Glasgow Round up 3: Midnight milonga: July

This was the second edition of the Glasgow Tango Collective's new venture that I had quit on a few weeks previously.  After my first impressions of the atmosphere, dancing, lighting and music I hadn’t planned to go back to the midnight milonga. But I was in Glasgow for other reasons and decided to make a day of it. Actually, the milonga turned out be nice for me.  

I had supper with friends and by the time we arrived around 2020 I could only stay for a couple of hours as I had to catch a train.  Though I had been driving last time this is a good example of why I said previously there is little advantage in a midnight milonga for those coming from out of town.  Given the paucity of milongas in Glasgow and the number of experienced dancers who do not come out to various events for reasons best known to themselves, the idea might be rather how to attract people in than give them reasons to stay away or quit early. 

Tables and Seating:  This time the dance floor was reduced in size and things considerably improved by the addition of tables with cloths - though still insufficient. Lighting was the same but since the seating was closer it was slightly easier to invite by look. A friend complained about the venue as a "grey box".  I knew he was out of sorts but he had a point.  Since a great floor is important to me, if the price for it was a rather soulless grey box lacking atmosphere, I thought it might be worth paying.

Attendance: It was again well attended so I was surprised host Vanessa looked glum, until the three active DJs currently - according to the ETS calendar - rotating regularly in Edinburgh's Counting House venue arrived.  The ETS DJs attending the Glasgow milonga were: Antonella Cosi, her partner Tom and the newish DJ Mike Quickfall.  The fourth occasional Edinburgh DJ, their  friend Alastair was not there. 

Music: was by DJ Iain Dickinson. He kindly shared his set (see below).  During the two hours I was there I danced a lot.  There was cracking D'Arienzo as I arrived - the kind of music you hurry to change your shoes for.

Dancing/ronda:  Though the ronda was mostly OK there were a lot of dancers I have heard described as “tombstones”.  Then a newish guy dancing in the middle was about to cut in in front of me. I have tended to put up with this but uncharacteristically found myself closing the gap fast, forcing him back to the middle. I am sure it looked aggressive and felt guilty for it but I am not even sure he realised. 

I got up to the Troilo-Marino and within seconds had regretted it. This isn't the first time this has happened with Troilo-Marino.  I like it as music and it lulls me into thinking it is good for dancing but I do not believe it is.  This is why you hear Fiorentino played by the most well known DJs far more in the traditional milongas with the older more experienced dancers in Buenos Aires.  It is though played for the younger crowd by others there.   I had invited my partner who was new, trusting and lovely and I simply could not bring myself to apologise to and ask if we could pick up a different tanda.  I hope she forgives me for the poor dancing.

I could feel the friend I was dancing the milonga tandas with was frustrated by the ronda and we never really got going. I felt rather the same about the evening in general.  I had already danced that afternoon and figured being unused these days to so much dancing I was just tired.

I found this time many more women I would have liked to dance with and a couple of guys but I had run out of time. With works on the line the last train was around half past ten and still it took two hours to get home, double the usual time.  I left at 2215 with regrets that I could not stay longer.

DJ Iain's set:

De Caro 

Copacabana 1927

Flores negras 1927

Mal de amores 1928

Recuerdo 1926

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta (edited)

Donato
La tablada 1936
El acomodo 1933
Tierrita 1934
El Chamuyo 1938

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

Lomuto/Omar (vals)

Damisela Encantadora 1936
Idolatría  1937
Salud, Dinero y Amor1939

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

D'Arienzo/EchagüePensalo bien 1938
No Mientas 1938
Ansiedad 1938
Nada más 1938

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

Troilo-Marino
Torrente 1944
Sin palabras 1946
Cristal 1944
Sombras nada más 1944

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

Canaro/Maida (milonga)
Milonga criolla 1936
Silueta porteña 1936
Larga Las Penas 1935

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

Di Sarli/Rufino

Tristeza marina 1943
Griseta 1941
Canta, pajarito 1943
Cascabelito 1941

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

Caló

Inspiración 1943
La maleva 1943
Saludos 1944
Sans Souci 1944

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

Laurenz (vals)

Paisaje (with Podestá) 1943
Mascarita (Juan Carlos Casas) 1940
Mendocina (Carlos Bermúdez & Jorge Linares) 1944

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

D'Arienzo

Canaro En Paris 1950
Yapeyu 1951
El Simpatico 1951
El Puntazo 1952

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

Troilo

Cordón de oro 1941
C.T.V. 1942
Guapeando 1941
Milongueando en el cuarenta 1941

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

D'Agostino/Vargas (milonga)
Entre Copa Y Copa 1942
Así Me Gusta A Mí 1942
El Porteñito 1943

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

Tanturi/Campos

Oigo tu voz 1943
Muchachos, comienza la ronda 1943
Recién 1944
Una Emoción 1943

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

Biagi/Amor

Y dicen que no te quiero 1947
Lucienne 1946
Marol 1946
Hoy te quiero mucho mas 1945

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

Rodriguez (vals)

Tengo Mil Novias (with Flores) 1939
Fru Fru ((with Flores) 1939

Isabelita (with Moreno) 1940

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

Pugliese/Chanel
Silbar de boyero 1944
Fuimos  1946
Rondando tu esquina 1945
Farol 1943

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

Salamanca/Guerrico

Bomboncito 1957
Adiós Corazón 1957
Yo Tengo Un Pecado Nuevo 1957
Todo Es Amor 1957

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

D'Arienzo/Echagüe (milonga)

Milonga Querida 1938
Milonga del Corazon 1938
La Cicatriz 1939

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

D'Agostino

Cafe Dominguez (recita Julián Centeya) 1955
La sonámbula  1954
El cocherito (with Rubén Cané) 1953
Carnaval de Mi Barrio (with Rubén Cané) 1954

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

Di Sarli/Florio

Derrotado 1956
Y todavía te quiero 1956
Fumando espero 1956
Destino De Flor 1957

Cortina: Kendrick Lamar King Kunta

De Angelis Mi Dolor 1957
A Media Luz 1956
La cumparsita 1961

Midnight Moses - The Sensational Alex Harvey Band 1972

Glasgow Round up 2: New Glasgow milonga

This milonga by the Glasgow Tango Collective started in June and is called the Saturday midnight milonga. Apparently the reason for moving from the Crypt was to extend the milonga hours. We used to have to be out of there by 2230 and the caretaker was very strict about it. The lights would be turned off and people could be chased out in the dark with shoes still unlaced.

Edinburgh and Glasgow dancers never used to go to each other's events. Glasgow was largely ignored by Edinburgh dancers - and still is, though less so. Glaswegians viewed the Edinburgh scene darkly with the idea that it was as unfriendly as that city’s reputation can be from a Glasgwegian point of view. Only one or two dancers went through regularly.  Although I used to dance often at Edinburgh's Counting House venue it has not always enjoyed the best reputation for being a warm and welcoming environment.  It depends what happens to you when you visit which varies of course, for many reasons. From the start I danced in both cities, living equidistant between them. Dancers in Scotland strike me as particularly insular compared to other places. They stick largely to very local scenes - which is good I suppose if there are a lot of milongas attracting people from outside - but there are not.

Edinburgh Tango Society representation was evident in the new Glasgow milonga through the DJ workshop prior to the event run by Antonella Cosi.  She was also the DJ for the night.

Part of the general patter of discouragement by ETS to more than one friend interested in running new milongas in Edinburgh was: if a milonga didn’t run until midnight it wasn’t going to work.  It had to say, start at 2000 and go on til midnight.  Odd, when ETS's own milongas are 1900-2300.  It struck me more like seeing off competition. If the idea is to make this new milonga a “Glasgow only” event, then it’s on the right track because anyone travelling in from outside is likely to prefer a milonga that ends at say 2300 not midnight and like me, seldom finds a three hour milonga from 2000-2300 worth the trip.

The venue is the Renfield centre, 260 Bath Street, very near the Glasgow Centre for Contemporary Arts - another Glasgow milonga venue. On the night there were some helpers outside to direct people to the unfamiliar venue which was a good idea.

Inside the salon my first three impressions were: dark, good floor, rules.

Entrance:  There was a lovely welcome. It was a smart move to have Ron on the door. As when Juana was on the door in Cambridge Ron is warm, friendly and welcoming - the ideal person. Entrada was £7. I recall no concessions which reminded me that the organisers of this milonga once asked for discounted entry for a milonga including supper and cake costing £6.

 There was an odd printout on the door. It was by endretango and might have been this  or this.  I thought there some irony in using a milonga to tell people what to do with a piece about...not telling people what to do.

Refreshments were included as is usual in many UK milongas: water, popcorn, crisps, chocolate dipped fruit, brownies etc.

Seating and tables: There were chairs on three sides. The DJ occupied the fourth side in very prominent position surrounded by fairy lights demonstrating "the importance of the DJ". There were no tables except the one behind my seat.

Lighting and invitation:  Despite that the photo shows it as bright, it felt darker and was too dark to invite easily. I tried to invite a woman I know at the far end of the large room but it was too dark and she was too far away to see me.  Since there were few at that end, in those circumstances it would have been too overt and indiscreet to go and sit opposite her even if I had been up for seat-hopping.  You can see in the photo a guy at the end standing in front of the DJ table who does seem to have moved to invite. I prefer to avoid that kind of exposed position. There was much chat and invitation around the food area of type “hello - how are you - let's dance?”. It reminded me of Cambridge on another occasion where people had done something similar to get round the problematic seating/lighting conditions.

The floor was truly excellent - a great pleasure.

Numbers, dancing, atmosphere:

The ronda looked haphazard but was OK when I was in it. There was nothing extravagant in the dancing. It was mostly the standard class-derived dancing of most local milongas with a few good dancers. The women were better than men by the usual 80-20 rule. I danced with a woman friend and a woman I didn't know who was lovely. But on that night I didn’t feel comfortable in that crowd which was centered around the Kinning Park  group plus local dancers and a few from Aberdeen who had also done the milonga in Stirling the night before. There were about sixty dancers by the time I left after ninety minutes having told myself for at least thirty of those that it was past time to go.   It was the atmosphere, the darkness and the music that did for me in the end.

Music:  My notes tell me there was rhythmic Canaro when I arrived and Yo Nací Para Querer.

There was Soy muchacho de la Guardia which in memory was the Demare/Arrieta version, not the Troilo. I am more flexible than some in my tolerance of music further from mainstream in this orchestra. If I find some of it too soft for dancing I often enjoy it for listening even in the milonga, whereas with Francini-Pontier and Maderna I generally can’t help but feel: Fine but can we just get to the music for dancing? Demare has to be pretty terrible for me not to enjoy it in some way.  My next note for this tanda says there was another problematica tango which I could’ve sworn has the lyrics “un tango más” on repeat. The tango is dully soporific but jerks me awake with that irritating refrain. Perhaps that’s why I seem to have misremembered the lyrics because I cannot after much research and listening find it. Though it still seems so real I suspect it was Un tango guapo which feels and sounds familiar.  It is similarly weak, also with singer Arrieta. I don’t think I’ve come across any Demare that is worse. Poor Arrieta’s voice sounds nothing like as fashionable to us as the incomparable Berón.  Arrieta features in the kind of track publicised by DJ Xenia again, a clue in itself.

There was good D'Arienzo, but I think only three.

There was good milonga.

There was D'Agostino - the wonderful well known tracks Tres Esquinas,  Adiós, arrabal  and something less well known.

There was terrible Canaro but I’ve mentioned this before here, also here and more generally  in the Counting House in Edinburgh

There were good Biagi vals.

There was Caló/Berón, somewhat mismatched I thought: There was Tarareando which I find stodgy and contrived with its tinkles and staccato and not the best for dancing but fine for listening.  Placed first in a tanda it’s skippable. Then there was the lovely yearning track Trasnochando  and the more upbeat, forthright Cuatro compases  (but played twice) whereupon I decided to leave.

As I was changing my shoes I heard from outsde the salon famously good Troilo: En esta tarde gris, but did not waver in my decision to go.

Glasgow Round up: 1: The Last Crypt milonga

To its great detriment I feel Edinburgh doesn’t have a weekly Friday or Saturday night milonga.   It means  it cannot attract weekend visitors for dancing. Powers in the Edinburgh Tango Society have to my knowledge discouraged  such events outside their auspices worried presumably it would detract from its own Sunday night event or last year's new non-ETS monthly Saturday night milonga - but owned by current ETS headmen.

So one Saturday in May I planned to check out swing dancing in the city. I've been to a (very) few of the socials in the last couple of years and done a (very) few classes in swing and balboa but the problems with that are much the same as with tango dance class.  I doubt I'd do a group class in swing again for similar reasons that I tend to avoid those in tango.  I much prefer the socials.  I like the music and the light hearted atmosphere and go just to watch. Still, I have danced nearly every time I've been though, as in the milonga, the best, experienced dancers tend to like to dance with other good, experienced dancers.  The novice listens, watches and looks for an invitation from someone halfway decent. As in the milonga people watch to see if you can dance and invite often by look.  But the music and culture is different, the dance less intimate and people are correspondingly perhaps more upbeat and less wary than in the milonga where the tone of the music is famously about loss, tragedy and regret.  I was all set to go to the swing dance when a Scottish friend who lives in Paris got in touch the day before to ask if I was going to The Crypt milonga in Glasgow. 

John had taken over this milonga from Bryan but I hadn't been going because I remember much alternative music from a milonga he used to run at the lovely but very large venue at Maryhill, in Glasgow.  I learned recently that Maryill Burgh Halls was in fact renovated by Hunter, an architect and local dancer who has interesting stories about the housing in which people used to live in Glasgow in decades past.

My friend from Paris is a lovely dancer in both roles. I decided to change my plans and we agreed to meet at the Crypt.

That afternoon then I went to the Glasgow afternoon practica.  I go for the chat there and in Smile Cafe that some of us often go to afterwards and to dance mostly with Bryan and sometimes some of the women or new dancers.  But I haven't been going much this year.  There are no cortinas for one thing and I often struggle with the music.  Then I wanted some time by myself and went here for dinner:

It is nearby the practica and the Crypt, affordable, quiet, the food is nice and their waiting staff have always been pleasant. It is bring your own bottle but in the past I’ve had nice wine at Stravaigin across the road.

The milonga is on the ground floor of Wellington Church designed by Thomas Lennox Watson not Alexander “Greek” Thomson as most of us supposed.

It is a beautiful if austere building - but it was spring.

It overlooks the Hunterian museum and the variously striking buildings of the University of Glasgow:

One of the difficulties of the Crypt had been that visitors were never going to hear the music and wander in. You always had to ring for entry which made things tricky for the host/DJ, especially if they were dancing  and did not have someone to manage the door.

The floor was like this. Quite hard but OK:

There was an honesty box. Entry was £5/£3. There were tables and chairs. The tables are large and if alone you share them with others. I was just about able to keep my seat. There were simple refreshments as usual, chocolatey snacks, popcorn, crisps, biscuits, cheese and grapes, juice and water.

During the Fresedo, pre-video. You can see the speaker above the floor.

Lighting and invitation

The main problem for me was that the Crypt was dark, darker than usual especially as the evening closed in - you can see the progressive darkness in the photos below. It was certainly darker than when Bryan was doing it, as he had brought extra lights and even then it was still far from bright. The other issue was that there was a large projection of show dancer video on one wall. I could ignore it except for when it made me giddy (in the other role). I can understand this more in an alternative or nueveo milonga but the music and dancing was traditional.

I had walk-up invitations from two guys. This has become much rarer in the Crypt, rarer for me at any rate, but I think in Glasgow generally since I started dancing here three or four years ago. The guys had to invite from close by because of the darkness and I guess they wanted to make sure I had seen them. I felt them closing in but was in the middle of invitation /acceptance by look with others and apologised as I moved past them to dance with my intended partners.

During the D’Arienzo

Music

The music felt a bit unbalanced. There were three? Rodriguez tandas - but I like Rodriguez and have danced to at least as much Rodriguez at La Catedral one night in Buenos Aires. There were some misses, especially the D'Arienzo (how possible?!) and late Fresedo but overall the set was better than I'd expected with much of the kind of music I like for dancing and nothing alternative or non-tango. Some of the music as I recall was:
- Canaro
- big Fresedo miss with Héctor Pacheco E.g. Solo de bandoneó and Fugitiva
- Di Sarli hit
- Milonga
-  D’Arienzo/Bustos e.g. Papá which I don't mind - until Bustos arrives and then I lose interest for dancing. Then there was Mandría with Bustos and I feel the same. Besides, though the instrumental section is good, the '39 version with Echagüe I think incomparably better for dancing. 

- Rodriguez hit
- Pugliese Puente Alsina which I think was with Vidal, 1949. Like the Bustos I don't think is good dance music. There was the instrumental La Yumba 1952, Fuimos with Chanel, 1946; Pasional with Morán 1951
- Di Sarli again
- Rodriguez
- Milonga tanda
- Tanda of Caló hits. 

I know there was vals but I have not noted it.  I have a note that there was no Troilo, Tanturi, Donato, De Angelis or D’Agostino.

This makes the music sounds worse than it was but I danced a lot and to good music so I may not have noted it all nor necessarily in order. 

During the Pugliese

Dancing

Besides the usual Glasgow contingent there were several there from Edinburgh and it was busy. There was a very small group of nuevo style dancers from elsewhere in Scotland - I'd better not say where as I've been clearly warned off.  They seemed to stick together. Of these, one young couple dominated the floor at the start with big moves but at least the floor was mostly clear then. Everyone else danced small with the traditional embraces and movements of social dancing. It was nice.

I danced in both roles in heels and flats with my friend who is taller than me and glorious to dance with.  He said he knows lots of guys who dance well in both roles.  This surprised me.  Were I to dance with most guys in the UK I would struggle to find them not a torment in just one role. Happily there are notable exceptions. But my friend dances a lot in the queer tango community.  I have long thought that guys who can or who have danced both roles are in general much better dancers than guys who don't - particularly in the (traditional) men's part so in search of these I am now curious about the queer tango community abroad.

That was the last Crypt milonga. The Glasgow Tango Collective has set up a new milonga in a different venue: 

The group’s Facebook description (August 2016)

Milonga del corazon, Kinning Park complex, Glasgow

0008 AM

Originally published 20.3.16

Hosts:  Vanessa Leamy and Naomi Head; DJ Antonella Cosi (Edinburgh).  Performance:  Damian Thompson and Mariana Ancarola. £10 entrada including snacks. Saturday 6 February, 2016 2030-0100

This milonga is not currently a regular fixture.  It was organised by the hosts as the social dancing for a weekend of workshops given by the performers. The venue is in a suburb of Glasgow.

I hadn't intended to go.  I had danced some that afternoon at the Glasgow practica and gone on to a wine tasting, planning to go home afterwards.  But after several glasses of gewürztraminer I found myself in the car of friends en route to the milonga.   I was glad to be  accompanied because although the venue is conveniently opposite Kinning Park subway station the entrance was round the back of a building and alone I doubt I would ever have found it.  Someone said the area is rough and that you wouldn't want to walk around on your own.

We arrived probably towards 2200.  I had planned to stay for an hour or so then get a train but after perhaps a couple of tandas there were performances (shows/adverts for classes) of four tracks cutting down the time for social dancing.  Luckily, another friend said I could stay over.

There was a table of snacks -  quiche I think, cold empanadas and other things.  I wasn't hungry but thought the arrival of hot bacon butties later on a very British twist on the idea of hot Argentinian empanadas.  Indeed they vanished quickly.  There was always plenty of water.

There were several announcements - one for various thanks and introductions of the performers, one announcing bacon rolls, one asking whether anyone wanted more bacon rolls,  one to announce the last 5 tangos.  

The best thing about this venue was the smooth, newly sprung wooden floor.  It is quite a long room for invitation by look from one end to the other.  I wasn’t paying attention to how others were inviting.  Given the way the tables were arranged I just assumed that it was by look which I find the norm at milongas I attend.  Glasgow dancers certainly seem to have gone that way at the Crypt milongas in the time I’ve been going and Glasgow used to have a reputation for not inviting by look.  Somebody said they thought the lighting a bit harsh but with a room of that size you need good lighting. Somebody else had said previously the venue could be cold.  I noticed Mariana, who wasn't dancing much wore a wrap but I felt fine.

There were tables of the large, British, trestle style. There was I think sufficient seating.  Coats and belongings seemed to have "bagged" most of the chairs.  But you couldn't guarantee your seat would be there when you came back from a tanda because of seat swapping.  

A few people stayed on the floor during the cortinas blocking line of sight for invitation by look across the room.  The cortinas were occasionally danced.

The ronda was mixed though there was in theory plenty of room for a good ronda.  The actual ronda was  a single circle of couples.  There were several new or just poor, experienced dancers  who stuck neither in the middle nor in the ronda.  A few times I got frustrated with being crashed into by these and to avoid them cut across the ronda to an empty space or circled back. As people left though, things improved.

I watched the professional, Damian and the host Vanessa dancing in the ronda.  Cards on the table.  I have met Damian and had a private lesson with him a couple of years ago. He is a  very charismatic guy. I found him polite, professional, respectful and helpful.  I seem to remember he has been dancing for decades and as you’ll see in any video he has a lot of very well polished moves.  I also know Vanessa as a social dancer who now teaches locally.

Their social dancing was more in the tango nuevo dance style - with a hold more than than embrace.  Vanessa is small and Damian is a tall guy so the hold might have been for that but I think Damian’s style is acknowledged as being more towards the nuevo end.  Also most recently, last year.  Vanessa and Damian were fun to watch, more fun for me than the performance.  There was a lot of play and jokes in their dance  I rather felt I was watching a show in the ronda which many dislike though I think they are both sufficiently experienced dancers not to cause harm or invade the space of others.  The trouble comes when less able dancers trying to ape that are mixed in a ronda with people who want to dance more modestly.  Generally I feel that where a local area has diversity in milongas like will attract like and people who enjoy the same dance style and the same kind of music will gravitate together.

Mariana is very beautiful, smiley and seemed nice but watching voleos which in performance for me become repetitive and mechanical is not how I would choose to spend those twenty odd minutes. I prefer to watch accomplished dancers socially and when they are being wholly themselves, rather than a projection of something else for people to watch.

Attendees - Someone told me a table of people I mostly did not recognise were from Newcastle.  There was a scattering of regular Glasgow dancers who I see at other events. There were several beginners, and most of the rest I think were partners and friends of the organisers/performers/DJ including a few people from Edinburgh.  I danced quite a bit with women and swapped back and forth between roles with one guy but I didn't feel I danced well and found myself apologising at the end to my partners who were all very nice about it.

The DJ, Antonella Cosi, is the head DJ in Edinburgh and (seems to be, with her partner who is also part of her DJ crew) general organiser or at least announcer of happenings in the Edinburgh Tango Society.  They also host El Tango Club milongas in Edinburgh.  She has played in Carablanca tango club in London several times and I believe at several festivals.    The giveaway to the type of music she plays is in the shibboleths of her own DJ advert: “undiscovered” and “gems”.  

These words or similar (“hidden” gems, “rare”, “forgotten”) I have seen used by other DJs to describe their music.  “Vinyl” is of course a real term but also another shibboleth though indicative of something else. Wiser, in my view is her partner, Tom’s DJ advert, though again the word “entertain” suggests to me where the spotlight points.   In contrast I have found that really good DJs generally like to be very low-profile. The non professional ones often seem to prefer to dance than DJ and none of my three favourite (professional) DJs in Buenos Aires dance tango.

From here.

Cards on the table again, Antonella gave me my first opportunity to DJ.  It was at the Counting House in Edinburgh.  Setlists here.  These days however our approaches to just about everything of significance seem to diverge and we don’t tend to go to the same events.

The tracks listed below are correct to my knowledge but there was no printed copy of this set. Happily, it had few real hidden gems.   Perhaps it was coincidence that she played a more traditional set than I have heard (often) on her home turf  in Edinburgh.  Perhaps it indicates a change of direction away from the “undiscovered gems” so typical of Firpo, Guardia Vieja and as mentioned on her DJ profile the late twenties.  Closest to that “undiscovered” type music I try to avoid was the early Canaro tanda - I arrived during it.  I know the third track but it is so unlike the Canaro I prefer that I do not know the name.  The fourth was very similar though - El pinche (1935) which is heading towards my idea of a nightmare.  

The only other tracks very like that was another Canaro tanda later on, with singer Roberto Maida (all from 1935) - I didn't dance it.  Cambalache didn't get me up.  It's alright but it plods, I don’t fancy it, for sure not at that stage of the evening and it's a bit comedic for my taste. It’s not El rey del bosque (1939), but my mind, searching for the name of the track, headed in that direction.  Incidentally, if I’m going to watch a show, I like it in the vein illustrated in that video.  The performance is for fun more than for showing something off.  Besides, more than most performers the guy dances the music (but what music!).  Back in the Canaro tanda there was Golondrinas (swallows), though a track less evocative of those birds I find hard to imagine.  Noches de Buenos Aires on the hand, was nice.  The trouble is the whole tanda clumps and labours. La copla porteña is just this side of comic but in combination with these tracks I found it all too heavy.   

Similarly, the Donato tanda towards the end was a big miss to my taste.  I’ve noticed this problem with Donato before at another event with the same DJ.  Why that should be when there are so many well known, great Donato tracks I can’t fathom. I generally prefer the more playful Donato tracks but the opener El adiós (1938) is still lovely.  I would have danced it but I was starting to feel I had exhausted my possible partners by this stage of the evening and I missed this track.  I got up with a friend after the first track ended but decided to sit down again as the second track started and to stay sitting for the third. I don’t know the track names.  We got back up to La melodía del corazón (1940) although of those I dance this is one of my least favourite Donato track.  Earlier, the Donato vals, Con tus besos (1938) and Estrellita mia had been nice.  I heard the change of orchestra to OTV’s great vals Temo (1940) and thought that odd and a bit unnecessary but I didn’t mind.   

The milonga and vals tandas were mostly good for me.  I have said before that I have noticed often that many DJs do a better job of the milonga and vals tandas than they do on the tangos which to my mind is a better test of good DJing.

One exception here were the Rodriguez vals Clavelito en flor (1937) with Roberto Flores, En el volga yo te espero (1943) and Brindis (1943) both with Moreno.  There is quite a range of style in the Rodriguez vals.  I am not very keen on even the better of them at the best of times.  These ones I’ve been told are more like ranchera.  They’re fun for listening but I find them a bit too slapstick, like dancing when you're not in full control of your faculties.  I wasn't but still didn't dance them.  

The best tanda for me was the strong rhythmic Troilo-Fiorentino El bulín de la calle Ayacucho (1941) and the marvellous headlong plunge into that music.  It was well grouped with its famous friends.  I liked the Laurenz-Podestá tanda and danced it but thought Como el hornero (1944) was the weakest track.  The giveaway is also that it was in third place.  It’s a borderline track for me and I’m a Laurenz fan.   I liked the Tanturi/Castillo but I find Madame Ivonne (1942) a poor track and therefore a disastrous opener though I heard it at least twice in London in November.   If I got up for this tanda I expect it was after that track.  Another very weak opener to my mind was (I think) Fruta amarga (1945) in the Caló/Iriarte tanda.  The lovely Marion (1943) should have gone first not second in my view and the tanda would have been the better for dispensing altogether with Fruta amarga and Seis días (1945).  As in the Marion clip the tanda finished with Nada, which was nice.

I though the Di Sarli/Rufino tanda was OK but I didn't want to dance them

On the other hand I danced the Fresedo/Ruiz finding the second track Si no me engaña el corazón the weakest.   I also danced the first two Pugliese/Chanel but gave up for El día de tu ausencia and Nada más que un corazón which aren’t really my thing.  La Cumparsita was one of the good ones.  I think it was the Troilo 1943.

There was rousing applause for the DJ from those remaining at the end.

The Crypt milonga, Glasgow

Originally published 1.2.16

On Saturday I went to the Crypt milonga in Glasgow, run now by Bryan Laird, very successfully I think.

Entry is cheap:  £5 for (nearly) three hours dancing with drinks and snacks - quite amazing really that you can have a great night out for that.  You can "Bring Your Own Bottle".  There is a door buzzer for entry though I prefer milongas which make it easier for people to hear the music and wander in. The floor is not wood but I have never found it to be a problem. The speaker hangs from the ceiling directly above the dance floor. The DJs have been local people.  Lately I have felt Glasgow has a couple of of the better DJs in Scotland - Iain Dickinson and Michael Freedman.  

Bryan greets his guests and chats with them.  This sets the tone which yesterday seemed particularly warm and happy.  Bryan is apolitical and he is liked. There were several new people, some of them brand new dancers, who were welcomed and who danced.

Bar a couple of experienced men, most men stayed in the ronda.  My shin was grazed by the stray heel of the partner of one of these weavers and dancers-in-the-middle.  The floor is small so it is difficult to keep your distance.    

I am delighted there is no class before this milonga and it is happily performance-free.  The strict caretaker backed up by a local teacher had said there was no time to play La Cumparsita. Unfortunately that teacher grabbed that opportunity to advertise a forthcoming dance workfest - already very well advertised online -  as though most social dancers at a class-free milonga were interested in that sort of thing.   

Bryan had bought lights to make this milonga a bit less dark.  I had a nice time and I just wished it  could be longer than the short three hours.

The Glasgow scene is much younger than the Edinburgh scene.  A good dancer said to me "I prefer dancing in Glasgow now".  I understand why and just now I agree.  

The music played at this milonga is here.

Photo by Bryan