Concept and policy of our milonga

First of all, let us note for those of you who are new to the dancing of argentine tango that the term "milonga" has two important meanings. On one hand this is a style of music and dance from which tango originates that has become one of tango's popular varieties. On the other hand milonga is the place where tango and its varieties (milonga and tango-vals) are danced socially and is a generally accepted term for a tango party around the world. In this context, one can go to a milonga where one can dance a milonga, which are two different things - don't get confused, please.

The Tango Bar milonga is a typical tango party in the spirit and the tradition of Buenos Aires and follows the format and the style of the local milongas. Which means that the music consists mainly (around 80%) of traditional tango and its varieties, divided in tandas. A tanda is a set of 3-5 pieces of the same orchestra or/and of the same style and time period. Tandas are usually divided by cortinas - short musical breaks of non-tango music. In Buenos Aires people usually do not dance to a cortina, after each tanda the couples break away and new couples are formed in the beginning of the next tanda.

The musical policy of the Tango Bar milonga and its resident DJ Ivo is to play tango music in tandas. Cortinas may or may not be used depending on the mood of the evening. Tandas are played using the classical 2-1-2-1 scheme, i.e. 2 tandas of tangos followed by a tanda of valses followed by 2 tandas of tangos followed by a tanda of milongas. Sometimes a tanda of milongas may be replaced by a tanda of candombes (candombe is one of the parents of the milonga still very popular in Argentina and Uruguay). During the last hour usually the DJ includes a tanda or two of tango nuevo, electrotango or neo tango (alternative music which has rhythm and emotional charge similar to those of the tango). Depending on the mood of the evening the DJ may play 1 or 2 chacareras - a popular and joyful argentinean folk line dance with simple choreography that can be learned at TanguerIN Studio in Sofia.

The Tango Bar Milonga from its days at the club on Kaloyan Street.