Hay una gran,gran fantasia en la mente de muchas personas acerca de la vida de los Milongueros. Creo que se da en un mayor % en los extranjeros. Muchos están enamorados con imitar o emular este estilo de vida, no sabiendo realmente lo que es un Milonguero o que tipo de vida llevaron para ser calificados de esta manera. Ellos no planearon esta vida, simplemente fluyo a través de esta pasión que es el Tango y sus propias elecciones.

Imaginate ahora que tenes 20 anos en el 2012, quizás los tenes y estas leyendo estas líneas. Vas al Boliche todas las noches, tratando de perseguir y encontrarte esa minita o chabon, no importándote mucho encontrar un laburo, tratando de evitar grandes responsabilidades, TENES 20 anos!!!
El tiempo pasa y ya tenes 30 y después 40 y después 50, y seguís yendo al Boliche. Mientras tanto tuviste que hacer algo a demás de bailar, claro, algunos siguieron viviendo con los viejos o la vieja, otros habrán elegido algún laburito, no muy exigente, o un turno tarde en algún negocio, lo necesario pa que alcance y mantener la vida en el Boliche. Otros consideraron “laburos” un poquito mas arriesgados, guita fácil, pero hay que ser “pulenta”, bancarse la que se venga. No siempre hay comida en la mesa, la vida no es simple. Por otro lado hay gente que siguió en el Boliche, y abrió Boliches. Y otros se dedicaron a estudiar o laburar, quizás lograr una carrera empresarial y/o profesional en alguna actividad poniendo o logrando poner el amor por el Tango, en perspectiva.

Cuando llegaste a los 70, viviste la vida que elegiste vivir. No planeaste convertirte en un “Milonguero” o “ Bolichero”, simplemente sucedió lo que sucedió por tus acciones y elecciones. Lo mismo con lo que no sucedió. Viviste! La pregunta es,  si “Milonguero” o “Bolichero” y en lo que uno se convierte, Se toma el mismo camino?

Hay una fascinación con los milongueros en Buenos Aires, sabemos que son una historia viviente cada uno de ellos. Lamentablemente como el enemigo numero 1 es el tiempo, muchos de ellos ya no están con nosotros. Mirando para atrás, aquellas personas que los veneran hoy, por su sabiduría que les dio la vida o la noche. Vivirían esta vida? Se la bancarian? Me la bancaria yo? Porque 30 anos atrás, no había que Festival allá, que Festival acá, que workshop, que tour. Se vivía, el Tango, por si mismo como Tango.

A veces encuentro que quizás estamos fascinados de la misma manera en que algunos nos fascina el mundo de la mafia, pero podríamos llegar a “cargarnos” a alguna persona, podemos manejar situaciones en las cuales hablar ya no es una opción? Es como querer actuar el personaje de “yo me la banco” y no es así.

“Estoy viviendo la vida de un milonguero en Bs As, conozco los códigos, se como manejarme en la pista, la gente que baila bien me saluda, etc…” eso lo escuche en algún lado de la boca de un tipo que estaba de visita  y simplemente en estos casos me doy cuenta que no tienen idea de lo que dicen. No la captan. Se agarran del packaging y no del contenido. Conocen la letra pero no la melodía de las cosas.

Un milonguero/a es aquella persona que se paso la vida en las milongas, la noche, bailando, charlando, filosofando, perdiendo el tiempo y porque no,  tratando de encontrarse a si mismo. Hay personas que tienen esta sensibilidad de captar esa esencia, que es el resultado de una elección de vida y NO UN PLAN PARA CONVERTIRSE EN ALGO. No sé si aquellos que desean ser milongueros/as podrán hacer y sostener este tránsito por la vida en pos de este Status.

Oliver Kolker

Living The Life of a Milonguero in Bs As

There is a big, big, big, big fantasy in many people’s minds about the life of the Milonguero.  Many are in love with the fantasy of emulating this life but maybe don’t actually know what a Milonguero is, or what kind of life brought them to this status. They didn’t plan this life, it just evolved through their passion and their choices.

Imagine yourself in 2012 as a 20-year-old, going to the Disco every night, hanging out with your friends, trying to get that girl or boy you like, not caring much about getting a job, avoiding responsibility.  Without realizing it, Time has passed and you are no longer in your 20′s, you’re 30, 40, or even 50 and still in the Disco every night.  During these 30 years you had to do something besides dancing, yes, some of you might chosen to still live with your parents (if they weren’t smart enough to kick you out), some others might have had a mundane day job, or simple afternoon shift just to make enough money to sustain their Disco lifestyle.  Others might have even considered other  “special jobs”  dangerous ones, easy money.  Not always is there food on the table, not always was life simple.  On the other hand the promoters of the Disco world saw the opportunity to exploit these fanatics by offering more and more hours during which they could lose themselves in this dance.  While others were able to study, make a career putting their love of dance in perspective, you were and are still dancing or hanging out in this world of the Disco.

When you reach 70 you lived the life you have chosen.  You didn’t plan to become a “Milonguero” or, in this case, a “Discoero”, it just happened because of your choices. You just lived!  Had you been able to know the outcome, would you have done the same?

There is a fascination with the Milongueros in BA.  Unfortunately, as happens to all of us, time is the enemy and most of them are now resting in peace.  Looking back at them, the question for those who worship them is would you have actually chosen to live the life they did.  It’s like being fascinated with the mafia world, but in reality, would you ever actually kill someone? Being able to handle a situation when talking is not an option anymore You can’t be a tough guy without being tough.

“I am living the life of a Milonguero in Bs As, I know the rules of the Milongas, I know where people sit, the icons of Tango say hello to me” etc… I heard this quote somewhere and it made me think how much people just don’t get it. This is only the packaging my friends, it’s not the reality.

A Milonguero is a person who spent his life at the Milongas either, dancing, chatting, hanging out, or just wasting time. Some people have the sensibility to see the Milonguero as a result of a life choice, WITHOUT A PLAN TO BECOME ONE!  I don’t know if everyone who is a  milonguero-wanna-be could make that transition and consciously pursue that status for the future.

IMHO

Oliver Kolker

The Tango Instructor

For the past few months I’ve been thinking about the business in which I’m involved, and came to the conclusion that The Tango Dancer/Instructor is in the business of providing a service:

a)      Teaching people to dance

b)      Entertaining people

c)       Both

If we consider the Tango Dancers who work the Festival Circuit, we can come up with a number of conclusions.

It’s very well known in this field that many dancers are excellent performers but not particularly good instructors, and vice versa.  Sometimes we are fortunate to find excellent instructor/performers in the same persona.  It is my contention that a Tango instructor should possess skills in various aspects of dance, such as Dancing Skills coupled with an ability to communicate his Pedagogy while giving Encouragement to his students.  Beyond what I just mentioned the instructor must motivate his students to actually get out there and DANCE.

As to the entertainment aspect of the afore mentioned Dancer/Instructor, he should possess not only the requisite Dancing Skills, but Charisma, Expression and that ’je ne sais quois’ element that couple uniquely possesses is what we, as viewers, are hoping to experience in every performance.

The conundrum many Tango Organizers and Festivals Producers have to deal with in order to offer that product line (Dancers/Instructors) is to bring the best mix of talent to their roster? But what is the first priority to be considered - Performing   OR  Teaching skills?

Do Tango Aficionados go to Festivals because of who is teaching? or Who is performing?  I believe the key issue Organizers use in making their decision is more often based on performing skills.

The problem for the Organizers is that the sometimes people (aficionados) who are attending because they want to see this Dancers Perform, are more and more the same people who are complaining that they have to sit through the (in their opinion) overly-long performances, which takes their time away from their own dancing.

Many of my colleagues define themselves as “Artists” and not so much as Dance Instructors. Is The Tango Festival Platform the best context to keep developing the artist “mojo” of tango dancers?  Should Tango Dancers consider Festivals to be events for those who want to LEARN how to dance?

IMHO

Oliver Kolker

Not everyone understands this dance. It is very difficult to explain to absolute beginners that it is not Salsa, West Coast Swing or Lindy… Tango is more complex.  Some people who don’t get it will reply by saying is not complex at all is just another dance like any other, but you and I know this is not true.

I dance other dances and Tango is totally different. People don’t understand they have to learn a new Language like any spoken one, but in this case, a body language. It’s very difficult to transmit the idea of learning how to have a dialogue with the body. Your body speaks, delivers, communicates, holds, embraces.

In Tango I always emphasize the idea of learning the vowels, the letters, the grammar instead of memorizing a poem or a paragraph from a book. This is not the way we learn how to read and write.

Another very common point that occurs is people asking, how much time it will take for them to dance well. From the minute someone asks this, you know there is a big chance he/she will quit right away, because they don’t get it.  When I started dancing (I myself as an example because is the best one I have) it was never an issue of getting bored when I had to just walk over and over again.  I knew this was a necessary foundation for the dance and I enjoyed understanding I was building and developing my craft, my footwork, balance, etc… it’s like people approaching this dance with a goal of being good (obviously) but the approach and the goal should be a journey in itself because at the end of the day when some of us become really good THERE IS NO MEDAL, NO SACK OF GOLD AT THE END OF A RAINBOW OR AND OLD MAN TO HAND YOU A DIPLOMA.

Another very common point is when people come up with their own ideas of how to become better, such as: I don’t dance with people who are not on my level, because I don’t want to develop bad habits, this is so wrong! When I started dancing I had to – and wanted to – dance with every one: tall, short, fat, really fat, skinny, very skinny, stiff, soft, anticipating, submissive, adorable, reject-able, sweet, distracted, encouraging, helpful, not helpful.  I had to learn how to lead EVERYONE, this is how we develop the skill. Because the word “lead” is about that, to know what the follower wants and how to please that need. Sometimes the leader is a bad leader because he lacks the sense of connecting with or reading his partner.

THERE IS NOTHING MORE SAD IN THIS DANCE AS WHEN LEADERS OR FOLLOWERS DON’T KNOW THEY DON’T KNOW. It’s a LOST WAR OR A VERY DIFFICULT TASK TO OPEN THIS CHANEL INSIDE THEIR SYSTEM.T

The way I see it and teach it is that EVERYTHING I DO IN THIS DANCE IS FOR THE PARTNER AND VICE-VERSA. If I always think about her/him in the first place, my balance, posture, embrace, rhythm, connection, length or speed of step will have a better chance of being understood.

I always say that in the Tango world you are what you dance, regardless of your background, noble, king, wealthy, poor, ethnicity, religion, political views etc… You can’t buy your way in like in other fields, so if someone is not talented enough to dance, is he/she out?

Should they be out?  What must we do in order to keep them in? Or . . . do we have to?

IMHO

Oliver

Many discussions have been taking place in the tango world in regard to the blessed cross as part of the basic Salida in Tango.  I would like to share my opinion on the matter. Before writing about this, I investigated blogs written about this issue, and found it very interesting.

I discovered a lot of people are obsessed with the issue and have differing opinions; the ones who say: “you must lead the cross” and the others who say “you don’t lead the cross as long as you are walking outside of her”.

Can we say there are two schools?

Now, I will give you my opinion.

In Argentina, if you go dancing at any milonga and you start dancing, the minute you open to the side or you go backwards in order to arrive to step number 5,  SHE WILL CROSS (95% OF THE THEM). Why? That is the basic figure, the basic pattern that is identified with the Argentine Tango Dance. In many other dances you could walk on the right side of the follower without her crossing I guess, but the cross in this moment, is TANGO. You can figure out the way I think.

I read that men, were saying:

•  I cannot find a good reason as to why “a women should automatically cross.
• ” Because everything in this dance is lead. 
• “We should teach the woman, to follow the lead for the cross”

The problem is that many men (not well taught) when they lead the cross, they do it very badly, with no line, grace or style in order to accomplish the task.  If you are in favor of leading or inviting the woman to the cross, you should do it by dancing her, and NOT as an isolated move that breaks the beautiful lines inherent in the basic step. I’ve seen this happen all the time – leaders announcing the cross, in many ways in order to accomplish this move.

The leading of the cross should not break the body alignment of the couple.

The leading of the cross becomes so important that leaders make up their own techniques, such as:

-       Taking a step in a diagonal direction in order to signal the move

-       Leading with the man’s left hand in order to affect the woman’s hip

-       Moving her with his right arm in order to affect her hip

None of these moves are done by great Tango dancers. (I will not name anyone, because taste varies among people). When you see people who dance well, the cross becomes a natural move in the couple and understanding, regardless of the school, because if the cross is lead you don’t see it, and if is NOT you won’t see it.

Now I don’t want to sound like a strict dictator telling people how to dance; it is my suggestion to pay attention to the beauty of the body movement. Some people who dance don’t see it, and they can still dance.  Some people don’t even care about it or how they look on the dance floor and still dance.

Here we come to another point in my analysis. One time I was talking with a Tango Instructor in NY (a good friend) and he told me that most of the people in the US, at the beginning of the Tango movement, did not care so much about the way they looked on the dance floor as much as they felt instead.

(That made me think again. In part what I’m saying is related to what I wrote in a previous blog about the Colombian couple.)

Why is this?

• The technique of this dance is very complex?
• People did not understand the elegance inherent to the dance?
• Laziness?
• Anxiety to start dancing right away, regardless of refining the body language
• A justification to say that feeling is more important than look?
• Too much work
• I want to be different, or creative…

I wonder why when we see a nice dancer in any venue we appreciate it? The feeling has nothing to do with it. This is an intimate issue that has no discussion because it’s like describing a kiss, caress or touch

Does this have to do with the context of how the dance is developed? When I started dancing nobody had to tell me who was elegant or talented and who wasn’t. I knew it right away. It made sense to me. It made sense that it requires a lot of work! Beauty Hurts!

Would I have the same sensibility to understand west coast swing or hustle or flamenco? Maybe, I don’t know…

When you learn a certain discipline with your body such as any martial art, or ballet, or sport that requires coordination, balance, grace, speed, efficiency etc…the body must be trained. I don’t know if this happens or happened with Tango for the reasons I’ve quote before.

IMHO

Oliver

Is dancing tango moves to non-Tango music still considered Tango?

For sure if you pick a song to dance such as any non Tango Composer, Orchestra or Composition the music will not be a Tango. If you choose to dance Janis Joplin, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, etc… I guess we can all agree that the music they compose is NOT Tango.  

Dance, in itself, is a world of free expression. The problem happens when people think that because they are dancing Tango moves to non-tango music they believe they’re still dancing Tango. Problem?  It’s not big deal, but for those who love this Art form that is so very rich, there is a difference.  Let me explain.

In my personal life I very much enjoy listening to Gotan Project.  Do I connect with the music to dance to it? NO. But that is me. I don’t connect and, in my case, I know why.  Because for me tango emanates from the music, with its roots attached to the meter and beats of the main harmony of Tango.

I feel uncomfortable moving, embracing, and walking to a different type of Music that is not Tango.
Can I do it?  Of course. 
Have I done it?  Yes, many times
Why then are the alternative Milongas such a big hit outside of Argentina?  Very simply because people connect to what they know and to what they grew up listening.

I truly believe the reason Argentinean people dance or understand this music so much is because we grow up listening to it all the time, we are exposed every day: Taxi, Bus, Subway, Newstand, Bakery, Kiosk, Gas Station, TV, Radio, Grandparents, Great-grandparents, Parties, Birthdays, History at School. But out of 100% of the population of Argentina, maybe 0000.0001% of the population actually dance tango, but 90% of it have an idea of what Tango is or means: Posture, Embrace, Movement, Bandoneon, Gardel etc…

This doesn’t mean all Argentineans have the talent to dance Tango. Even if you get an Argentinean guy with two left feet and try to teach him to dance tango, he might be very bad, but in his back of his mind, the feeling or image of Tango will pop up as an innate feeling in his soul.

It is simply a cultural thing.  I’ve sometimes heard people in NYC say “I hate Tango Music, but I love the Dance.” It may be because they appreciate the movement without comprehending the music.  To me this is baffling being that I believe the dance, itself, springs from the music.

I was criticized by some people because at the Chicago Tango Festival 2011, I performed to the William Tell Overture, which metrically fits exactly the Milonga Tempo. I enjoyed doing this immensely.

Did I dance Milonga? NO
Did I think I was dancing Milonga? NO
Do I know the Difference between MIlonga, Tango, Tango-Vals and the rest of Generes? YES
That is Why I can Choose to do it.

If I used Tango Movements to a typical Lindy-Hop Song?
Would I be dancing one or the Other?

IMHO

Oliver

There seems to be a division among  those who practice Milonguero style and those who don’t. I’ve even visited communities that tend to classify themselves as only “milonguero” and the rest is NOT Possible or Good. This Milonguero style or “Apilado” style came about from a circumstance of necessity – there was no room in the small dance halls and walking in a small space was becoming more complicated. If there is no room, you walk small, if there is space you could CHOOSE to walk long. The problem is that many bought the package that by dancing this way it was the true Tango

Back in the 90′s when some instructors started coming to the USA to teach this style, they claimed it was a style in itself because this is how it was danced by the milongueros in BA.

So, you could say, the so-called Milonguero style came about as a marketing name created over the years by some clever person? Maybe, I don’t no.

What I do know, is that the Milongueros with all due respect, many of them are friends and even teachers of mine, are just people who spent their life dancing at the Milongas day or night, many times considered (wrongly) bums in the old days because they chose or had no choice but to lead that type of life. Many became Tango instructors when the tango renaissance blossomed all over the world, or in time some true Tango Artists were discovered but there was no market for them back then. In those days, the Milonga synonymous with FUN, you had a choice, FUN or a JOB.

Thanks to those who teach Milonguero-style tango (a social dance) Argentine Tango has added thousands of followers and brought them into the Milonga in a much shorter time. Its technique is more limited, more concise but no less rich than the Tango Salon and its derivatives.

I WANT TO CLARIFY THAT I’M NOT ATTACKING THE TANGO Milonguero because I do not intend that –  I dance it, I appreciate it and I teach it.
The confusion I observe with those who practice this style is to believe that the feeling of passing it to the woman or vice-versa lies in the very style and not the person who executes it. A thousand times I’ve seen guys claim to be fans of tango milonguero style and therefore are more tango, more romantic and more sensible, but embracing woman with the opposite sense of this claim, giving nothing to her, but sustaining their own dance by practicing this style.

Please understand this often occurs in a close-minded environment in which people, once they have learned a particular style, become so possessive of it they miss out on understanding other movements that could enrich their dance.

Let’s take for example the moment both partners are stacked off-axis as in the famous triangle, sharing the axis,  neither is free, the ability to “pivot” of both is limited, therefore there are figures that cannot be performed. Being on one’s own axis is not only possible but very comfortable without sacrificing the close embrace.

It is very common when an instructor shows a step or a combination in a seminar to hear : “But can you do it in close embrace.” The answer is: What you mean by close embrace ? How close you are to your partner or how much of feeling is shared. Another confusion is that there are steps or combinations that  ARE NOT ABLE TO DO IN CLOSE EMBRACE  SINCE THE HUMAN BODY HAS LIMITATIONS OF ROTATION. Opening the embrace a bit, as long as the connection is not lost is not necessarily bad.  In fact, there are some steps that have a better color when the embrace is open a little.

There some steps that cannot be done in close embrace.  Is this to be considered less Tango ?

IMHO

Oliver

My name is Oliver Kolker, born in NYC and raised in Argentina since 1976. In 2005 I moved to NYC with the goal of teaching one of the most beautiful expressions ever created by the Argentineans, El Tango.

In April, 1998, I took my first Tango lesson and from that moment on I never stopped. I found my expression, I found myself, I found everything that I grew up with flourishing inside me again. I never paid attention to it before, like many people of my generation. There are many reasons.

Why am I introducing myself in this way?

Last Sunday night in NYC at RoKO (a great Milonga), I had the pleasure of enjoying the performance of a beautiful Tango couple. They became the World Champions last August in Argentina in the Tango Salon Category. Their dance was splendid, clean, elegant, a little conservative for my own taste but SALON!.

The dancers Diego y Natasha are from COLOMBIA

One of the people sitting next to me said he was very happy this couple was not from Argentina. I could’ve taken his comment in a bad way, but that was not his intention, but it made me think. After a few seconds I agreed with him, and answered: Yes! You are right; they are not Argentineans but the way they performed the dance was with the movements and body language that were indentified as TANGO, which is exactly the reflex of that body language we created, by the Argentine people in both roles. They moved as Argentineans, even though they are COLOMBIANS.

I think it is great, and finally realize, we Argentineans are not loosing the Tango when a non-Argentine couple wins a World Contest. We should take it with pride, because these people are accepting and inhaling the language of Tango created more than 80 years ago by those who cropped up on every corner, every street, every stone, every cigarette and embrace the dance and the attitude that comes to life when it is performed.

It is an Art form to know how to embrace, stand up, walk, turn, create, improvise. To watch hundreds of Asians, Canadians, Russians, French, Italians, Koreans and Turks (just to name a few) move in that way imitating, copying, learning or assimilating our walk to the beat of a Tango or Milonga should make us feel proud, not fear or intimidation. We have created a stereotype without that intention, but if we don’t see it as an art form itself, YES it will die!

We have to change the way we see things and my approach is simple and comes from a source that I know, my knowledge, my self. We can see this matter in every aspect of life if we want.

The person who finds his/her passion in Kung Fu, will not be restricted by the fact he/she is not Asian? Should all Kung Fu schools in Argentina be closed?

The kids in Argentina who are amazing dancers in Hip Hop, are not worth less because they are not from the US? The US culture instead of fighting this EXPANSION, embraces it. There are more people involved in what we do! That is their way.

IMHO,

Oliver

Many people have debate about the fact that in Tango the man leads and the woman follows, not understanding very well what this means. There is a big misunderstanding about the concept, this concept.

Like Gustavo Naveira said very clear one time when we were sharing dinner, “The Structure of this dance is based on this basis one has to follow and the other has to lead, regardless of the gender”. Considering Tango all over the planet, 95% of the time is the Man who leads and the Woman who follows

Now why is that?
Is it because the society is based like that on every aspect of life outside of tango? I dont know, maybe?

Let me share with you my theory, one which I always tell the people I teach.

This is a 50/50 role, responsibility, team work, whatever you want to call it. Exactly equals, but different motivations, same feelings
In this dance, if I may use the analogy of the sexual act, the man wants to posses the woman, “DANCE HER”‘ NOT “WITH HER”, the woman wants to be “DANCED”. In most of the sexual relationships when a couple is making love, 90% of the time the woman would assume her built-in feminine role and usually would say (if she talks out loud during the act) MAKE LOVE TO ME. This does not make her less, is the half of the relationship built in a couple. The man by nature wants to show his manhood by seducing, possessing, inviting, protecting, flirting with her.

I am bringing this up because many times, believe it or not and especially in absolute beginner lessons when I explain that the woman has to follow, some don’t get the concept, and their facial expressions indicate: “Excuse me – I am a woman with equal rights, etc. etc. etc…

On the other hand men, when they are leading (or think they are leading), expect the woman to follow them because they are leading, instead of considering the woman first and communicating to her, listening to her, embracing her, dancing her.

IS NOT ABOUT THE FRICKING OCHO CORTADO, BOLEO, GANCHO, VOLCADA, COLGADA, OR REVENTADA IS ABOUT…. do I need to explain?

What am I a psychologist?

No! Is the way I see this addiction. TANGO!

IMVHO

OLIVER