“Only say yes if you want to. It’s better to be rejected for one second by a turned-away “Mirada” than being rejected for twelve minutes in an uncommitted embrace.” This post was done by a fellow “milonguera” and it touches in one of the most important issues in tango. More than the content of this message, which is related with the presence or not of a (closed) embrace, which relate to a particular style of dance. For me the all point is: “how committed I am with the person I go to dance”? I guess that all of us in tango, by any reason, we went to dance with a person and we did not give everything and we were not 100% committed. Too bad, because it is not need to dance with the same person more than 12 minutes and we should really give everything. I guess that more in tango you are, more you feel how committed the other person is to dance with you. Or you can feel what the person it is up to, on the moment of embrace (either more open or closed). Let assume that this sensibility is developed over time. Your level of commitment to dance and the total sum of those commitments along the milonga might indicate how good the milonga is for you. This can be multiplied if you feel also that other dancers are committed to dance with you. The objective of this note it is not to analyse, the reasons why we choose to dance with A instead of B or C. Neither the risks we take to dance new persons. Or I always choose first or I let myself to be invited? Around these reasons are our individual human characteristics and these make tango so intense and mysterious.

Last year I wrote (see here note ) about the reasons of the high success of tango marathons: I began with the observation that small tango communities never reach a critical mass that satisfies local advanced dancers. Advanced dancers are fragmented in small milongas and it is hard to find them all in one spot. Seoul sets apart from other places. Seoul have very large community of tango dancers. I visited many tango communities around the world and Seoul probably is the largest existing tango community after Buenos Aires. In Seoul, you have at least two regular milongas on a daily basis. Days like Friday and Saturday have 5 to 6 different milongas. Many tango schools have their own praticas. The milonga scene is dynamic, intense and vibrant and with many good dancers around. You easily find more than 100 dancers in a milonga. Koreans are reserved, but at the same time friendly and welcoming to foreigners. Korean are very proud of their country and their food and their cultural heritage. Milongas are mainly based Hongdea and Gangnam Areas. I danced in Seoul twice back in 2006 and 2011 (see my first note about Seoul) and I visited Seoul 5-6 times a year since 2014. I know many dancers around which make me almost a local. I stayed in Seoul 5 weeks during October/November 2017. During this time, I frequented Seoul’s milongas every day. And there are a few points which I would like to raise: 1- Milongas are well-attended and of good quality. On a weekend milonga one can dance all tandas without repeating. If you would miss someone, you easily can dance with them on next day. 2- Even when bigger events exist in town (like Workshops, Festivals or Marathons) local milongas always fill up. 3- I was in several guided praticas and even there, the level of tango is just great. Koreans work very hard to improve their tango skills. 4- People respect the “ronda” and do not over-take. If by accident a touch happens people very respectfully apologize. The floor is clear during cortina and people always change partner. People mostly use “cabeceo” for an invitation (see my note on Cabeceo). Always with utmost respect. 5- DJing is good and mostly focused on golden age tango, in very well arranged tandas. 6- I found new good dancers (along the 5 weeks stay) almost every day. I felt great tango passion and strong commitment on the embrace. 7- The combination of a very mature community and respectful behavioural way of the Koreans, make Seoul the ideal place for a tango dancer. Having said that, I will get to the main point of my note. One might ask: - Is Seoul tango travel destination? - Would you come to Seoul for a tango, instead of going to Buenos Aires? I reply to both questions: “yes”. Let me explain my position: - Is Seoul tango travel destination? Yes, it is. Seoul is already a tango travel destination. Many dancers from neighbouring Asian countries come to Seoul just for the local milongas. - Would you come to Seoul for a tango, instead of going to Buenos Aires? Yes, I would and I do! I do not have the time to be in Buenos Aires 3 weeks until I can mix with people in Milonga. The best dancers I get to dance in Buenos Aires are foreigners and I can get to them in events elsewhere. The best female Argentinean dancers are professionals and they do not dance with you unless you were with them in private or group classes. On Korea, one could mix immediately with locals. In the ladies, I do fell strong passion, musically and commitment. In men, I can feel their musicality/respect in dance “ronda” (see a related note). I am not saying that Seoul is replacement Buenos Aires. Actually, I think every person in tango should go to Buenos Aires (at least once) to try to see and feel the culture there. I have been in Buenos Aires many times and but now to dance socially I prefer to be elsewhere. Tango taught in Seoul schools is “tango salon”. Since milongas are completely packed with people, most dancers close their embrace and change from two axes to one axe (“salon” to “apilado”). I feel always deeply respected as a “milonguero” in Seoul. I hope I did not shock any one with my opinions. It is my aim to bring awareness of those facts. Seoul tango community is large and of great quality and I do predict that Seoul will be a tango travel destination. For my fellow Korean friends which make shoes, women clothes and organizers of milongas the future looks shinning. PS: . I am not english native, sorry for the minor errors I thank Dan Hayes for the review Local milongas website: https://sites.google.com/view/tangomilongaincorea/

Tango Marathons – why are they successful?

One of the most difficult things in tango it is the understanding of the social codes. And the hardest code of all is the “cabeceo” which is a lot more than just an invitation to dance. In simplistic terms it is the mutual consent of a leader and a follower to accept a dance (with each other). A deeper meaning could be I CHOOSE YOU RIGHT NOW to dance with me this orchestra/melody/rhythm (and this is one of the major reasons that DJs should not propose great variations of rhythm with in a single “tanda”). “Cabeceo” is also about the respect of the other person’s will. Avoiding “eye-contact” several times means I am not available to dance now. Avoiding “eye-contact” many times might mean “I don’t want to dance with you at all”. To put a number on how many times “eye-contact” could be made when trying to invite somebody to dance really depends how you perceive the behavior of the other person. There are no written rules. When people chat at the start of the “tanda”, it means that they are not interested in dancing. That's why you should step away from your friends when “tanda” starts, because you are blocking them from an invitation to dance.  Looking directly in the eyes of a person and saying no is as rude as to invite a stranger directly. Incorporating/expressing the wish to dance by “eye-contact” is part of growing as a dancer in the tango culture. And yes, many who teach, dance well, and for a long time simply ignore it (very, very sadly). Or just don't know it. Obviously you can/should invite your close friends directly. More importantly, the more you grown in tango, the more you gain a sensibility to read if one person wants to dance with you or not. Obviously this leads to many, many misunderstandings, and it takes a lot of time to learn this perception/sensibility. Above all, a highly experienced “milonguero(a)” in tango clearly shows his or her interest and desire to dance by making direct eye-contact regardless of the distance in the ballroom. Tango is all about the mutual consent/agreement to dance. It is all about mutual eligibility.</p></rich-text-block><image mediaid="10204794877745648" provider="WORK_KNOWLEDGE" halign="left"/></theme-provider></palette>

Tango culture is so subtle and the best way it is that you get there by your own road, you need to feel it, otherwise you don’t practice it.</p><p>-       More than respect of the line of dance, it is the respect between people on the dance floor. When you are dancing in a packed floor in closed embrace you have a vision space of less than 40% and you should be only concerned with couple in front of you… and this concern means giving space in front of you. So overtaking should not be done either on left or on right (specially on the right because the leader can not see what comes on the right). Overtaking is rude and some leaders some times tend forget that you are only dancing and not in a formula 1 race. </p><p>-       Obviously that all couples will not move in the same speed, for the single reason that no one feels the music in same way. If the women take the lead during pauses I let her do it until she is satisfied and this might include one or two musical phrases and sorry people at the back have to wait. Dance is communication and men have/should listen what women have to say… the fun of dance is increase 100 fold when this happen….</p><p>-        When I am behind and the front couple stops… I do stop too… even this means dance all music on the spot… and this takes us to other issue… do most men have tango enough to dance on the spot?... if men get unpacient when a couple stops in front you should go and dance in the middle of dance floor. Dancing of the outside lane it is to show out the women that she can be invited again by others… dancing in the middle it is for people that don’t have technique enough to be on outside lane…. There are a lot of men which can not recognise where it is their place in the dancing floor …… normally an advanced follower will be never dance again with this leader again but tells him nothing… this leader only realizes this when he start dancing on the spot and the music pauses…. Subtle…..very subtle….</p><p><br/></p></rich-text-block><image mediaid="10204794879985704" provider="WORK_KNOWLEDGE" halign="left"/></theme-provider></palette>