Uncovering the World of Argentine Tango
I ventured out a Saturday evening on Jan. 14 to downtown Los Angeles for the first Los Angeles Tango Marathon. The organizers billed the event as 40 hours of tango dancing during the course of three nights and two days at the Alexandria Hotel, built in 1906 and where the stars in the heyday of [...]
After a more than month-long hiatus from dancing tango in Los Angeles, I broke back into the scene Wednesday night at Milonga El Floridita. What a nice reentry it was, with a live performance from Maria Volonte, who sings in a wonderfully beautiful voice. It was such a treat and for only $10! She’s an [...]
An out-of-town visitor, from San Francisco, had first noted to me the “unusual” music that was being played this evening. He questioned if this was normal for this milonga. I had no idea what he was talking about first, and told him the music is always wonderful at El Encuentro…
Ruta wrote that they do plan to come back after the work is done, but in fickle L.A., it is not known if dancers will return. Hopefully they will, and they can continue with this classy, friendly milonga.
This is the second year of the SMITH (Santa Monica International Tango Holiday; the name gives its a nice European ring, rather than calling it a festival), and last year’s attendees, some of who were not going to go this year but decided to take another chance, say things have improved greatly. I cannot attest [...]
It’s a fantastic space, nice dance floor, and there’s a stage for performances, of which milonga organizer Linda Valentino has had a few, with local and visiting tango orchestras.
That’s it: it’s an expression of inward intimacy, whereby salsa is an expression of outward energy.
This was a place for tango dancers, who want nothing else but to have a place for great music, a decent floor and people of all skills with whom to dance.