The DJs in the good milongas here in BA play very dancer friendly songs indeed. Especially music hits everyone loves. But no one here plays Canaro tango!!!! We all got poisoned by you back in Singapore.

For me, I think for a tanda the first and the second song is very important as well. Very often after a cortina, when the first phrase of the music hits my ears, I decide if I want to dance or not. If its a hit, then I really feel like jumping out of my seat to the dance floor.

Most of the DJs here in BA follow your points. And the really good ones keep everyone dancing the whole evening, playing hits after hits.

I had a very interesting discussion with Cacho and Rosana lately, he told me that in the late 1960s and 70s people were dancing to late D’Arienzo music. And then he let me listen to D’Arienzo 1960s to 1970s recordings. It sounded a lot like Pugliese!! Then he told me in those days where the dancing standards were very high and the milonga was very well behaved people were dancing close embrace but still doing a lot of figures to express those dramatic music.

So, the very fact that the DJs play rhythmic early to mid pieces now also indicates the general level of dancing has dropped. Well, that was what Cacho said, ‘People nowadays don´t know how to dance to these music.’ Rosana then added that only the young people who dances in nuevo style can express them but they are doing it in open embrace and they need a lot of space hence can’t do it in a social setting.

Well, how good would it be if we were able to see what were in the 70s as Cacho has been? Close embrace and social dancing at such a high level?

Precisely what dancers look for in their music. For the duration of the tanda we are in the hands of the DJ. Once committed to the tanda, we rely on the DJ to manage the music, 1) in line with our expectations, and 2) handle with care the dancer’s emotional flow during the dance. A good DJ understands and respects this important aspect.

A clueless DJ destroys the evening.