The Working Tanguera

It's 5pm and I'd already started planning my outfit for tonight's milonga. This started with the shoes.... I stared at my brand new pair of CiFs for a while, a dusty blue print on velvet with silver stiletto heels. They are truly my most treasured pair but they're also the most difficult to work with. I had a hard time finding a single piece of clothing with the same shade of blue in it. My bedroom looked like a war zone. I found something at last.... after trying on 7 outfits... but ended up changing back into the little black number I initially had on. Ugh! Guess I'll have to wear my trusty black strappy Neotangos again.

After I finished with my "NTO" (Non Tango Obligations) for this evening, I rushed over to the milonga because that’s when the night really begins. I always walk in with a little bit of nervous anticipation....wondering who will be there. The door opens and I immediately spotted Lou, who goes to every milonga and seem to know everybody and every body's business. So I always make it a point to chat him up. He gave me the low down on Who’s who… Which guy is there to pick up women and which ones use their tango skills to prey on beginners....etc, etc. He knew their occupations, marital status, how long they've been dancing and which milongas they frequented.

I was waiting in line for the restroom when I bumped into someone I'd met at my very first practica. He looked familiar but I'd forgotten his name... but hey I never forget a face. I also never forget a man's scent, his distinct combination of sweat and cologne, his breath and most definitely if he has BO. This man was a saint; spending over an hour going over the basics with me on that very frustrating day. I was excited of course to show him how much my skills have improved in the past 3 months. I vow to always be kind to those who have helped me along this journey ... no matter how good of a dancer I become. The men always tell me about the women who stop dancing with them, once they feel they are too good. I understand the logic to want to dance with more advance leaders to improve your own dancing but we have to keep in mind, first and foremost, we are human beings before we are tango dancers. So let's help keep the dance floor a happier friendlier place!

The Saturday night milonga is usually good at this studio but it seems tonight was little chaotic. Many leaders were not respecting the line of dance. It was a free for all.... like finding parking on a Sunday afternoon at the mall... ha! you snooze, you loose! I started to imagine what it'd look like if the men wore blinkers on their backs.... signaling their next moves. How funny would that be?

Time seems to fly in tango land.... a few dance partners later and it's time to say Adios. I did some calculations; I dance on average 3 hours a night....lets say a tanda averages at 12 minutes, take away the performance/announcements plus resting every third tanda, this will leave me with the probability of 11 different partners a night….. But since I normally dance 2 tandas with a few friends... this actually leave with me with 3 - 4 new dance partners a night. OK.. I officially need to be commited ... who does tango math at 4am? Well the good thing is I no longer need to wear a watch to milongas, since I discovered that my feet have a built in clock; Automatic shut down after 180 minutes of usage. I can usually tell the system is shutting down when someone asks me to dance and I respond with a Yes, but it takes me a little more effort to get my ass off my seat. Then I am forced to say, "So sorry, perhaps just one song?" I’d go through this scenario several times, before finally heading out the door in my dance shoes, because I am too damn tired to change out of them. What can I say... it's just another night at work for this tanguera!

Besos,
Eva