Milonga Information
The Friday, Saturday and Sunday milongas will take place in the large studio at Springstep, called Hawkins Hall. We will also open up the medium studio if Hawkins becomes too crowded. Read on to learn about performances, music, as well as costume information and themes.
Dance Performances
The Show will take place at approximately 10:45pm during the Saturday milonga
with performances by Ezequiel Farfaro & Eugenia Parrilla, Diego Di Falco & Carolina
Zokalski, and Andres Amarilla & Meredith Klein, and the Tango Cheeseballs.
The other milongas will contain fun, short demos by some of the instructors and
invited guests, but think of these demos as you would an
amuse bouche,
with the Saturday Show as the main course. (There are no hors d'œuvres, sorry.)
Live and Recorded Music
Ben Bogart y los Gatos Azules will play live music on Thursday and Sunday.
This is music played by dancers who are also professional musicians! They play in a way
that they would enjoy dancing to! Ben will also lead the Monster Orchestra, which will
perform some songs with the Gatos during the Sunday milonga.
During all the festival milongas the DJs will primarily play Golden Age tango music, with
a bit of Old Guard, contemporary and alternative tango music thrown in according to their
personal style. Sunday afternoon's milonga will feature more alternative tango music.
Costume Notes
Examples of 'danceable' costumes from the 2006 Pajama Milonga and "Dress as
your Favorite Holiday" Milonga. Photos by Marty Katz, Kathy
Galleher, and Adriana Pinto.
Costumes are suggested at most of the milongas. It's fun to get into the spirit of the festival by wearing a costume - however, if you plan to dance, you must make sure that you can move easily in your costume. Below we propose some ideas to keep in mind, but before that we want to answer a question you may be wondering....
Why all the costumes?
First of all, we must note that there's certainly no reason why you can't dress however you want all weekend - t-shirt and jeans all the way or a suit the whole time, no problem, there is no dress code! But here's a brief explanation of why costumes are encouraged: there's a collective joy and unity that we get out of seeing someone be creative, take a risk, and tango happily and with total concentration on the dance while wearing a two-foot-tall purple wig and go-go boots or as a cross-dresser for the evening in a vampy 1930s gown or a tux with tails. It's just delightful.
Costume Caution
Be careful when choosing your costumes to make sure there is nothing that will prevent you from having a comfortable embrace, or to prevent a free range of movement. Keep your head pretty simple: certain types of hats and most masks (which are so popular on Halloween) will prevent a close embrace, as will decorative makeup that rubs off on your partner. And even if you don't want to dance close for some (strange) reason, don't wear anything that sticks out much further than usual (it would feel like driving a minivan when you're used to driving a car - you and others aren't sure how close you can cut the corners). If you wear something a little bit on the edge that you're not sure you'll be able to dance in, then don't forget to bring a backup outfit!
...and (drumroll, please)
Costume Themes
Thursday – The Navigation Milonga
Good navigation is very important, particularly on a crowded dance floor. Bring some levity to the issue (and some attention to it!) by wearing signs or instruments relating to good helmsmanship. Or perhaps your profession -- real or imagined -- is dependent on geography, maps, and 'getting around' so you'll participate by wearing your work clothes...
Friday – The Vertical Milonga
Imagine that gravity stretches you both up and down (or just up!). Would your hair
stand on end? What
would happen to your clothes? Or, imagine that you're super chic and that the latest fashions coming
out of Palermo in Buenos Aires (the fashion capital of the world, as everyone knows) are all showing
bold vertical stripes. What else can you do but join the lengthwise party?
For vertical hair
help, consult this page about mohawks
and liberty spikes. Be sure to read the excellent tips
(perhaps you just want a fauxhawk?) and the warnings, and note that you'll probably need a friend's
help to get hair that defies gravity. For professional help, make an appointment at Salon
Fabiano, 781-396-1066.
Saturday – The Golden Age Milonga (with pajamas after 1:00am)
The Golden Age of tango is usually considered to be from about 1930 to 1945, so think glamourous, drapey,
bias-cut evening gowns and dashing, dapper suits or tuxedos. Emulate Carlos Gardel and his leading
ladies, or Rudolph Valentino, Joan Crawford, Mae West, and a host of others from the 1930s and early
1940s.
For ideas, consider visiting fasion-era.com.
To make an appointment at Salon Fabiano (just a few minutes from the
festival venue) for creative hair design, makeup application, or eyelash extensions, call 781-396-1066.
Later in the night pretend you're ready to go home and sleep, but then feel the music pulling you back and stay dancing tango until dawn. The best part about this (well, besides how fun it is to see everyone dancing in their pajamas) is that when you get back home, or to the hotel, you can just fall into bed without additional preparation. Ahhhh...
Sunday – Dia de los Muertos Milonga
Are you Mexican or a skeleton? Dia de los Muertos, the day of the dead, is celebrated at the beginning of November each year in Mexico. It's rich, colorful imagery is a strong visual inspiration for Tango de los Muertos. For this milonga, dress in traditional Mexican garb, or wear your favorite fashion-forward skull and skeleton clothes. Viva los Muertos!
(Pancho Villa, by the way, was supposedly a dancer of legendary stamina. Biographer John Reed claims Villa arrived late for an important battle, after an all-night dancing stint.)
