La Milonga De Los Jueves a "La Independencia"

What a night! It’s hard to be objective about these things, especially as I had a lot to feel glad about before I even got there, but I reckon it was an exceptionally brilliant milonga. Soledad had said it was a good ‘un and DJ’d by a friend of hers. Having been given the nod by my landlord to keep my room till the end of my stay in BsAs and feeling in love, even a bad milonga would have done for me.

I had been to DNI’s evening classes earlier (técnica with Carolina and Tango Level 4 with Julieta and Adrian.) There hadn’t been sufficient varones to go round in the Level 4 class, so I’d volunteered myself as a leader. I was a bit dodgy at first, but by the end of the lesson, I reckon I did myself proud. I came home feeling high, if a little too tired to wash my hair. It being a bad hair day, I thought I’d give Niñ0 Bien a swerve as they tend to be a bit dressy there. I decided to give Thursday nights at the Independencia a try instead. It was a good decision.

I arrived early, around 23:30. There was a beginners’ class going on, so as Soledad was there, as well as Francisco from my class in La Boca, I sat and drank with them to pass the time. The friend Soledad had mentioned was none other than Carlitos, the cuddly man who runs La Milonga del Gordo. He can move and I was chuffed to be asked to dance. The place was livelier than I have ever seen it before. There were a number of ace dancers and of course Soledad herself, who is right up there in my league of tango gods. I danced all night till a bit before 04:00. Sometime around 03:00, some friends of Carlitos showed up and started playing divine tangos: piano, double bass and bandoneon. I asked Soledad whether this was a scheduled show and she said they had just appeared out of the magic of the night. We were warned not to clap so as not to disturb the neighbourhood at this late hour, but people couldn’t help themselves, so gorgeous was the music. We carried on dancing after they left and I wanted to stay on till the end, which may well have been after sunrise, but I needed some beauty sleep so I could be fresh for my soirée with my main man, which would not begin until 01:00, after my class in La Boca. It is a long class.

I have a full weekend coming up. I have managed to get myself invited to a Firemen’s Milonga in La Boca on Saturday night. Me and firemen go back a long way. Some kind of karmic connection, I imagine. Then on Sunday afternoon, Liliana has an important birthday celebration. After that, I might go on to Francisco’s parilla before joining my friend for a milonga and everything.

I wish you all a great weekend!