How Tango Styles Shape the Way We Dance: Milonguero, Salon, Nuevo | Season 3, Episode 16

[@nataliakarasseva1441]

It is the best summary of the Argentine tango journey I have ever heard.

[@imsotango]

I’m so glad you enjoyed it-thank you for your support!

[@szcynkowsky162]

Thank you! that was enlightening and helpful.

[@imsotango]

Wonderful! Thanks for the feedback!

[@cc1621]

Thank you for sharing your perspective on the tango community and its history. Salón tango, rooted in tradition, remains the universal benchmark for mastering core elements like posture, connection, and musicality. Its embrace-centered technique ensures adaptability and garners global respect, making it widely embraced in almost all Asian countries and rest of the world. In contrast, social tango, with its blended influences, lacks clear definition, highlighting the value of salón as a consistent and reliable standard for growth.

[@imsotango]

Thank you for sharing such a well-framed perspective! I completely agree that salón tango holds a special place as a benchmark for foundational skills. I also find the contrast with social tango fascinating-it reminds us how diverse and evolving tango can be.

[@cc1621]

@@imsotango I often find social dancing both fascinating and, at times, incredibly frustrating. My humble tango journey began with a professional salón dancer whom you may know from Buenos Aires, which I believed to be the ultimate foundation. However, over the years, I’ve struggled to reconcile that traditional perspective within the context of social dancing, especially as it blends with so many different interpretations and modern attitudes.

[@jesteryte]

Would love to hear more about the way you categorize moves and how it helps in constructing your dance.

[@imsotango]

You can check out my Tango Simplified Series which basically covers all of my tricks :). But I think I will do a separate lesson just on how you can categorize the movements in tango to make them a bit more practical.

[@georgesoong4149]

I was just going through the description and discovered reference to Noelia Hurtado. She was in Taiwan September (if I remember correctly), and I attended a few classes. Her style is sort of varies dancing freely based on the music. My long term teacher YuTan in Taiwan also took some private lessons with her expressing it “changed her body into a new one”, dancing YuTan at a Milonga (for the first time after her honeymoon), I did notice quite significant change being more “springy” which allows me to feel the energy flow through her body. Watching the other videos, and comparing with my collection, it seems the line between the various styles are not so clear cut difference nowadays. But alternatives and fusion is also interesting to me, and I have started to try out various options as well to see how my body connects with the music and the capability to respond. Quite a fun journey.

[@imsotango]

Oh I LOVE hearing about your exploration! And I think your observation is spot on - the delineation between the styles is not very clear cut because most dancers are combining various techniques and also it depends on the partner. So Noelia dances very differently now with her current dance partner than how she danced with Carlitos in the performance I shared. Also, we as dancers evolve and it's very interesting to study a specific dancer's evolution over decades. So the style changes as well... Thank you for sharing and let me know how you like exploring all the other styles :)

[@georgesoong4149]

@ actually it is quite difficult because it is hard to find partners that enjoy variety. When I was in Seoul, Onada 2 was supposed to be playing alternatives, but when I went there, they did not play such music. The organizer said it is difficult to have it every week. Most of the time I just have to focus on self capability training. Just got my own practicing place setup to I also have the option to play whatever music I like.

[@TatianaPrescott]

I prefer milonuero style !! Very informative and useful for newcomers!!

[@imsotango]

Oh I'm so happy to hear that you found it useful! I love milonguero style myself :)

[@georgesoong4149]

This is also what I have been discovering. I think dancing various styles, including even stage performance escenario. These I would consider as “inspiration of expression”. But what can be done really depends on the connection, and whether I can feel how the music influences my parter (too bad most followers do not reflect there feel for the music here). At one marathon, I danced with someone which I felt in the beginning we were not matched up, so I calmed down and try to feel what she was trying to express, the result was she send me thanks after she returned to Singapore. One other experience was what I danced with a friend’s partner, she had seen videos of a private stage lesson I took which I posted on FB with the permission from the teacher, and was expecting me to do a lift, I misses that intention to mount at first, but when I saw enough space to do the move, I did it to her satisfaction🤣. But I also discovered acting as a follower in classes, guys really appreciate it when I add a little something in the moves, I enjoy it to, for this is one way that we know we are dancing with a live person and not a doll😂.

[@imsotango]

Ah yes! Escenario is a whole other world that I know very little about. But that's so good that you can find inspiration in so many places!

[@georgesoong4149]

@ Twice, I had been asked to perform at last moment. The first time my partner wanted some lifts and fancy stuff, but she was too stiff for such, so we did not do it, but had some fun with some ganchos. They chose Liber Tango. Not many followers here can reflect the energy and dynamics in the music. The second time was more like a “blind date”🤣🤣🤣, I felt like I was dancing with a barbell😂.

[@ToshiTakeuchi]

I actually think fancy figures like sacadas or enrosques were invented out of necessity to manage crowded space in Buenos Aires, because you have to do a lot of circular motions in such situations, and the tighter the turns you make less space you need. Sacadas and enrosques are perfect for tight turns. Single-axis turns also work. I also heard lapiz was invented in order to sweep the floor to clear the path for the follower.

[@imsotango]

can't quite imagine those moves in close embrace!

[@ToshiTakeuchi]

@@imsotango to do those moves in close embrace requires a few adjustments. 1 create more foot space by adjusting the pelvis. 2. The connection of the upper body comes from the back rather than the chest so that we can use the circularity of the embrace. 3. Make the move small. It should mostly come from the weight shift. You only need to open up to make the move big for visual effects. 4. Use it tight turns for navigation, not to show off.

[@ToshiTakeuchi]

I care more about the physical heath than styles - we need to respect the biomechanics of our body and make our moves healthy and comfortable. Apilado, for me, is completely out of question. I prefer doing most of the moves in close embrace and you can actually do a lot of salon moves in close embrace with proper biomechanics-informed techniques.

[@imsotango]

I hear you! Ultimately, it's about longevity. The movement has to make sense functionally. Tango is already so asymmetrical!

[@sherylmccrary9045]

And of course there's Paola and el Chino doing master-level, milonguero social tango. Yeah it looks like shuffling around but it can feel like heaven. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2mTqJmhndiWf6ssi=TvMZOY2-hokqjEoH

[@imsotango]

yes! exactly haha. I've watched that performance so many times! He is an amazing dancer but it took me YEARS to appreciate his genius.

[@sherylmccrary9045]

I enjoyed watching the examples you link to in the description! Here's one of my favorite milonguero style presentations, mainly sustained close embrace, opening up occasionally for a giro. Superb, beautiful tango walking. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKardqapiqxoecksi=oguQwU25cnz9HTuH

[@imsotango]

Ah! I JUST discovered this couple recently and I do like this particular performance better than what I saw originally. Beautiful quality of movement, but I wouldn't call it milonguero style, I would say it's more salon with sections of close embrace/milonguero technique infused throughout. Which is really beautiful to watch, I love the contrast they are able to create through that. What makes it definitively salon is the lapiz /enrosque sequence at the end - that move just doesn't exist in milonguero. But what I was saying about being able to blend different techniques to create your own flavor - that's what they are doing and it's really fun to watch.

[@Blauvogel123]

dancewise I realy, realy like both styles. But what I really dislike is the social aspects that come with the traditional encuentro world. If milonguero style is the most beautiful one, it should not need to force dancers into it by an extra tight dancefloor. It should not need all these rules as things like not bumping into other couples are common sense. In their world respectfullness is achived by rules. And by carefully selecting who they want in the clique. More so by selecting who they don't want. I recently got kicked out because it was asumed, I didn't like it. Without talking beforehand. This is not respectfull and I don't think this would happen in the less traditional world.

[@imsotango]

wow! Thank you so much for sharing! This is very insightful because I haven't been to an encuentro so don't know what it's like. That's so interesting how different forms of etiquette and rules end up stifling our creativity when they are supposed to be there to protect/support it. I would love to learn more about your experience if you want to connect more.