Tuesday 16 August 2016

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
Posted by at
Labels:

2 comments:

  1. The Outpost18 September 2016 at 22:49

    This comment is about the same milonga held on 18/9/16

    A: I had a really nice night! What a cracking D'Arienzo!
    B: Yes, it was a great night. Some cracking tracks and good dancing!

    This milonga has grown on me. I went last night. There is still happily no pre-milonga class and there have been no shows. The setup was again as last time with a smaller floor, tables and chairs, single seating (without tables). My seat at a table was appropriated by a late arrival but I seemed to regain it.

    It is still a bit dark and so unfortunately you really have to move from a seat to invite by look but with the floor made smaller than on the first occasion this is a bit less of an issue.

    The music last night was by Michael Freedman. One or two tandas were bizarre anomalies à coucher dehors compared to the otherwise largely mainstream traditional music. One of these strange tandas was so violent it drove me outside where I found a friend who felt the same. We found it mystifying. Otherwise, the music was quite lovely though sometimes soundcraft was lacking and volume too high.

    What a difference to the Saturday afternoon practica in Glasgow which was tuned to a German ?tango radio station? playing no tandas and single tracks that were not for dancing. After paying my £5 I sat outside on the steps mostly, chatting. I think I danced three separate tracks during that time. The absence of good dancers is notable.

    In contrast, at the milonga there were a number of great dancers - mostly women plus a few guys - and many newish women attending which was all nice. It is interesting that one of the good guy dancers was a visitor from Finland. I do not hear nor find the quality of class-ridden UK dancing compares well, internationally where many places seem to have many more milongas per area and run more often than I find to be the case in the once-a-month or even once-a-quarter standard for most of the UK. Little wonder then when many UK dancers go abroad to dance.

    Still, with so much good music, a good floor and a better atmosphere than previously I danced with lovely women dancers til I got too hot, swapping with at least four guys two of them new to dancing in the other role, which was nice. I stayed until the last minute before racing to the station still in my dance flats to get the last train home. Conveniently, the station is 5 minutes away by bike.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Outpost4 October 2016 at 13:51

    On Saturday I went to this milonga in Glasgow between 2015 and 2315 before leaving to catch the last train. Numbers were sadly well down on two weeks ago, at just over 20. I don't know why. Perhaps because there were workshops from visiting teachers scheduled for the following day elsewhere in Glasgow.

    The visiting DJ was Juan Venegas Ortiz who I’ve heard more often in Edinburgh. Apart from the Lomuto (bar the opener) and the OTV which I’ve mentioned before (and before that) I liked most of the music. There was an alternative tanda which, given the DJ, surprised me. Someone, I don’t know who, had asked him to play one.

    I felt not for the first time that there is a problem with the sound in this venue, a sort of echo which isn’t just from the size of the room. I noticed there is no way of controlling the sound.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)