Milonga is a living thing..

Lisbon, May 2009

  During the days of this years edition of Lusitango the temperatures were high.

This came as a bit of a surprise cause of its stark contrast with the past three (!) years when it was rather chilly and rained most of the time.  The incessant drizzle making the portugese capital look like the perfect image dreamed up in a typical, somewhat depressive Fernando Pessoa poem.

With summerhigh temperatures the HEAT was on in the milonga. Resulting in unusual sticky sweating around the pista, for the Voz de Operario, the name of the  quaint, old building housing the tango venue, is not fitted with modern airconditioning.

And maybe the temperatures were the only high this year.

In my own modest opinion, the festival this year fell a bit short on its reputation.

Maybe it was the orchestra, 'El Silencio' originating from Berlin, that failed to inspire.

I can't put my finger on it but somehow me and most dancers choose to sit out the tangos played live by the musicians rather then being drawn in to create some sensuous moves on the dancefloor while defying the heat.

Or maybe it was the lack of participants. There was definately a drop in visitor numbers, creating visible gaps in the milonga. Now gaps on the dancefloor are not necessarily a bad thing!

But it can have a downside in relation to atmosphere. Im sad to say there just wasn't a very animated ambiance.

Una milonga no bien animada- now that brings me to something close to my heart. 

 Something that i always try to convey: that a milonga is a living thing. 

That its not only about the size or the look of a milonga, or the amount of people participating.

 Its all about the energy that we SHARE. A milonga as such merely provides the space, the dancefloor, music etc.  Now, a good dj can surely inspire. When he- or she- is in a good mood, in the right mood better said, and really feels the energy in the milonga , their music can really inspire, set the place 'on fire'. But thats when the dj really connects  with the milonga. Thats an interesting point, because that implies that the dj is conscious of the energy in the place. The energy grows in intensity when  people in the milonga are truly present. Theres consciousness again! So for a milonga to be truly  dynamic and inspirational, to become this living thing  i think its more a situation of 'give and take'. In an ideal situation, WE, the participants should get conscious upon entering a milonga and connect with our own, individual energies and decide what mood or vibe we wish to bring to the milonga. So by not expecting or assuming  the music and surroundings of the space to simply deliver us a perfect dance event (taking), but by being  aware of our own individual energies thus contributing something positive to something bigger then ourselves (giving), we are consciously taking the first steps towards manifesting a living, breathing milonga. 

Connection, energy, consciousness and sharing are the key words here!

Ademas, if we extend that awareness to our -own- dancepartners, aswell as the other dancers on the floor and move around the pista with respect for each other, letting the tandas guiding us into inspired, new tango territory, we're getting ever closer to honoring a so called milonga etiquette.

In my opinion by incorporating all of the above, we are laying down the groundrules, creating a cosmic  blueprint if you will, for a milonga thats far more than the sum of its parts. 

If that level of consciousness is the starting point, we stand a good chance of creating a truly inspirational, supercharged milonga ! 

Thus becoming an active part of a 'total' experience,  an amalgamation of great tango-dance vibes, people vibes and Zen vibes.... something that truly lifts us all onto  HIGHER ground. 

Amen. (broma/joking)

Soon coming to a milonga near you ;-)

Happy milonqueando!