The Elegance of the Milonguero Style

In contrast to some tango styles that remind me of a bustling casino, the milonguero style of tango reminds me of a Zen garden—an oasis of austerity, serenity, peace and natural beauty designed for quiet contemplation. This style prioritizes inner experiences, rendering outward appearances less important. It is danced using simple and natural steps, with minimal adornments to avoid unnecessary complication or distraction, allowing dancers to focus inwardly on feelings.

This, however, does not diminish its aesthetic value. On the contrary, the style exudes a natural, simple and elegant beauty that is unparalleled. The following is an example.

Dancing with cadencia
The key element responsible for the elegance of the style is cadencia. The woman leans on the man with her chest gently pressing against his chest, enabling him to use the connection to swing her torso, causing her hip and leg to dangle in a chain reaction. Note that the woman does not use her thigh to move her leg, but lets her leg follow the motion of the torso and hip to sway. Her attention is on the lateral motion rather than the vertical action of stepping down. This allows her body to swing gracefully with each step.

Dancing with hips
In doing so she needs to swivel her hips so that her free leg may take advantage of the inertia to swing either in roughly the same direction, or reversely in the opposite direction. Since her torso is attached to his torso, she needs to swivel her hips to dance around him. She needs to swivel her hips when she does movements that involve turning, such as front ocho, back ocho, molinete, etc. In short, hip rotation is used all the time in her dance, highlighting the flexibility and beauty of her feminine body. The milonguero style does not emphasize footwork, so she can focus on presenting the beauty of her body, making the rotation of her hips graceful, refined and noticeable, adding elegance to her dance (see Dancing with Hips).

Dancing slower
To infuse elegance into the dance, it is essential to moderate the tempo. Racing to keep up with the beat often leads to a loss of grace, a common issue in tango. Instead of chasing the rhythm, the man should provide the woman with ample time to execute each step, while the woman should focus on crafting her movement with poise and sophistication to heighten its elegance, as demonstrated by the couple above. The following is another example.

Dancing with simple and natural steps
Another element pertinent to the elegance of the style is using simple and natural steps. Some tango styles are known for their intricate footwork and showy figures, which, although may be beautiful in some way, lack naturalness and elegance. The following is an example.

As you can see, while impressive by some standards, a display like this relies on complex figures, exaggerated movements, excessive embellishments, and elaborate choreography. It looks busy, garish, far-fetched, and beat-chasing, but lacks the confidence, serenity, ease, simplicity, naturalness, and elegance of the milonguero style. Moreover, it does not align with the melancholy mood of the music (see Dancing to Melody - Poema).

In contrast, the previous couples employ austere steps, allowing them to focus inwardly on quiet contemplation. The man leads by gently swinging the woman's body. The woman maintains a tall and straight posture while swinging gracefully, letting her intrinsic, natural beauty manifest itself.

Audrey Hepburn Said, "Elegance is the only beauty that never fades." I am convinced of that (see Embracing Elegance).

Partner-Centered Leading vs. Self-Centered Leading

Leaders are either self-centered or partner-centered. A partner-centered leader dances for his partner. He leads her to dance in a thoughtful, gentle, patient and attentive way. A self-centered leader, on the contrary, focuses on his own performance and tends to compel the woman do things beyond her comfortable zone. For example, he leads her to take very big steps, which a partner-centered leader would break into smaller steps; or leads her to chase the beats, whereas a partner-centered leader would allow her time to finish her steps; or leads her to do arbitrary figures, whereas a partner-centered leader would use simple steps to display her natural beauty; or shows off his skills and uses her as a foil to his own exhibition, whereas a partner-centered leader would accommodate her, pamper her, shine her and let her be the center of attention.

Here is an example of self-centered leading.

In this example, the man focused only on the routines and failed to display the woman's beauty. He prioritized his personal performance while neglecting his responsibility to make his partner feel good and enjoy the dance. He hastily chased the beats and rushed the woman to do awkward steps and drastic turns regardless of the lamentable mood of the music. As a result, his self-exhibition overshadowed her performance.

In contrast, a partner-centered leader dances for the woman. Here is an example of partner-centered leading.

In this example the man didn't force the woman to take awkward steps, as being the case in the first clip, but led her to dance in simple and natural steps. He didn't just focus on his routines and forget about the music, as being the case in the first clip, but let her enjoy, resonate with and dance to the music. He didn't coerce her with the arms and hands, as being the case in the first clip, but kept her in the comfort of his embrace and led her very gently with his torso. He didn't lead her without thinking, as being the case in the first clip, but carefully maintained her axis and led her by inertia to make the movement easy for her. He didn't force her to rotate on a tilted axis, as being the case in the first clip, but adjusted his position to accommodate her turns on her own axis. He didn't rush her to chase the beat and take drastic actions, as being the case in the first clip, but danced slower and used more pauses to reflect the melancholy mood of the song while giving her time to finish each step before he took the next lead.

These made it possible for her to concentrate inwardly on feelings and the quality of her dance. Because the woman dances around the man, she needs to swivel her hips and pivot her lower body with one leg in order to step to his side with the other leg. After each step she also needs to pivot and turn back her hips to get ready for the next step in a different direction. This technique, known as dissociation, complicates her movement and takes more time for her to complete each step. The man must understand that and allow her time to finish the step before taking the next lead, as exemplified by this man in the video. We can tell her appreciation from the way she looked at him at the end.

Please watch the video again in playback speed 0.75 in full screen to see how beautiful a woman's dance can be when she has a good leader. I recommend using this video as a teaching tool. Every tango man, novice and veteran alike, can learn something about how to lead the woman from this video. (See The Elegance of the Mionguero Style.)