Milonga-lite

Segregation

 First drafted 24.4.15 

I saw an advert (on tango.uk.com) for a segregated milonga the other day and was initially surprised, especially since it is written by a musician:

Music is played track by track to encourage dancers to dance one track at a time instead of adhering to the 'finish the tanda whatever happens rule'. Its a party, not a trial by jury!

The segregation isn't mandatory and it certainly isn't advertised as segregated, but that, I think is the effect. The idea is to cater for or, the more cynical might say, invent a market demand. 

To dance a whole tanda to great music when the dance is wanted on both sides, is a wonderful thing. So why advertise no tandas? Ostensibly, it’s often to help less experienced dancers transition into a “real milonga” which can be intimidating. The idea is new dancers go to a “milonga-lite” first with the emphasis less on the music and dancing, more on the social side where people probably mostly from beginner and improver classes meet again.

These beginner milongas, of which there are a few in the UK, are supposed to be a preparation for the “real", more intimidating milonga, with the good dancers, the perhaps traditional music, the tandas, the tango etiquette. Beginner milongas are an extension of segregated classes and entrench the idea of dancing at your own level and of keeping people in a hierarchy of paying classes for as long as possible. One of the justifications I heard for these entry-level dances is that "other people run them too". 

One thing is for sure - you don't get better at dancing by dancing with other people who can't dance yet.