Manchester Pop-Up milonga 5 at The Whisky Jar

On Sunday 16th October, the day after the milonga in Pant, I went to the Manchester popup milonga run not, as I thought just by John Tan and Stephanie but also by Paris and Helen as a team of four. It ran from 1300-1800. I love a milonga of five or six hours duration. The times meant people could travel quite far and still get home on a Sunday night.

Accommodation

Wonderfully, this milonga says it will try to host you if you need to stay over. I usually stay with my brother now local after relocating with the BBC, but couldn’t this time. The post said don’t be shy but I wasn’t that brave. Besides I was staying four nights and made other arrangements.

Location
The milonga is very central in the basement of The Whisky Jar. It is in the trendy Northern quarter which my brother described as “hip and bohemian”. On the way, I got a bit lost down some back alleys and came across this:

  

It presaged the afternoon well.  What I felt about that milonga was a bit like the feelings I had from that graffiti:  surprising, a bit glam, a bit underground, creative, exotic, unusual.

The bar upstairs is spacious, the decor is brick and wood with leather sofas. 

At the foot of the basement stairs are closed black doors. It felt like entering a sort of cave. I thought it quite magical.  Before I went someone said they had heard it described as ‘enchanting’ and it was.

Fairy lights were everywhere. Orchids decorated the bar. The glassware gleamed, strawberries glistened. There were bowls of picture clips for your drinks, beautiful fans, little baskets of chocolates and I think chewing gum. If it was I would have swapped it for mints because I don’t dance with people chewing gum and don’t like to see it in the milonga. Really, though there was just such attention to detail.

Welcome and hosting
The welcome from Stephanie and Helen on the door was quite lovely and included a glass of prosecco with strawberries.

There is an adjoining room at the far end for coats/changing shoes etc, which I am pleased to find increasingly standard in most of the milongas I visit.  I was early and put down my drink on a table while I went to change my shoes. I was surprised though when evidently one of three or four people at that table had swiped my drink - so drink up then get ready! 

Perfect hosts, Helen and Stephanie greeted and said goodbye to everyone. The guys said hello too. I danced with Paris soon after I arrived. Entrada was very reasonable at £8. I know from my own experience and from talking to hosts that most of them especially those who run occasional milongas with visiting DJs who charge can struggle to cover costs.

All the hosts danced which is good because they can feel what sound and dance conditions are really like. The floor is small and towards the end I saw Paris and Helen dancing beautifully in the difficult conditions, he using his body to protect her, both taking small steps, using little space. 

Sometimes I took time out to watch, removed a bit from the bar. On these occasions both Stephanie and Helen asked if I was OK.

A day or two later I received a message to say thank you for travelling. I had come to Manchester for various reasons but the timing was because of the popup. It reminded me of a story from decades ago that my parents had told me about a wealthy, charming man with lovely manners who had invited them to a party and then he had written to his guests to thank them for coming.

Lighting

Paris apologised to me on arrival and later on to all for the dim lighting caused by an electrical failure. This was when he made an announcement for the host of another milonga who was there about the new, permanent change of venue for their Wednesday night milonga (has classes beforehand).

Venue and seating

As you enter, to your right is a long bar with stools. The bar is not staffed but there is the bar upstairs and it is nice to go up for a breather now and then. There is a corner seating area and low table which would fit maybe eight people. There was a long bench on the opposite side of the floor, parallel with the bar but if you sit there your feet and legs are right on the edge of the line of dance. When I sat there, it was cross-legged.

The temperature became warm but there were lots of fans. It was not unpleasantly warm for me but had I liked the music more and danced more, I suspect it might have been.

The loos weren’t as in Buenos Aires (what could be?!) but just as there, the locks on two out of the three loos were broken, so - as as is de rigeur in the ladies in Buenos Aires - one is extra-circumspect about closed doors.

Floor 
...was OK for me, better than I'd expected from seeing photos. One or two people described the floor layout as it had been previously, where people had danced out to the bar. Crates in place now prevent this so the floor is rectangular. There was a packed outer circle to the ronda and an often much freer inside space. John must think if the space is there, use it because I often found him there, giving the lie to the idea that only poor dancers dance in the middle.

Music 
The music was by DJ Benedicte Beauloye, aka Bomboncita. It was not what I personally prefer. I heard two great tracks of a D’Arienzo tanda as I arrived near the start - type El internado (1938). Then there was Di Sarli sextet but of the type DJ Solveig played in May, and that sort of choice I unfortunately heard several times that bank holiday weekend. In the first part of the afternoon I recall some Guardia vieja but not endlessly. I remember much later there was great Biagi tanda but there were lots of "specials" for me that I have never heard. There was probably a whole Garcia tanda I don’t think I knew.  I remember a Laurenz tango tanda composed of what I think of as second rate Laurenz - Yo quiero cantar un tango and Como un hornero - not awful but not the best for me; Laurenz to get through more than to dance. There was rhythmic music for a while. Eg. milonga, then rhythmic instrumentals (good Troilo I think) and other strong and rhythmic tracks also adjacent which I thought at that point too much of one thing, especially given how busy it was.

Generally I found the vals good although there were some that were very unusual. One, Amante soñador by Orquesat tipica porteña (1930) of these was clapped which rather astonished me. I thought it more bland than sweet but perhaps it will grow on me. Admittedly the sound quality was better than this but I couldn’t help thinking I would almost rather have heard the waltz from Aram Khachaturian’s 1944 Masquerade Suite that turned up on the radio on the journey south. Certainly for listening I would rather have heard that What a magical waltz though to play for children in the run-up to Christmas.

Later there was a slide into more dramatic music. I suppose you could say there was “something for everyone” if you were to try to cover all corners of the kind of tango music you might hear rather than trying to please a majority most of the time. Still, the floor was usually busy. The penultimate track was Dizzy Gillespie's Vida Mia (1956) which I find later he did with Fresedo. I watched a full floor and - surprised - found myself enjoying it. Gillespie, wholly steals the piece. Musically, it felt like a reprisal just as the tango era was giving way to something else, the soaring trumpet like a glorious farewell.  It got rapturous applause.

Invitation
...I found not the easiest because:

- there were a lot of people I didn’t know and knowing people is the main thing I find that increases one’s likelihood of dancing. As in most places, I suspect the thing here is simply knowing people. 

- invitation happened mostly all down the bar and at the seating area. This means that options for inviting women were either at close quarters - too close for me, really - or that you had to look down the bar. Even at 6’ I couldn't see down to the end of the bar because of the crush of people. 

- being so busy, it became more natural to invite in conversation. I prefer not to invite this way but like many I don't want to be ridiculous about things and it depends on the conditions too.  

I also invited successfully:

- from the bench or the bar across the floor width-ways.  All the same, I could see and was told by people there that invitation at the bench was hard that day because of the lighting. 

- down the length of the room - but only after moving on to the edge of the floor so I could see. 

So I invited all these ways but if you need or prefer certain conditions for invitation, you may find this venue difficult. If I didn’t get the girl I wanted to dance with I did not then usually try for another because apart from anything else that would invariably mean re-positioning oneself which was difficult in those conditions and would contribute to an unpleasant scrum if everyone did it. 

Ronda 

People arrived throughout the afternoon, which tells you firstly there is no point in a DJ playing an “arc” of music following the supposed arc of the afternoon - a DJ who simply plays a varied selection will suit those coming and going rather than playing for the few who stay the whole time who might well not notice anyway. 

The floor became very busy. If you are a dancer very skilled in the ronda with a great partner whom you know and you know the people around you maybe it's fine. But if you are not particularly skilled dancing in a tight ronda, and you are dancing with an average partner whom you don't know and you don't know the people around it might be very difficult. The problems came as usual I find, with guys who are or who pretend to be oblivious to others. Most people made an effort and were careful so it was probably better than the Edinburgh festivalito ronda. Still there was the escort of another organiser who had a thing about dancing very slowly. The empty space in front of him lengthened and lengthened. Oddly, he faced me against the ronda and stayed there but did not or would not acknowledge me. I couldn't move. He couldn't move towards me and he couldn't step backwards because he didn't know what was there so he had multiple “moments” with his partner while the ronda ground to a halt behind me. His arm was permanently stuck out awkwardly, poking people.  Another tall, very experienced dancer deliberately stuck his arm out in that tight space, claiming more space than was his fair share, though I rather think what one supposes that is depends on the size of one's ego and sense of entitlement.  My arm was tucked right in but ours still collided. A new dancer in front of me did a little to and fro jig on the spot while not using the empty space in front of him. My partner and I stopped dancing to watch that mini show until he decided to move on. There was a psychotic guy who was maniacal enough with good women dancers and terrifying when he danced with a diva in heels, alarming the dancers and those on the long bench. I saw, disbelieving, one guy dancing in socks in those conditions.  A partner of mine was grazed, just avoiding a major slicing and I am surprised there was no medical emergency that day.   

It didn’t help that the music was pumping on that packed floor, whereas I feel on a very busy floor with much variety in dance experience a DJ needs to be very careful with rhythmic music and intersperse those tandas with steadier De Angelis, D’Agostino, (I’m not sure I heard either of those in tango) good Canaro , OTV, Fresedo (I recall none of the latter) and music of this sort else the floor just gets too hyped.  I believe there is a strong link between poor floorcraft and the music DJs play. So between all these things I found it quite stressful and I don't want to dance with (especially new) partners in those conditions. If I go back it will be with the intention of dancing early.

On the other hand because it is so intimate it is very easy to chat. It is a great place to meet people from the area and beyond.

Dancing

The only other guy I danced with was someone I know.  I saw several good guy dancers but noticed no invitation from these.  I wasn’t really looking.  Women were in excess and there were many with whom I wanted to dance and who wanted to dance with me. After the floor got busy though each time we parted, in our looks and few spoken words I felt mutually conveyed the hope that we would dance better if we have the chance in easier conditions. I danced enough for those conditions, probably more than enough. I noticed a woman dancer great in both roles danced relatively little too.

What they said

I think everyone agrees the welcome is lovely. You are acknowledged and feel cared for. That is passed on among the dancers and is just one of many reasons why the welcome is so important. The feeling there was mostly warm for me.

Some like me, commented on the effort that had gone in to the decor. 

Some people said the lighting was quite dim even on occasions when the lights are restored. 

Some women I think didn’t feel danced but that is a common theme in milongas, especially trendy ones that attract young and pretty women. 

Someone said for a while they didn’t recognise any tracks at all. 

The main issue I heard repeated was about the ronda but many people liked or were curious enough about that milonga to go and to dance.

This milonga won’t be for everyone, especially those who like tables, seats, space and the formality that often accompanies that arrangement in British milongas  - and a different sort of formality that accompanies it in Buenos Aires. The popup is a different vibe.  Rather it is for those curious about different DJs, who enjoy the welcome and the aesthetic and who can manage or tolerate the ronda. And for someone - especially new people - who just wants to spend an afternoon meeting dancers and watching them dance it is ideal. It is especially good for solo dancers and if it is not clear why that is more about that maybe another time.  

Going there reminded me a little of visiting The Flying Duck vegan bar/diner in Glasgow, somewhere a bit surreal, a different world to the regular one.



 I loved that feeling: as though you are entering another world, a semi-secret sub-culture. Because who would have thought that on a Sunday afternoon in the basement of a bar beneath the streets of Manchester a group of seventy-odd men and women of all ages were packed into an atmospheric room, dancing.