Tango Barcelona Part 2

As we continue with the review of milongas in Barcelona, I will share another observation. This time it’s about the dress code.

In Barcelona, people do not dress up for tango, as we do in Buenos Aires. Here people seem to just wear normal street clothes at the milongas. The range is from blue jean shorts to skimpy dresses for women, and not many elegant tango dresses. A few men wear shorts and blue jeans, and some do wear tango pants. The usage of perfumes seems much less or maybe the air conditioning is working better as the weather has been very warm.

The other thing worth noting is how many dances in a tanda. Lots of places in Buenos Aires now play 3 songs. I thought that the reason was because there were more women than men dancing tango and this shorter tanda allowed more people to dance
But a friend recently offered another explanation as to why the tanda should only be 3 songs. His explanation was the weather is very warm.
Either way, I have grown to prefer 3 songs in a tanda and do have a preference for this format.

As the weather is warm here, there are a couple of outdoor milongas, we have visited the one at Parc Cuitadella. We watched the dancing once and everyone was having fun. The range of tango styles was all over the place, but with so many smiles, people seemed to enjoy themselves. As for me, my knees do not like pivoting on concrete anymore. More info about this outdoor milonga can be found on the Barcelona tango website and Facebook.

Last Friday we met a friend for dinner and after a wonderful meal of tapas, we then went to a La Morocha Milonga. While trying to find the place we realized we went dancing there last year. It is located in a residential neighborhood that has narrow dark streets. Took us a moment to identify the building Luckily there is an elevator up to the 4th floor. Upon opening the door we see an intimate space with a small wooden dance floor and a bar. On the opposite wall is the Tdj table. That night the Tdj was the same woman whose music we danced to at Milonga Emoción last Saturday.

While surveying the space, there were a few peeps we knew from a distance and we exchanged besos with them.
The dancing at the milonga began at 10 and quickly the small space filled up, mainly with dancers under 40. There seemed to be more men than women here.

Unfortunately with the crowded room, the air conditioner could not keep up. It was sweltering, my feet were swollen and the time was 23 hours, so we decided to leave.

Saturday is El Emoción Milonga. This is a very nice milonga with a small, accommodating floor with chairs and small tables.  With the bar close to the entrance and the TDJ on the other side of the room.  The club has a visiting TDj weekly. The dance quality here is also varied but of a higher caliber and more dancers use the close embrace. It’s a small but friendly milonga.

On Sundays, there is
El Living milonga. This, too, was a bit different to find as it is on the top floor of a residential apartment building. But once inside I loved the coziness of the space. This milonga is also one of the friendliest. The floor is rectangular and the bar is on one side and the TDJ is on the opposite wall. The Tdj when we visited was the co-organizer.  He’s also an Argentinian, the music was wonderful.

The last milonga I will share with you is the new version of the long-running Milonga de la Angels still at the original location at the Marce Cultural Center. The space is very large with small tables placed around the room. The night we visited we had the pleasure of knowing the TDj, Eduardo Ríos.

The music was wonderful as was mostly classic tango from the big orchestras. The night we attended was the night of the Copa finals Spain versus England. I wasn’t expecting many men, but considering this, the milonga was well attended.

All tango information is listed in a few places including Facebook, but I was using the website.
https://tangoenbarcelona.es/

Next week we are off to Rome to dance tango at Amor De Roma Encuentro!!
Abrazo