Tango was also danced in luxurious cabarets , where people attended wearing their best clothes . There also existed smaller places , mostly pubs , were they danced “ selected recordings ” ( shellac records of 78 rpm , which didn ’ t allow a great variety in music ), or some trio performed live . And , as there wasn ’ t much space , people started dancing around the rooms using short closed steps . This is known nowadays as “ Tango milonguero ”.
Today we have a quite different scenario : It is not easy to find spacious dancing places . This doesn ’ t mean that “ tango milonguero ” is “ the only and true manner of dancing the Argentinian tango ”, as some try to impose , establishing quasidogmatic rules , leaving aside the availability of the room , the changes in people ’ s temper ( and clothing ), and their need to express and enjoy themselves .
In this sense , attending to a milonga becomes a bureaucratic procedure . In all occupations , there are guys that perform the same old routine , without questioning themselves and react badly , if “ someone new ” suggests any kind of change . They state : “ It has always been done this way ”, to hide their mediocrity , and their tremendous fear to be displaced . There are many of these guys within Tango , who supposedly defend “ pure tango ”, but they actually defend their own interests .
Many tango songs have been written and recorded throughout history . Most of them haven ’ t had any significance , whatsoever , and there is certainly a reason . That is why the classics and the preferred orchestras exist . Though , lately a quite peculiar phenomenon is taking place .
It seems that nowadays is fashionable to be a DJ . Susana Miller made a comment on Facebook recently , saying that some people come from Europe , buy all the Tango CDs they can find , and as a consequence , there are now 5000 songs being played around Europe , while in Argentina we use 1500 . It is said they are more like archaeologists instead of DJs . And of course , in many European places ( not in all of them ) these foreigners take advantage of people ’ s need to understand Tango ’ s roots and ways , misleading them to believe their version of the truth as absolute and unique .
But the most alarmingly there is a kind of reflex effect going on : using the title of “ International DJ ”, a similar criterion has been applied in some milongas back here , for some time now . And you have to tolerate horrible tangos , really boring orchestras , and insignificant singers ( in the best of cases ) and all under the argument that it is “ tango milonguero ”. Personally , these
43