The more I dance in Bs. As., the pickier I become. I am supposed to be in the heaven or Mecca of tango, but actually I am quite disappointed by the music here. The problem is not about the selection of songs, it is more about how to arrange the tandas in a milonga and how to arrange the songs within a tanda.

Balanced Tandas Arrangement

Sometimes I wonder whether the DJs here write down the tandas they play during the milonga. And I suspect some of them don’t. Otherwise I won’t experience so many unbalanced evening - either it is a night like a disco with 2/3 or more rhythmic music, or it is a “sleepy” night with almost no rhythmic music. Even though I love almost everything, I need different taste and feeling in one milonga. After 5 or 6 rhythmic tandas in a row, usually I’m fed up. Or after many quiet and melodic tandas, I want to go back home. The alternation of rhythmic and melodic tandas is very important. First, it is important to my feeling and mood of dancing as I mentioned. Second, it is something very practical - choosing dance partner.

Among my regular dance partners here, many are associated with particular type(s) of music. With Cacho, I like to dance D’Arienzo, Canaro and Pugliese; with Pedro, I like to dance melodic and dramatic music like Pugliese; with Ricardo, I like to dance vals; with Jean-Michel, I like to dance Canaro’s milonga etc. And it is not only my personal choice, it is also a mutual consensus between my dance partners and me. If the DJ doesn’t play a Pugliese tanda, then I might not be able to dance with Pedro or Cacho. Otherwise my dance partner and I have to compromise and dance on something else - which happens very often, but both of us would feel unsatisfied. However, some of my dance partners are very picky with the music. They only want to dance when the combination of dance partner and music is perfect. In that case, then in some nights when the DJ doesn’t play the “right” tanda of me, I won’t be able to dance with them.

Start and End with Great Tunes

The arrangement of songs within a tanda is another thing that piss me off quite often. So many times the DJs start a tanda with an unattractive song, so much so that I give up the tanda and decide to sit. Then the DJs play the good songs at the 3rd or 4th song. Even if I want to dance them, I already lost the chance. Either my potential partners are already dancing with somebody else, or the crowd on the dance floor already blocks my eyesight. Just few weeks ago, there was a tanda of Canaro’s tango. The first three songs were boring, and then the DJ played Poema at the end, which is obviously a favorite song for many dancers. When the tune of Poema started, people sighed and there was a little uproar in the milonga. And I was among those who chose to sit during this tanda and was pissed off by the DJ. I felt I was cheated by the DJ.

I must say it is equally annoying when the DJ start a tanda with a great tune and continue and end the tanda with boring and weird stuff. With my dance partner we started off with a great song, we built up good connection and feeling for our dance. While we were expecting some more good tunes, the 2nd song was not that good… that was ok, we still had two more songs ahead, let’s hope that the 3rd song would be a great one. But the hope was failed, it was another shitty song. Then the good mood, feeling and connection that were built during the 1st song were gone forever. And no matter how the last song would be, the damage was caused and there was no way to recover. It happened even once to me that both my dance partner and I decided to stop dancing after the 3rd song, because the music was so bad that there was no way we could finish the tanda. This time, both my dance partner and I were cheated by the DJ.

My ultimate hope and advice to fellow DJs, please start and end with great tunes, and also don’t forget to play equally good tunes in between the 1st and the last song of a tanda. Don’t cheat the dancers to dance on something that they don’t enjoy.

Click here to listen to the song.

—————————————
Lyrics written by Carlos Bahr
Music composed by Juan D’Arienzo and Fulvio Salamanca
Played by Juan D’Arienzo and his orchestra
Sung by Alberto Echagüe
Recorded in 1951

Yo andaba loco por una vecina
y hablarla sola no pude jamás
pues siempre el padre la madre o la tía
a todas horas le andaban detrás
y ya en trance de hablar en familia
pues no podía callar mi pasión
utilizando una clave sencilla
le declaré de este modo mi amor

(I went crazy for a girl next door
and I could never talk to her alone
since always, all the time, her father, mother or antie
was running at her back
and already about to talk to her in front of the family
as I couldn’t hide my passion
Using a simple code,
I declared my love to her this way: )

Sepe-ñopo-ripi-tapa -> Señorita
mepe palpa-pipi-tapa -> me palpita
elpe copo-rapa-zón -> el corazón

(Young lady, my heart is beating)

Sipi mepe quiepe-repe -> Si me quiere
dípi-gapa-mepe sípi -> Dígame sí
sinpi dipi-lapa-ción -> Sin dilación

(If you love me, say me “yes” without delay)

Nopo mepe depe-jepe -> No me deje
sinpi capa-ripi-ñopo -> sin cariño
sepe lopo ruepe-gopo -> se lo ruego

(Don’t leave me without love, I beg you)

Nopo mepe niepe-guepe -> No me niegue
upu-napa cipi-tapa -> una cita
sopo-lipi-tos, los dos -> solitos, los dos

(Do not refuse a date, alone, the two of us)

Y como al fin no le fuí indiferente
y con las claves también practicó
al poco tiempo la vi que sonriente
le contestaba sin vacilación:

(And since at the end I was not indifferent to her
and since also she practiced with the codes
in little time I saw her smiling
she answered without hesitation: )

Quepe-ripi-dipi-topo -> Queridito
cuipi-dapa-dipi-topo -> cuidadito
conpo mipi papa-pá -> con mi papá

(My little darling, be a bit careful with my dad)

Espe-tepe lupu-nespe -> Este lunes
apa laspa cinpi-copo -> a las cinco
élpe nopo espe-tá -> él no está

(This Monday at 5 o’clock, he won’t be there)

Enpe lapa puerpe-tapa -> En la puerta
tepe espe-pepe-ropo -> te espero
conpo capa-ripi-ñopo -> con cariño

(I will wait for you at the door with love)

Nopo mepe pipi-daspa -> No me pidas
opo-tropo bepe-sopo -> otro beso
quepe nopo te lo doy -> que no te lo doy

(Don’t ask me another kiss that I won’t give you)

That is cabeceo - an invitation done by eye contact. That is the way people do here in Buenos Aires, at least still in some traditional milongas that I know. It sounds rather easy and simple. But I think it’s not so easy (especially to those who has never done that before or to those who is lack of self-confident) and it’s quite complex. To have a cabeceo happened so easy and simple as I described above, most of the time the two dancers must already know each other or have danced together before. If one is new to the milonga/community, cabeceo is never that simple and easy, especially if he/she wants to dance with some popular milongueros or milongueras. By the way, there are always some easy-going dancers in the milonga - either they like dancing with newcomers, or they are not as good as other dancers so they would get whoever is available. With these dancers, cabeceo is rather simple, you look at them and if they catch your eyes, usually they would love to dance with you.

* Cabeceo is not only limited to man inviting woman to dance. Woman also invites man to dance. Woman can also nods to the man to ask for a dance. Both work and are completely acceptable.

The fact is, little things or tricks are done before a real cabeceo. These kind of tricks or tips are just means of communication. The purpose is to make a person looks at you so that you can carry out your invitation by cabeceo. The followings are few that I experienced or used myself, or I heard from other dancers.

A hello to the person that you want to dance with
To make a person alerts your existence in the milonga, nothing is better than making a first step by saying hello to that person. Usually people won’t specially go in front of a person to do so, they would do it when they pass by that person’s table, or after the tanda when they come across with the targeted person. It could be as simple as “hola! Como estas?” (Hello! How are you doing?) Or it could be a bit more aggressive “hola! Me llamo ___. Quiero bailar contigo.” (Hello! My name is ____. I would like to dance with you.) Or before you leave the milonga, go and say goodbye to that person. Usually the message is just to make that person notice you, so that you hope that he/she will look at you. The message should not be a mean to force the person to dance with you.

A smile or a blink
I do it and people do it to me very often, no matter we know each other or not. A smile or a blink can be sent at anytime. When you are dancing, you can send it when you pass in front of that person; or when you are sitting, that person passes in front of you. When both of you are on the dance floor, in between the songs, again, give that person a smile or a blink. And when you know the person and he/she is not far from you, a kiss or a hello. Anyway, this is something people do a lot here. It is a friendly gesture, and also a means to make your potential partner know that you are there.

Dance with the person next to that person
People gossip in the milonga, and it’s especially true when you’re dancing in a milonga where almost everybody knows each other. And milongueros/milongueras like to share information about other dancers, no matter they are good or bad. So another means to let a person knows about you is to dance with the people around him/her. And if you know who are his/her good friends in the milonga (usually they sit together), dance with his/her friends. By doing so you hope that the good things about you will reach him/her so that he/she will look at you afterwards. The effect can be very obvious, especially when people spread good words about you.

Mirada
I know people doing that in the milonga but I’m a bit shy to do so. Mirada is to look at a person regularly and constantly (almost every tanda and with a focus on that person), just to make him/her understands that you want to dance with him/her. The way of looking shouldn’t be offensive or aggressive. You don’t have to worry that the person might not notice you. If someone “mirada” you, you might not feel it right away, but after a while, you would notice that pair of eyes keep looking at you all the time. So actually it’s very effective to draw people’s attention.

A “trial” cabeceo
It happens to me once in a while. A person would look at me regularly, I would look back to him, but then he would not have any further action. Only after several times of looking back and forth in an evening, then finally he would finally make a real invitation. I take it as a trial or a test - a way for the man to confirm whether the lady would really like to dance with him or not. However, it might not be the way I think. Maybe the man would expect me to initiate the cabeceo first, but since I didn’t take the move, so he has to look back to me again and again. Or it could be a pure misunderstanding from my side, maybe he was looking at the lady next to me. Mis-cabeceo happens very often in a milonga, I will write about it in my next post.

I’m not taking notes of every song titles, I’m just writing down the tanda sequence. As for the song title, I remember the songs and check out the titles when I’m home.

I read the discussion about Malerba on the TangoDJ list. I think generally DJs on the list agree that his music is good. But I guess when it comes to DJing, his music is on a rather low priority outside Buenos Aires when there’re many many good stuff to play (I completely understand because I did the same myself!). Also Malerba’s music is not the kind of stuff that can drive people to the dance floor when people don’t know the music. I think when people know Malerba and like his music, they would love to dance on his music; but when people don’t know it, then his music is just nice to dance but not particularly “attractive”, and can be boring to dancers who need energy and excitement in the music.

However, I don’t think it’s so difficult for people to appreciate Malerba. Malerba with Medina is similar to D’Agostino with Vargas. If non-Argentineans can fall in love with the music of D’Agostino with Vargas, they should be able to appreciate Malerba with Medina.

To make dancers who don’t know Malerba (or any orchestra that people are not familiar with), I believe DJ needs to use a teaser. For me the teaser of Malerba is Gitana Rusa. If people start to fall in love with the teaser, and want to know more about Malerba, then the community will slowly get to love his music. Here in the milongas that I go to, whenever DJ starts to play Gitana Rusa, I can hear sighs from the dancers and they all rush into the floor. When the community has emotional connection with the song, no matter it is slow or fast, people will dance on it.

A porteño told Isaac the other day, “Malerba is the music that you dance with your loved one.” So romantic!

Since I arrive in Buenos Aires, I have been taking notes of tandas in the milongas that I go to. People around me are always very curious about what I write on my little notebook. Many thought that I wrote down my dance partners’ name. The truth is that I can always remember with whom and to which orchestra I dance, given that the dances are very connected, emotional and musical, and the person leaves a deep impression in my mind. But there’s no way I can remember the run down of tandas in a milonga, and that’s why I have been trying to write it down.

I haven’t started to study my notes, and sometimes I doubt if I can really find out something interesting from them (except the number of tandas I danced in an evening). Anyhow, at least the action of note taking keeps me pay attention to the music throughout the night. And that’s why I can notice DJ Carlos Rey plus another 2 DJs like to play few tandas very often (once every milonga or once to twice a week), and these tandas are not heard that much or that often outside Buenos Aires*.

* It is just a brief impression based on my personal experience. 

Ricardo Tanturi - Instrumental

Tanturi is a “must” in a milonga, no matter it’s him with Alberto Castillo or with Enrique Campos. Sometimes in one night the DJ plays both - a tanda with Castillo and a tanda with Campos. These two singers’ generate different feelings and both have fans in the milonga. But the most often heard Tanturi tanda in fact is his instrumental one. It is kind of similar to D’Arienzo, but lighter and more elegant.

• Argañaraz (1940)
• El Buey Solo (1941)
• Comparsa Criolla (1941)
• Una Noche de Garufa (1941)
• Gallo Ciego (1938)
• Adiós Pueblo (1941)

Osvaldo Fresedo - Instrumental

Surprisingly, what I hear the most often of Fresedo is his instrumental pieces. I used to only focus on Fresedo’s vocal pieces with Roberto Ray and Ricardo Ruiz. Being here in Buenos Aires draws my attention to Fresedo’s instrumental pieces. A remarkable difference between the vocal pieces and the instrumental pieces is that vocal pieces tend to be more romantic and melodic, while instrumental pieces are more rhythmic and more interesting for dancing. 

• Derecho Viejo (1941)
• El Irresistible (1944)
• La Clavada (1933)
• Firulete (1939)
• Poliya (1939)
• Pimienta (1939)
• Arrabalero (1939)
• Tigre Viejo (1934)

Ricardo Malerba with Orlando Medina

I think Ricardo Malerba is almost completely neglected by DJs outside Buenos Aires. I bought his CDs (there’re only 2 on the current commercial CD market) years ago and I never used his music to DJ. Only when I’m dancing here in the milonga, I can feel this orchestra. And my feeling is getting stronger and stronger each time I hear it. The essence of this orchestra is the singer Orlando Medina. Milongueros and milongueras just love his singing! (Me too! ) Malerba’s orchestra only left 43 recordings. Usually only one tanda is played in each milonga, and the choice are always those with Orlando Medina. The tanda is always composed with the following songs (all with Orlando Medina):

• Gitana Rusa (1942)
• Enbrujamiento (1943)
• Mi Taza de Cafe (1943)
• La Piba de Los Jasmines (1943)
• Ninguna (1942)
• Remembranza (1943)
• Olga Mozo (1942)