877  tango in the 1950s

Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2002 14:36:25 -0300
From: Janis Kenyon <jantango@FEEDBACK.NET.AR>
Subject: tango in the 1950s

>Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 12:02:13 -0500
>From: Sergio <cachafaz@ADELPHIA.NET>
>Subject: finguers to palm and "Franeleo"

>When we talk about teaching we should remember that people stopped dancing
>tango for at least a couple of generations.

Where? Not in Buenos Aires. People never stopped dancing tango. A couple
of generations is a long time. I disagree with this statement based on my
conversations with milongueros.

>By 1950 most young people in Argentina and the rest of the world ceased to
>dance tango and preferred to dance free style or to North American rhythms.

The 1950s were the golden age of the milongas in Buenos Aires. They were
open every night of the week in the downtown section of the capital federal.
This is the period when they danced to the recordings of the 1940s. The
milongueros were young men from 16 to 30 years who went dancing every night
of the week--to the milongas during the week and to the club de barrios or
confiterias on the weekend. The music of the milongas included American
Jazz as well. You can verify this personally with milongueros.

>A small group of milongueros never ceased to dance.

This is true. No one knows exactly how many milongueros there were during
the 1950s, but there must have been more than a small group. My partner
once told me they were probably several hundred based on the number of
milongas during the 1950s.

>The music created during this period was oriented not to dancing but to

listening.

The number of people who danced tango in Buenos Aires has always been a
very small percentage of the population. The same holds true today. Many
love
tango and listen to it on the radio. The orchestras that recorded in the
1940s continued to perform in the 1950s for large crowds of people who
wanted to hear the music and singers of tango. The music changed with the
times.

>When interest in tango as a dance reappeared in the 80ies. we found that
>there were a few milongueros from the old school left.

Perhaps you are referring to the interest that erupted when the show Tango
Argentino was brought to the attention of the world.

My partner and his friends were dancing throughout the 1960s and 70s. He
was born in 1937 so he was only 43 in 1980. I don't know what you mean by
"the old school."

>A small group that had continued to dance as it was done during the golden

era of tango: the 40ies.

It has been explained to me that there were no "milongas" in the 1940s.
During this decade there were dances where people primarily went to listen
to the orchestras and singers of tango. .All of my partner's uncles danced
in the 1940s. It wasn't until late in the 1940s, when the orchestras of Di
Sarli, Calo, Troilo and others had made recordings, that the milongas began.
It was at this time that the milongas existed because they used the
recordings that had been made in the 1940s.
The milongueros wanted to dance exclusively to the recordings of the 1940s.
They were called milongas because this is where milongueros went to dance.

Sergio, you and I probably have different definitions of "milonguero." I
have learned that to be a milonguero is a way of life more than just a man
who dances tango. It is for this reason I attempted to organize a week in
November 2001 for people to learn directly from those who danced in the
milongas of the 1950s. It's unfortunate that people are not interested in
hearing their experiences before there is no one around to tell it like it
really was. Who better to hear it from than those who are "married" to the
tango for 50 or 60 years? I still have hope that some day there will be
interest among dancers in Europe and the United States in hearing directly
from the milongueros. I have spent many hours talking with them about their
lives in tango, so I'm going to write a book about them.

>This touching of the legs in Argentinean slang is referred as "Franeleo" or
>"Fratacheo" meaning among other things : to get sexually excited by the
>contact and handling of the bodies.

It is common knowledge that tango had its seedy beginning in the brothels of
Buenos Aires. How many are aware that the women in the milongas of the
1950s were prostitutes? They weren't in the milongas just to dance with the
young milongueros. Respectable young girls didn't go to the milongas; they
went to the club de barrios escorted by an older female relative or friend.
The milonga scene was entirely different. It should come as no surprise
that tango is sensual and sexual. This is the attraction whether people are
willing to admit it or not.


Pichi de Buenos Aires