Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Milonga etiquette from Ricardo Bellozo.

1. If you don't know how to dance, don't go on the dance floor.

2. First observe the quality of dancing of potential partners, to avoid bad experience or inconveniencing a beginner who is doing his or her first steps, and needs a partner of a higher level than yours.

3. Women do not ask men to dance.

4. A male dancer cannot ask a woman who is accompanied by and sitting at the table with a man, unless that man is gone dancing with other women first. Otherwise the woman is considered "private property".

5. A man should not approach a woman at the table to invite her. From where he is sitting or standing, he should make a head gesture that is called "cabeceo", and if she accepts, only then he can go meet her.

6. The woman never should go toward the man. That custom will avoid her standing alone on the dance floor, and him an embarrassment of rejection.

7. The woman should let the man to embrace her first and decide when to start moving.

8.On the dance floor everybody walks counterclockwise, and the man walks forward without crashing into other couples.

9. That is the man who conducts the dance. Turns and boleos should not be led by the man if there is not enough space, unless his partner is very precise and can dance "small" ( "on a tile", a space of approx. 15X15").

10.The couple that moves backward should take care of the appropriate distance and dancing space. One should not go backward without looking first.

11. There are lines on the dance floor. The perimeter is for the most experienced dancers. The beginners who are blocking the circulation should dance in the middle of the floor.

12. One who enters the dance floor after the line of dance on the perimeter was already formed, should not try to join it. He should go in the middle.

13. The man should stop the movement if there is a danger of collision.

14. Do not squeeze the woman, embrace her firmly but gently.

15. A single woman always leaves the milonga alone or with her female friends, never accompanied by a man.

16. Men and women leave the dance place separately. If they wish, they can meet each other on the corner or in a bar.

17. Except for the couples milonga, even though there is a romantic relationship, there is no demonstration of affection.

18. If an orchestra is playing, the first tango is not danced.

19. While dancing, one should not talk or chew gum or even less have a working cellphone in the pocket. To talk, wait for the break between tango and tango.

20. Avoid very strong, concentrated fragrances, bad breath or body odor.

21. When one is sweating a lot, he or she should not continue dancing, to avoid making his or her partner uncomfortable.

22. One should try as much as possible to dance the whole the tanda with the same partner.

23. It is not appropriate to give advice to a random partner, or give him or her dance instructor's business cards.

The original:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/ricardo-bellozo/de-codigos-de-la-milonga/208533579165589
Translation Olga Matveeva

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