Modern Tango World N° 11 (Paris, France) | Page 38

The only exception to the classical rules today is Argen-
tine folklore. Very often, there is a folklore tanda during
milongas, such as two chacareras, or less often sambas.
Fans of folkloric dance can even find, such as peñas dedi-
cated to folkloric dancing. But rock’n’roll, kizomba or the
beloved cumbia are never played by Russian DJs.
Another feature of Moscow milongas is a show of in-
vited dancers. Every week at major Moscow milongas,
there are performances by Argentine maestros. Carli-
tos Espinoza & Noelia Hurtado, Chicho Frumboli &
Juana Sepulveda have been great successes. The style of
Javier Rodriguez is of great interest in Moscow. In addi-
tion, young teachers are invited to Moscow, and every
performance in Moscow is filmed on professionally and
placed in Youtube. Style, choreography, artistry of invited
dancers is one of the most popular topics for discussion
in he Moscow commubity.
The period of diversity of styles in Moscow has long
passed. Now regardless of the type of milonga, vari-
ants of tango salon will be danced sometimes with close
embrace and elements of milonguero. Somewhere it will
be more like salon mundial. Sometimes people will add
elements from escenario
Each school hase its own small peculiarities. In general,
here is a good chance of finding a quality embrace with a
dancer whose vocabulary is not more complicated than
giro. Most dancers in Moscow prefer a close embrace to
the open one.
There sre more than sixty tango schools in Moscow. The
teachers are the most regular attendees ar milongas.
The percentage of teachers at milongas is usually at least
30%, if not 50%. The exceptions are major festival events
which have attendance fom other cities in Russia.
Cabeceos are explained by every major tango school.
However at Moscow milongas, everything depends on
the organizer and the habits of regular visitors. At small
home milongas, where everyone knows each other, invi-
tations are made without ceremony.
In Moscow, couples can make large steps backwards,
change lanes, make an unexpected maneuvers. The larger
the event, the more likely the surprise. However, an ex-
perienced milonguero will not be embarrassed andwill
easily be able to foresee the movements of neighbors.
Every year, the number of milon-
gas grows, with almost all milon-
gas in the center of the city.
But, It is not easy to maintain
a permanent address for them.
Rent in Moscow is rarely long-
erm,/ Milongas are often held
in restaurants, or clubs, where
the organizers must pay hourly
rent. The exception is milongas
in major schools and halls with
permanent addresses. There
are two to five milongas daily
in Moscow. During festivals, yhr
other milongas remain open.
In the Summer, open-air milon-
gas are held. This is a special
kind of milongas for a Moscow,
with its unpredictable weather..
Open-air milongas have many
fans, they have a special place in
the hearts of Moscow dancers.
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