Tuinhuis milonga, Utrecht

All photos by Ojo Oscuro, with thanks

DJ Astrid

  

I had heard nice things from locals and travellers about the Tuinhuis milonga and I already wanted to go. (see http://www.tangokalender.nl for future dates). It is in Utrecht about thirty minutes south east of Amserdam . This was before I realised the milonga is run by Laura whom I had met when she came to dance at the Glasgow Saturday afternoon practica a few years ago. She sang tango songs for us over thick hot chocolate in the cafe afterwards then several of us had dinner together. I was just starting to dance the other role and meeting and dancing with Laura inspired me. She was warm, strong, gentle and confident and has danced both roles for years. I had seen her a only a couple of times since then but she had brought gifts for my children when we met on another flying visit to Glasgow. When she heard I was coming she invited me to stay.

It was October now and the first day of my second weekend this year to the Netherlands.  I had enjoyed September so much.  At least four of us went through the communal garden to the room belonging to the housing project to set up the milonga.  It did not take long.  Later, people brought food and drink to contribute. The DJ was local, Astrid. There was a mixture of alternative and trad music. I think the tandas alternated between the two. I don’t have many notes about the music so I must have danced most of the traditional tandas.  

Laura and Henk sang songs including Caseron de tejas:

The atmosphere here was warm, happy and relaxed.  I think this is what this milonga is known for.  There was a great variety of dance, different styles and experience but my first impression was that it all somehow seemed to work. 

If you need a very traditional format, formality, codes then this will not be for you and the organisers make no pretensions to be or to offer this. They are offering something different. But I really enjoyed this milonga. I'm not sure there were any tables. Some people stood especially around the kitchen area but it wasn't a big deal and as I have said before that makes for easy socialising which can be a godsend if you are alone and don't know anyone. I travel alone a lot and know from experience if a milonga does not have good seating options for solo dancers  then I would rather it had a good area for socialising where I can meet and chat with people.  The only place where I have seen good seating for solo dancers is the way it's done in trad milongas in Buenos Aires where the host seats you with others but inexplicably I have not heard of a single busy milonga in Europe that does this.  I wish they would! 

I danced first with people I knew from milongas in Rotterdam (review) and Amersfoort (review), proving that the more you are known in a place, the more you’ll probably dance. 

The time seemed to pass so quickly. I did not have time to dance with any women or with the guys I hadn’t had enough time to watch. I had just got to the point (after three hours) of thinking about one or two guys “Actually, yes” (had they still been interested) and starting to wonder about the invitation/acceptance ritual when suddenly the milonga was over.

My best guy dance of two days later (in Oosterpark) had been there it turned out, but I didn’t know that then. I would travel to Antwerp and back before I met him.  It’s so great to be in a room of dancers where you are both 6’ (183cm) tall and more and neither of you notices the other!