weekend when there was indeed gender balancing. I registered earlier and this time there was a place.

Entrance

Payment/registration was outside the salon, which I prefer. The welcome from the host, Kenneth was both warm and professional - that of an experienced host.

Garderobe

There was space to leave shoes and large bags.  One young liberal European guy used it to get changed… There were chairs to change shoes.  There are useful hooks under the bar for handbags.

Salon

When I saw the salon I thought it was lovely, a real dance club, with a bar, tables and chairs.  I was less keen on the mirrored wall - but you can close your eyes.  The salon reminded me in aesthetics a bit of Tango Loft in Berlin though that had for me a slightly more exotic/louche feel.   I am sure if I were a regular here who knew people, with its bar, its seating with tables for a quiet evening with a partner or friend, its gossip stools, I would discover this to be a much loved place.  

Floor

The floor was good but heated up and became sticky meaning dancing earlier on is easier.

Lighting

The salon has windows down one side which means it is light in the afternoon and much easier to see for invitation by look.  However, if you invite/accept with your back to the windows  (even when by the bar) it can be difficult to see because of silhouette.  I nearly missed a dance because of this.

The lighting at night was low.  Since most people crowded into one area for invitation lighting seemed not to be an issue for the majority.  Also I think many people knew one another which means low light is less of an issue than it is for strangers.  I asked if the low lighting was deliberately to create atmosphere.  I was told no, but that because the lights are stage lights they overheat the room and quickly.   LED lights which do not have this problem are being installed gradually.  

Refreshments

There is a bar selling alcohol, soft drinks and cocktails. Throughout the weekend there were snacks of pizza and cake which looked very nice and I understood ice cream on the Sunday afternoon but I did not attend until the end. There was also fruit, crudités nuts, olives.  Water was free.

Seating

There were tables  and chairs  under the windows next to the floor but this was used little or not at all because I think it is thought invitation by look is hard against the light there or simply that it is too far to invite across the room, though the distance would have been normal in Buenos Aires.

On one side of the bar there is a small stage with three or four tables and chairs and more similar seating in front of that in an area two or three tables deep.   This had a good view of the floor in front.   This main seating area was mostly used by friends, couples, a few single guys and a (very) few single girls who, like I suppose me, appeared noticeably uneasy.  I guessed this was because they did not know people or disliked the girl crush, or the seating arrangements or the proximate invitation on the other side of the bar.  Opposite is the mirrored wall you can see in the top photo.  Video showing the bar and seating area from the mirrored end.  Unlike at the milonga weekend the tables under the windows (left) are being used in the video.

Nearly all other single girls were on the other side of the bar or around the bar and most good guy dancers seemed to invite there.  

Between the entrance and the loos was a long wall of untabled seating on stools.  This had  mostly limited or very limited view of the floor because of the bar and people standing.  It was also used mostly by girls waiting to dance.  A few guys sometimes sat here but generally they stood or danced. This is the area where most girls spent most time when not dancing but unfortunately I find no photos online to show it.  The photo I have taken was a single quick snap taken from the stools at that end of the bar with best visibility of the floor.  It was taken at the beginning of the Saturday afternoon which is why it is quiet.  There was a photographer taking many photos on at least two days though from very discreet distance.  Photos from the first event here.

Invitation

...was usually by look.  Only the least popular guys invited too overtly and even then it was more often that they just came too close more than they walked right up and asked.  

Still, most invitation even by good dancers happened at very close quarters at the exit to the floor and around the bar on the entrance side.  It is the space directly in front of the camera (i.e. to the left of the barstool)  in the photo.   Most guys did not invite - perhaps did not need to invite - at any distance e.g. across the room.  Couples would come off the floor, then many of both sexes who had just danced simply waited in that floor exit/entrance area to pick up their next dance. I heard it described as “one large partnerbörse”.   It did not seem to bother most people there, who often invited and accepted with a nod or a word to the person next to them. Conditions one may find problematic are also minimised I find if you know people and I think many did.

If you understand what invitation/acceptance can be like at the busy end of the hall at Eton milongas during the cortinas on a multi-day event then it reminded me of that.

Attendance

The place felt busy most of the time I was there except noticeably the start of Saturday afternoon when the weather was very good.  Saturday night was extremely busy. There were some who attended all or most milongas and many who attended one or two.

A local girl I met at El Amateur on Sunday had been to Tango Loft on Friday night but said since she knew most people it was less interesting for her so she went elsewhere at the weekend. Contradictorily I heard at the bar that there were many strangers.   Kenneth read out a list of the different countries represented. He also announced many local dancers had come out on Saturday but who had not registered for the full weekend itself.  

There were more women I think generally and on Friday there was a clear female majority.  

Dancing

There seemed to be many good guy dancers, some less good and not ones I enjoy but even these got plenty of dances.  There were plenty of very good women dancers of various ages.  More women seemed able to dance well than guys but I find this the norm everywhere.   Look though is not feel and I base what I say mostly from watching as I danced little.

Some women did dance together but not many or often.  I did so only once and early when there were few people there but sensed no disapprobation for others who did so in the ronda.

I think younger women had the majority of the dances but many older women danced often.  Age seemed only one factor of many in guys choosing partners and not necessarily the main one.   I liked that there was and think it healthy for milongas when there is a broad mix of ages.

The ronda seemed mostly good.  One guy bashed me into people (but repeatedly)  yet he always found partners.  I think that was unusual among the guys.

The floor cleared virtually always during the cortina.

Atmosphere

It is hard for me as a stranger to say, also because I personally did not find the weekend relaxing. Unusually I spoke little with people.  Equally no one initiated conversation with me except a couple of guys whose tables I sat at accidentally while they were dancing.  Maybe the better thing to do in those circumstances is in fact to chat to people but I was not in the mood.  I think generally for most people the atmosphere was nice and relaxed.  I sat little and not for long among the women on the bar stools and we did not chat but smiled on arrival etc. In contrast, in Buenos Aires where I felt secure at my table and relaxed I often spoke with women I did not know. I think some women in Tango Loft sometimes may have been unhappy with the gender imbalance.  All that said if this were my local milonga I am sure it would be very nice.  If I were to try to register again I would definitely go in company.  I think this might be less necessary for good guy dancers or anyone generally unaffected by milonga conditions.