Is the milonga a style of dance?


3442 Is the milonga a style of dance?	ARTICLE INDEX
Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 07:53:00 +0100 From: "John H. Walton" <jwalton@CIX.CO.UK> Subject: Is the milonga a style of dance? Hi, over here in the UK we current have a "light" TV dance program showing called "Strictly Dance Fever", in which amateur dance couples compete every week, dancing a different style. Now this week they are dancing the milonga, which has been described as "an early form of tango". Now I am no expert, but I thought that milonga was a music form (c. 1870), and the word is also used now for any tango social event. But never a "dance form". I would appreciate the opinion of the experts here! Best Regards, John https://www.danceweb.co.uk/tango Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 09:57:25 -0300 From: Alberto Gesualdi <clambat2001@YAHOO.COM.AR> Subject: Re: Is the milonga a style of dance? Hi John You can read this interview made to Sebastian Piana , short before his death . He was the author of the so called " milonga ciudadana/urban milonga" with his " Milonga sentimental" in 1932. The "milonga ciudadana" was a different musical type from the milonga sung by peasants and played with a guitar , almost always with the same base chords , the change was in what the singer said, no the music he play. https://www.todotango.com/english/biblioteca/cronicas/entrevista_piana.asp Concerning your essential question , is the milonga a style of dance , let4s say ..... Here in Buenos Aires dancing places , which are also called milongas to make the situation more confusing :) ,. there are "tandas" or sequences of music to dance. The "tandas" are made by 4 to 6 tracks , and usually the pattern is tango-tango-tango-milonga-tango-tango-valsecito-tango-tango-tango-milonga and so on . It is not a rigid pattern, some places have shorter tandas of tangos, and they play milongas more frequently .Also valsecitos are now being played more frequently, since after a tragedy at a disco ,Cromagnon, where 193 people died, the milongas are authorized to be open with an exception decree of the city hall, but it is required to play only tango, milonga or valsecitos. Anyway , some places insert a tanda of latin music, with the risk to be closed , but it is so brief (8 to 10 minutes), so is part of the night. Usually at the tango lessons that you can take in Buenos Aires, the teacher does not say "now ,. this is the part of the class where we will learn only how to dance milonga " .Generally speaking, tango lessons have tango steps or figures being taught. But there are teachers that reserve some days , to teach milonga steps , or what is called "milonga with traspii" , a special way to dance milonga. What I intend to say , is that a milonga dancing venue in Buenos Aires, you will not find within the same "tanda", tango, milongas and valsecitos, they are played separately ,with the frequency I mentioned before : more or less a 70% of the night will be tango tandas , a 20% milongas, a 10% valsecitos. The tango tandas have different orchestras and styles clearly separated also. You will not find usually a tanda of D Arienzo mixed with Pugliese, they are played separately. But with milongas is different, you may find a tanda of milongas that includes several orchestras , since this kind of music was not played so differently by the different orchestras, they include in their performances milongas and valsecitos ,as part of their music . There are some steps that could be considered good for milonga dance , such as "el cuadrado", "la corridita", "el vaiven ", "4 rodillas" , "back ochos of the woman with walking of the man at the same time " and so on. The beating of the milonga music is a bit faster than the tango music, but this is not a general rule, since there are "slow milongas" such as the ones of Canaro orchestra from the 304s . Almost all orchestras played milongas , I would say the following are some good examples Canaro -Quinteto Pirincho- :Orillera, La cara de la luna ( a slow milonga), Arrabalera and the top of the top , Se dice de mm ( both in instrumental version and sung by Tita Merello),Taquito militar Canaro from the 304s ,slow milongas, Milonga sentimental, Milonga del 900, Milonga de mis amores, Milonga que peina canas. Villasboas: there are some recordings with milongas Di Sarli: yes, Di Sarli has milongas :) Cuando un viejo se enamora Pugliese: Baile a beneficio, a funny one, describing a dancing made to raise funds for a welfare, that ends a bit violently . The characters has funny nicknames such as "rengo/lame Pantaleon" , "loco/crazy Juan " , etc.etc.. D Arienzo: La puqalada ( this was a milonga always asked by the audience for D Arienzo to play) , El esquinazo, Baldosa floja, and so on Troilo: La trampera -in my humble opinion, the National Anthem for milonga music ,specially the version of the cuartet Troilo Grela ., Con permiso ( sung by Alberto Marino) , Milonga en rojo ( duet of Marino and Floreal Ruiz) , Tu diagnostico ( sung by Fiorentino ),and so on . Troilo is an angel , his milongas are unforgettable. D Agostino Vargas: En lo de Laura , Hotel Victoria ( it is a tango really, but the way D Agostino plays , could be danced with milonga steps) Alberto Castillo: unforgetable milongas "candomberas" , i.e. milongas where drums are included and the sound is a mix between milonga and candombe Well , and so on, and so on. This is not a total list, there are people at this list like Stephen Brown, that can provide a lot more of good milongas to dance. But I think this selection represents reasonably, what can you listen randomly at a Buenos Aires milonga this days. Warm regards alberto gesualdi "John H. Walton" <jwalton@CIX.CO.UK> escribis: Hi, over here in the UK we current have a "light" TV dance program showing called "Strictly Dance Fever", in which amateur dance couples compete every week, dancing a different style. Now this week they are dancing the milonga, which has been described as "an early form of tango". Now I am no expert, but I thought that milonga was a music form (c. 1870), and the word is also used now for any tango social event. But never a "dance form". I would appreciate the opinion of the experts here! Best Regards, John https://www.danceweb.co.uk/tango A tu celular ?no le falta algo? Usa Yahoo! Messenger y Correo Yahoo! en tu telifono celular. Mas informacisn aqum. Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 15:39:00 +0100 From: John Walton <jwalton@CIX.CO.UK> Subject: Re: Is the milonga a style of dance? RE: [TANGO-L] Is the milonga a style of dance? Thanks very much to all who replied; it showed up my ignorance! Best Regards, John https://www.danceweb.co.uk/tango Continue to Tango essence and existence \| ARTICLE INDEX

3442 Is the milonga a style of dance?