SUNDAY MILONGA

THROW A MILONGA

If you want to throw a milonga and you could use a good start in the right direction TangoTangent can help you with ideas, music, invitations, etc.

TangoTangent also encourages restaurants, clubs, etc, that want to organize occasional or regular milongas. .

Contact us here if you want to organize a milonga.

PREVIOUS MILONGAS

Click here to visit the photo gallery of tango events organized by TangoTangent and El Tango.

WHAT IS A MILONGA?

MILONGA - TANGO PARTY
Milonga is a party, an event where people dance tango. By extension, milonga refers also to the place (bar, club, restaurant, etc) where people gather to dance tango.

MILONGA – MUSIC GENRE
The word appeared at the end of the 21th century in Argentina (more exactly after 1872) and referred initially to a certain musical rhythm considered to be the ’grandfather of tango’. (Listen here to milonga on www.todotango.com - Una noche de garufa). As a musical genre, milonga is believed to having been born from the fusion of the Spanish habanera (listen here to Argentine habanera on www.todotango.com - La flor del palmar) and the candombe music of African origin (listen here to Argentine candombe on www.todotango.com – Tango negro). Like in so many other cultures that gave birth to forms of social entertainment, the singers would initially compete with one another improvising licentious lyrics and accompanied by simple instruments such as guitars.

In the meantime new milonga instruments appeared, and the music, first simple, became more and more complex. Tango resulted from the evolution and sophistication of the basic rhythm, namely the change from a 2/4 beat to a 4/4 beat. Thus tango originated from the milonga and at the milonga as a result of the cultural mixture of immigrants arriving form Europe and Africa to Argentina at the end of the 19th century. (listen here to tango from the beginning of the 20th century on www.todotango.com - La franela).

MILONGUERO, MILONGUERA
Milonguero, milonguera refers to the person that attends milongas, a person whose life centres on tango and the philosophy of tango. When a tango dancer refers to another gentleman or lady dancer by milongero/milonguera it means that, in the speaker’s opinion that other person signifies the essence of tango.

MILONGUERO DANCING STYLE
Milonguero (apilado) refers to a tango danced in a very close embrace with total contact in the upper part of the body, the partners being leaned to each other (although never hanging one another…). When dancing milonguero the steps are firm and simple and the rotation very small. The style is based on a rhythmic music as such played by the D’Arienzo and Tanturi orchestras (listen here to D’Arienzo orchestra on www.todotango.com - Adiós Chantecler) (listen here to Tanturi orchestra on www.todotango.com - Discos de Gardel).

MILONGA ETIQUETTE More >>