Milongas in Amsterdam

Amsterdam can be a tougher place to dance than the rest of the Netherlands, being often said by the Dutch themselves to be a more closed milonga scene but this is often said of big city scenes in Europe compared to dancing in the provinces.

On the other hand there are more milongas than in other towns and they are all bikeable.  There are probably more experienced dancers here in one place and the music I heard in the milongas was mostly from the Golden Era, though that is not the same things as saying it was all the mainstream, popular, traditional music that many like to dance. You might also hear tandas from each side of the Epoca D'Oro but you are much less likely to hear non or neotango than you are outside Amsterdam.

Making a weekend of it

To make a weekend of dancing you might go to De Plantage (review) on Friday (2215-0200). Dancers were perhaps aged 35+ but most were older than that when I went. I heard another option is the new El Berretín milonga. I see that there are different milongas on a Friday at the Academia de tango.  I got the feeling that is a younger crowd than De Plantage but I did not meet many who mentioned it when I was asking for recommendations.  Ditto, Fenix milonga. Both of these are on Tangokalender.  

There are actually a few different milongas on Friday but there never did seem to be, whenever I checked, much on in Amsterdam on a Saturday night.  It's a shame they couldn't move a couple of these Friday night milongas over to Saturday.  That, and not finding a single Airbnb in or even for miles around the city for under £100 is what decided me to go to Antwerp instead to hear a DJ who had been recommended:  Jo Switten.

On Saturdays in Amsterdam there is sometimes, or used to be Milonga Lounge.  I heard from a recent visitor that the milonga had stopped but it is still advertised on Tangokalender (advert here) though the website mentions no milongas. I enquired about the DJing there once but the performance style pictures (and here) and the fact that no locals I knew ever mentioned it as a place to go put me off. Video. From that it seems quite a young scene, especially the women.  Tangokalender shows one or two others that pop up occasionally but don't seem to be regular and nobody ever mentioned them.

The only other option was Tinta Roja run by Lucas whom I met in Edinburgh where he once DJd . The music then was very mixed for me thought there were some great, classic tandas.  But he seemed a nice and friendly guy and I regret not taking him up on his offer to look him up when I was over. According to his Facebook page, he has a free practica 17 till 20hs and a milonga on the first Saturday of the month. Few Dutch I met mentioned this practica but a UK friend of the host said the dancing on the night it became a milonga was the best they found in Amsterdam and that the vibe was young and informal and she thought the music was great. More about El Berretín and Tinta Roja soon.

You might also consider milongas outside Amsterdam for a Saturday night.

Later  I learned many good dancers apparently go out on Sunday when the top four milongas take it in turns.

El Cielo (review) - first Sunday

La Bruja (second review) - second Sunday

Tango11 (review) - third Sunday

TangoTerras a/h IJ (review) or De Plantage (review) - fourth Sunday. The De Plantage Sunday edition starts at 1830 and goes on for 5.5 hours. I heard it attracts more people from outside Amsterdam than the Friday night version.

I also danced one Sunday afternoon in the Oosterpark (review) which is a free summer milonga. Gorgeous setting, seating inside the bandstand, terrible floor, iffy music, free ice cream!

Top milongas, top DJs, top venues

La Bruja or Tango11 are reckoned by many locals to be the top milongas in Amsterdam meaning they have the best dancing.  The video about the encuentro run by the host of La Bruja was the spur for me to go to the Netherlands in the first place. I should say that of any milonga I have contacted, this was the least responsive in that when I enquired about closures in August and September, about needing a ticket for Tango Train and possibly another earlier enquiry I never did get any response.  Certainly at La Bruja the first time I went there seemed to be plenty of good guy dancing - but I was already apprehensive about going and could get none which made me shut down to the guys sharpish. On that occasion I danced with the women instead who were warm, open and good dancers.  I had a nice time.  Many people, including good dancers from within and outside Amsterdam told me they don’t go to either of these milongas but especially La Bruja because of a perceived closed atmosphere.  Some of those who do go from outside said it took a while for them to be accepted.  Depending then on how you rate your prospects or the kind of experience you are looking for you may or may not want to risk one precious evening there. 

La Jirafa (Jacob) in La Bruja was the best DJ I heard for traditional music in Amsterdam, followed by Age Akkerman in El Cielo. See the piece to follow on DJs in the Netherlands.

The most traditional salons (in layout) were El Cielo, La Bruja and De Plantage and as venues I liked them all. They all had good floors.  None of these are places were there is much standing for invitation, particularly among the women.  There was some among the guys but not in a bunched up, desperate, pushy or intrusive way that I have minded in other places still less the girl standing and loitering at the cattle market experiences of the milonga weekends I have been to.  There were a few guys standing around the bar in De Plantage but when do guys not stand around a bar?  A few guys stood at the short entrance end of El Cielo one or two trying too hard to invite and girls and guys stood around on the short, entrance end at La Bruja, mostly in a natural, social way or because they met and chatted with people when moving around the room.

I think in Amsterdam despite how the guys were the first time I would like La Bruja best if La Jirafa were DJing because of the music, the venue with its good dimensions for invitation by look which is pretty much exclusive there; tables and seating, good illumination, good floor, good dancing, elegantly dressed people and the nice bar.  But because of how it was the first time I would have to steel myself to go to that milonga in its regular Sunday slot  and we all know that steeling oneself is not the way to go into a milonga, so I am not sure.  Still, for all those reasons it is an interesting place to hang out even just to watch, if you can make your mind easy with that.

Many said Los Locos on Tuesday night is good. I have not been yet. I hear it is a practica til 2130 and then becomes a milonga. The impression I had from people is that the feeling there is warmer than at some of the other Amsterdam milongas.  Other than that there doesn't seem to be much in Amsterdam, midweek.